Lead Scrum Master - IGEN

POSITION SUMMARY

The Lead Scrum Master leads agile ceremonies across engineering and product teams and is the central figure in IGEN's adoption and maturation of scrum. Reporting to the Chief Technologist, this role is accountable for the effectiveness of the workflows, how teams grow, and how delivery signal reaches leadership — across the FY2027 transformation program and the ongoing evolution of the Core platform.

The Lead Scrum Master is the catalyst for how IGEN's Technology organization actually delivers. This role exists to make agile real — not as a process tax, but as the operating model that lets teams ship high-quality software predictably and with confidence.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

Agile Transformation & Adoption

• Lead the scaled rollout and maturation of scrum across IGEN's Technology organization — from first ceremony through team self-sufficiency
• Partner with the Chief Technologist to align agile adoption with the FY2027 transformation program, particularly Stream 01 (Agile) and Stream 02 (Product Ownership)
• Build and maintain the agile maturity model for IGEN — a shared language for where teams are today, where they need to be, and what it takes to get there
• Coach product owners, engineering leads, and managers on how to operate inside an agile system rather than adjacent to one
• Defines and governs enterprise agile standards, practices, and expectations across all teams.
• Helps determine approach to scaling agile based on organizational needs

Ceremony Facilitation & Team Cadence

• Facilitate sprint planning, daily stand-ups, backlog refinement, sprint review, and retrospective ceremonies across multiple teams — modeling the bar for what good looks like
• Establish and protect the delivery cadence — sprint length, ceremony timing, working agreements, and definition of ready — as the operating rhythm of the Technology organization
• Run productive retrospectives that surface real issues and produce concrete, followed-through improvements — not polite feedback that disappears
• Scale ceremony quality as teams multiply — training and mentoring embedded scrum masters and agile champions as the practice matures

Team Coaching & Capability Building

• Coach teams and individuals on agile principles, scrum mechanics, and the mindset shifts required to move from output-focused to outcome-focused delivery
• Design and deliver internal agile training — role-specific content for product owners, engineers, architects, and leaders
• Observe team dynamics and intervene constructively when patterns undermine flow, quality, or psychological safety
• Serve as the organizational reference point for scrum practice — the person teams consult when the framework and the situation are in tension
• Mentors and guides embedded scrum masters, ensuring consistency in approach and quality across teams

Impediment Removal & Delivery Insight

• Identify, escalate, and drive resolution of organizational impediments — the structural issues that slow teams down and that no single team can fix alone
• Own and publish flow metrics — velocity, cycle time, throughput, WIP, escaped defects — and translate them into coaching conversations and leadership-visible delivery signal
• Partner with the Chief Technologist to give senior leadership an honest, data-backed view of delivery health across the Technology organization
• Coordinate across teams, product owners, and external dependencies to keep the system of work moving — not just the teams inside it
• Live our values of High Performance, Caring Relationships, Strategic Foresight, and Entrepreneurial Spirit
• Find A Better Way by championing continuous improvement and quality control efforts to identify opportunities to innovate and improve efficiency, accuracy, and standardization
• Continuously learn and develop self professionally
• Support corporate efforts for safety, government compliance, and all other company policies & procedures
• Perform other related duties as required and assigned

QUALIFICATIONS

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in a technical, business, or organizational discipline preferred; equivalent experience considered
• 7+ years as a scrum master in a software development or digital-product organization; experience coaching multiple teams simultaneously and introducing agile practices in contexts where they were not yet the dominant operating model
• Fluent in flow metrics (velocity, throughput, cycle time, WIP, escaped defects); able to turn data into actionable coaching conversations and leadership-visible signals
• Clear, direct, and diplomatic — equally effective coaching an engineer through a story split and briefing executives on delivery risk without diluting the message
• Demonstrated ability to raise team maturity over time — teaching product owners, engineers, and stakeholders how to operate inside agile rather than around it
• Deep command of scrum, kanban, and scaled agile patterns; working knowledge of XP engineering practices (CI/CD, TDD, trunk-based development) sufficient to coach teams on technical health, not only process

Preferred:

• B2B SaaS experience strongly preferred; tax, compliance, fintech, or other regulated-data platform experience
• Hands-on with Jira, Azure DevOps, or equivalent; comfortable configuring boards, reports, and dashboards to make the work — and the waste — visible
• Professional-level scrum credential required (CSP-SM, PSM II, or equivalent); Certified Scrum Professional, SAFe SPC, ICAgile Expert, or Kanban Management Professional a strong plus

DIVISION:

IGEN

U.S. Venture will not offer sponsorship for employment status (including, but not limited to, H-1B, TN, E-3, F1,  CPT, OPT, STEM OPT, visa status and other employment‑based nonimmigrant visas) for this position. Accordingly, all applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full‑time basis and must not require U.S. Venture’s sponsorship to continue to work legally in the United States. In general, U.S. Venture does not sponsor candidates for nonimmigrant visas or permanent residency except when there is a specific business need.

U.S. Venture will not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the absence of an executed recruitment Master Service Agreement, there will be no obligation to any referral compensation or recruiter fee. In the event a recruiter or agency submits a resume or candidate without an agreement, U.S. Venture shall reserve the right to pursue and hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted to hiring managers, shall be deemed the property of U.S. Venture.

U.S. Venture, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We ensure equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or other protected characteristic. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may call Human Resources at (920) 739-6101.

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