A scrum master is a management professional who subscribes to the Agile philosophies to guide transformation in the workplace. This enables professionals to respond quickly and optimally to changes in their profession or industry. Focus, communication and collaboration are keywords that guide a scrum master to challenge work teams to excellence. Reacting readily to changes keeps business interests competitive, which is why scrum masters are utilized in the professional world.
When you write your scrum master job description, you will want to be sure to include the superior ability to engage and lead teams of professionals as a required job skill. Knowledge of how to integrate software to the core objectives of the industry is another asset a successful scrum master will have.
Take a look at this scrum master job description template to see how to express requirements for your job description and how to best format them.
Scrum Master Job Summary
Used by higher education, military and now business professionals, the Agile framework is a way to optimize business functions that has been proven. Our company currently is seeking to optimize operations in its enterprise planning team by hiring a scrum manager. The successful applicant will have a passion for teamwork and collaboration in business, as well as the experience with teamwork to create an Agile workforce. You should be knowledgeable about both engaging team members and leveraging technology to further benefit business processes. Apply today to be part of one of the highest profile companies in the biochemical industry and make a positive difference with us!
Job Responsibilities
- Guide teams to a culture of focus, improving the organization of their work through sprint planning and reviews throughout a project life cycle
- Guides departments and teams towards cross-functional orientation by serving as an Agile consultant, helping plan and coordinate new workflows and patterns and scheduling of task assignments and goals
- Continually monitor progress of team members across department boundaries and provide support to engage employees to achieve goals
- Form partnerships across departments to streamline work processes and improve the speed at which the company can respond to and capitalize on opportunities
- Integrate technology into employee workflows to increase the speed and accuracy of changes to improve the results of these work processes, emphasizing continuous improvement
- Complete monthly status reports and present to upper management
- Escalate issues in the implementation of Agile methodologies to expedite process correction, creating strategies that resonate with the culture of the organization
- Teach the concepts of task definition, velocity and burndown metrics to all staff
Job Skills & Qualifications
Reqiured:
- At least two years of experience with exercising Agile methodology
- Bachelor degree in Business
- Strong knowledge of Scrum, Agile and Lean methodologies
- Strong aptitude in leveraging HTML, CSS and JavaScript
Preferred:
- A Master of Business Administration
Scrum Master Job Responsibilities
In a fast-paced Agile environment, you don’t have time to slow down for an inexperienced Scrum master. You have even less time to spend weeding through masses of unqualified applicants when you need to hit the ground running and keep your software development lifecycle constantly moving through sprint after sprint. Your clients can’t wait for a lengthy hiring process. Neither can you, which is why you need to take a look at your Scrum master job description and make the changes needed to improve its effectiveness, efficiency and the quality of candidate it attracts.
The best way to do this is to make it clear what you expect of any candidate applying for the job. Break down the job into a solid list of no more than 8-10 required duties, focusing on the core responsibilities that make your development team tick. Avoid getting lost in the small details, and instead, provide an attractive overview of your Scrum master job description written using engaging action verbs and concise bullet points. You want candidates to feel like they’re not only capable of doing this job, but that they want to be part of an environment that values their skills and capabilities.
Try out these sample Scrum master job responsibilities:
- Guide team in implementing Agile methodology throughout SDLC
- Lead daily standup meetings and sprint planning
- Establish deliverables and track milestones according to schedule
- Oversee iterations of the Scrum process through to completion
- Check deliverables against requirements to ensure compliance
Scrum Master Job Specifications
Save more time and further narrow your applicant pool by clarifying requirements with a list of job specifications. The job qualifications and skills section of your Scrum master job description is dynamite in a small package; although it should be no more than 5-6 bullet points long, it provides a quick checklist that candidates can compare themselves against to determine if they really qualify for the job. Self-screening on the applicant side greatly reduces effort on your side and can not only rid your talent pool of unqualified candidates but also ward away overqualified candidates who might not find satisfaction in the role.
The best resource for building your job specifications list is right at your fingertips. Use your current talent complement to build your new talent pool by tapping the expertise of your existing development team and any Scrum-experienced personnel. Ask them about the essentials they need to work with a Scrum master, such as certifications, leadership and experience, and use their feedback to determine what’s truly critical for the role. Round out your Scrum master job description with these requirements, and you’ll see a noticeable improvement in applicant quality.
Here’s an example of how to write Scrum master job specifications:
- Certified Scrum Master required
- Bachelor’s degree or higher
- At least 10 years of experience in an Agile development environment
- Experience with Test-Driven Development (TDD) principles
- Understanding of the servant leadership model