Scrum Master (Financial Services)

Job ID: 21-10621Title: Scrum Master (Financial Services)Location: Denver, CO or Boston, MAType: Direct PlacementWe are a leading independent global asset manager, dedicated to delivering the best outcomes for our clients through a highly diversified range of actively-managed products. We are truly global, supporting our individual and institutional investors across a range of products, encompassing equities, fixed income, multi-asset and alternatives. Our high-energy and collaborative culture helps our client achieve their goals and ensures that our people love the place they work.Our client has embraced an Agile framework for change development and implementation. This agile framework is being used to transversally enhance the release cycle, leading to a more efficient and scalable environment. As the Scrum Master/Kanban coach you will be primarily responsible for working with several teams in building upon a new Scrum/Kanban framework. This will require facilitating key Scrum events for the team while mentoring them on the process and purpose of each to grow knowledge and understanding of Agile concepts.In the role you will be responsible for aligning to transversal scrum results, ensuring changes can be delivered and working closely with the development teams to ensure that impediments are cleared.You be working within the PMAR technology (performance measurement, analytics and risk) team, performing scrum master duties within the investment analytics and performance product scrums.Duties and responsibilitiesYou will:Follow client framework and standards for Scrum/Kanban, raising standards through mentoring existing Scrum team on best practices. Implement standardized scrum reporting.Facilitate all Scrum events, including Sprint Review and facilitate backlog refinement sessions between the Product Owner and Development Team.Work with Agile Release Manager to provide a single functional release per sprint cycle.Understand and motivate change through the scrum team. Work with Release Manager, ProductOwners and other Scrum Masters to prioritize and manage associated risk and dependencies.Lead teams in understanding their capacity and using it to plan.Coach Product Owners and Product Managers in backlog management and prioritization techniques, and business partner engagement.Perform trend analysis and recommendations for improvements.Develop and promote a culture of reflection and continuous improvement, including issues requiring management support.Scrum Master activities of sprint planning, daily scrum and retrospective as needed for non-development work.Identify and co-ordinate project critical paths and identify/remove bottlenecks; identify and track issues and risks through to resolution.Promote team accountability at development and Scrum/Kanban team levelsCreate, maintain and report high-level program/project and project management maturity, best practices and tools; with an emphasis on moving toward Agile.Carry out additional duties as assigned. Technical skills and qualificationsEssential:3 years of Scrum Master related experience requiredCSM or A-CSM certifications requiredExperience leading virtual and global distributed teamsExperience working in a matrixed environmentGood skills and knowledge of servant leadership, facilitation, situational awareness, conflict resolution, continuous improvement, empowerment and increasing transparencyExperience in Asset Management, including working with investment analytic and performance systems, preferredExperience with cloud data platform implementations and vendor implementationsExperience in a middle and back office outsourced environmentExperience of delivering change related to market data Competencies requiredIn addition to putting clients first, acting like an owner, and succeeding as a team, the competencies for this role include:Excellent problem-solving skills, as able to see the strategic impacts of any cross-team dependencies and raise where necessary.The role will require strong communication and leadership skills as regular reporting with senior business partners is expected globally. Core impacted teams are located in the US and UK.Strong leader equally comfortable facing off to stakeholders and directing service providers and internal teams.Excellent presentation, influencing, and reasoning skills, demonstrating the ability to communicate information technology concepts to non-technology personnel.Ability to handle multiple assignments, priorities, and projects in a demanding environment.Self-motivation and enthusiastic approach a completer-finisher able to work on their own initiative with a focus and commitment to delivery.Effective time management / planning manage personal workload effectively, set realistic and achievable targets and deliver to those targets.Problem ownership take responsibility for identified issues and works to resolve in a pragmatic manner.Client focused, committed to excellence, good attention to detail and a great teammate. Our client is offering between 110-125K for the Denver market; Boston market compensation will be depended on candidate experience. Audrey LambRecruiteralamb@ascentsg.comAbout Ascent: The Ascent Services Group (ASG) is a nationally recognized technology staffing and consulting firm whose fundamental business is providing staffing services to Small, Medium, and Large Enterprise clients in our core market verticals: Financial Services, Healthcare, Technology and Life Sciences. As consultants for ASG, you will have access to many of the top clients within the industries we serve. Our goal is to deliver innovative talent through proven best practices and effective resource optimization. Become one of ASG s candidates and experience the difference!