Scrum Master/Agile Lead, Temporary

At Curriculum Associates, we believe in the potential of every child and are changing the face of education technology with award-winning learning programs like i-Ready that serve a third of the nation’s K–8 students. For more than 50 years, our commitment to making classrooms better places, serving educators, and supporting accessible learning experiences for all students has driven the continuous improvement of our innovative programs. Our team of more than 2,500 employees is composed of lifelong learners who stand behind this mission, working tirelessly to serve the educational community with world-class programs and support every day.

Scrum Master/Agile Lead

At Curriculum Associates, we believe a diverse team leads to diversity in thinking, making our products better for teachers and students. We're posting this role externally as Scrum Master, but internally we do not use the term "master". The person hired for this role will hold the title of Agile Lead. We want to

be continually aware and mindful towards our stance as an anti-racist company and making sure our language and practices are aligned.

We are seeking an experienced Scrum Master to lead 2+ scrum teams. Both teams have had the benefit of an Agile Lead. They are building large-scale java platforms to support multi-tenant web applications. The role requires a proven track record of professional excellence and a passion to be the driver behind

developing great software with a laudable purpose.

Why join this team:

Our PMO is a passionate group of servant leaders supporting high-performing teams. We are committed to quality, continuously learning, and relentlessly improving. Our work directly impacts the company’s goals and mission. Want to make a difference? Join us!

The impact you’ll have:

• Facilitate and moderate sprint planning, daily scrum, sprint demo, sprint retrospective, and backlog refinement meetings
• Remove obstacles to team and sprint success
• Encourage self-organization by facilitating the appropriate delegation of tasks and responsibilities to appropriate team members
• Coordinate across co-dependent scrum teams in multi-scrum team environment
• Utilize and improve usage of JIRA and Confluence, as tools to monitor and manage sprint success

Who we’re looking for:

• A Certified Scrum Master (CSM) or similar certification with a minimum of 2 years of experience as a Scrum Master/Agile Lead in more than one organization, for multiple teams simultaneously
• A deep understanding and the ability to apply both the theoretical and practical aspects of agile development
• Proven experience with Agile software development methodologies
• Experience working closely with Stakeholders to improve project predictably and delivery success
• Ability to help product teams generate product backlog and make them ready for the next sprint
• Experience effectively identifying and driving resolution on deliverable dependencies with other teams
• At least 1 year of experience using JIRA to track and manage Agile development, or experience using tools similar to the Atlassian suite of products
• Experience with a variety of Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban, Scrumban, etc.)

Someone who has the ability to:

• Assess the Agile maturity of the team and organization and coach the team to higher levels of maturity, at a pace that is sustainable and
• comfortable for the team and organization
• Influence and guide development, quality, and product professionals
• Partner closely with product to set the vision and execute the sprint plan
• Foster and maintain a collaborative team dynamic
• Solve problems and think critically
• Plan and organize (and re-organize) in an environment of shifting priorities
• Communicate clearly, both by speaking directly and writing concisely
• Negotiate and manage conflict
• Proactively identify blockers and help the team look ahead for potential risks and recommend mitigations
• Provide all support to the team using a servant leadership style whenever possible, steer by example

A Bachelor's Degree, preferably in a computer science, information technology, or an equally technical discipline; or equivalent work experience

We’d also love to see, though not required:

• Experience with Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
• Knowledge and/or experience with widely successful Agile techniques: User Stories, ATDD, TDD, Continuous Integration, Continuous Testing,
• Pairing, Automated Testing, Agile Games
• Experience in education technology and/or game development
• JIRA and/or Confluence Admin experience

More about this role:

This is a long-term temporary position with the possibility of permanent employment based on the candidate's performance and the company's needs.

Location: This position is remote with East Coast business hours (9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Eastern Time).

Benefits and Pay Range:
Pay Range – This role’s hourly rate is $57.00/hour. The wage range for this role takes into account the wide range of factors that Curriculum Associates considers in making compensation decisions based on our Compensation Philosophy. Actual base pay within that range will vary based upon several factors including, but not limited to, prior experience and relevant skill sets. At Curriculum Associates, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances for each case. The Company recognizes that minimum wage varies by location and will ensure all compensation decisions comply with applicable state and local laws.
Benefits – Temporary and per-diem employees who average at least 30 hours of work per week within the Company’s look-back period are eligible to enroll in medical coverage after 90 days of employment. Temporary and per-diem employees working more than 20 hours per week are eligible for twelve paid holidays. All temporary and per-diem employees are eligible for accrued sick time.