Agile Scrum Master / Project Manager
VantageScore · San Francisco · $165,000–$190,000 (stated in the posting)
About The Role
We are seeking an experienced Agile Scrum Master / Project Manager to join our growing Data & Tech Team. In this role, you will facilitate Agile ceremonies, manage project timelines and deliverables, and act as a facilitator for one or more cross-functional development teams. You will remove blockers, support teams on Agile/Scrum best practices, and partner closely with Product, Engineering, and business stakeholders to ensure work is delivered predictably, transparently, and at a high standard of quality.
This role is ideal for someone who thrives on bringing structure to ambiguity, is passionate about continuous improvement, and takes pride in helping teams work at their best while keeping projects on track, on budget, and aligned with company goals.
Key Responsibilities
- Facilitate all core Scrum ceremonies — sprint planning, stand-ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives — ensuring they are focused, timely, and productive.
- Own end-to-end project planning and execution, including scope definition, timeline management, team member allocation, and risk tracking across one or more concurrent initiatives.
- Serve as a facilitator and agile advocate to product teams, promoting Agile/Scrum principles, self-organization, and continuous improvement.
- Identify, track, and proactively remove impediments and blockers that affect team velocity or delivery timelines.
- Maintain and refine the product backlog in partnership with Product Owners, and cross-department representatives, ensuring user stories are well-defined, estimated, and prioritized.
- Track and report on sprint and project metrics (velocity, burndown/burnup, cycle time, throughput) to provide visibility into progress and identify trends.
- Collaborate with Product & Engineering leads to align on scope, dependencies, and delivery timelines across teams.
- Manage project communications, including status updates, executive summaries, and stakeholder briefings, tailoring communication style to technical and non-technical audiences.
- Facilitate cross-team dependency management and coordination for multi-team or multi-quarter initiatives.
- Lead post-incident and post-project retrospectives; produce clear reports on lessons learned, risks, and process improvement opportunities for leadership.
- Maintain thorough documentation of project plans, sprint artifacts, logs, and process guidelines.
- Champion a culture of continuous improvement, psychological safety, and accountability within teams.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree in Business, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.
- 5+ years of professional experience as a Scrum Master, Agile Coach, or Project Manager, ideally within a software/technology/fintech environment.
- Demonstrated expertise facilitating Agile ceremonies and applying Scrum, Kanban, or hybrid Agile frameworks.
- Strong experience with project and Agile management tooling (e.g., Jira, Confluence or equivalent).
- Hands-on experience managing project scope, schedule, budget, and risk for cross-functional initiatives.
- Proficiency developing and tracking key Agile metrics (velocity, burndown, cycle time) and translating them into actionable insights.
- Experience partnering with Product Owners on backlog refinement, story writing, and prioritization.
- Solid understanding of software development lifecycles and how Agile practices intersect with release and deployment planning.
- Familiarity with change management and stakeholder communication practices for both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Strong facilitation, conflict-resolution, and coaching skills, with the ability to influence without direct authority.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills and ability to translate project risk and status for leadership stakeholders.
- Build reporting and dashboarding practices (status reports, burndown charts, Gantt charts, roadmaps) to keep stakeholders informed and drive accountability.
Preferred Qualifications
- Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Professional Scrum Master (PSM), or PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) certification.
- Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
- Experience scaling Agile practices across multiple teams (e.g., SAFe, LeSS, or Scrum of Scrums).
- Familiarity with software engineering concepts, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud environments sufficient to engage credibly with engineering teams.
- Experience managing programs with regulatory, security, or compliance dependencies.
- Exposure to portfolio and roadmap planning tools
- Experience running distributed or hybrid teams across multiple time zones.
- Background in change management or organizational transformation initiatives.
Location Requirements
- This is a hybrid role requiring three days per week onsite in South San Francisco. Candidates must live within approximately one hour of the office.
Compensation
- $165k - $190k / year
- Generous Benefits: 401(K) matched up to 7%, Flexible Time Off, 12 Paid Holidays, Medical/Dental/Vision/Wellness benefits, Monthly Team Events, Modern Work/Collaboration Spaces