Scrum Master at Sanlam Group

What will you do?

• You’ll be supporting two or more squads within an established large-scale Agile Release Train (ART), working alongside other experienced Scrum Masters.
• The Scrum Master is co-located with their squads and work closely with Product Owners, Developers, Testers, Business Stakeholders, and other Scrum Masters to drive alignment, flow, and continuous improvement.
• Beyond the team, you’ll contribute to the broader Agile Community of practice and help strengthen delivery maturity, coach new team members and shape the culture of agility across the organisation. 

What will make you successful in this role?

• Coach and guide two or more cross-functional squads within an established large-scale Agile Release Train.
• Foster a high-performing, empowered team culture built on trust, openness, and accountability.
• Facilitate all Agile ceremonies/cadences with purpose, ensuring they are engaging, outcome-driven, and aligned to team goals.
• Partner with Product Owners to maintain a healthy, prioritised backlog and deliver incremental value aligned to business objectives.
• Proactively identify and remove impediments that block/hinder the team's progress.
• Support ART-level ceremonies such as PI planning, PO Sync, Scrum Sync and Inspect & Adapt sessions.
• Collaborate with other Scrum Masters and the Release Train Engineer/s to improve flow and coordination across squads.
• Promote continuous improvement, helping teams reflect, adapt and evolve.

Qualification

• Grade 12
• Relevant IT Qualification (IT Degree or Diploma) will be advantageous
• Relevant Agile Certifications (CSM, A-CSM, CSP-SM, PSM I, PSM II, SSM, SASM, SA, ICP)

Experience:

• 4+ years of experience as a Scrum Master, Agile Coach or delivery leader within an Agile/Scaled Agile Environment.
• Strong understanding of Agile Frameworks (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe) and the ability to apply them pragmatically.
• Exceptional facilitation and coaching skills, able to create safe spaces for honest conversations, learning and accountability.
• Proven ability to influence and build relationships across teams and leadership layers.
• Experience supporting PI planning and working within a large Agile Release Train or similar scaled structure.
• A passion for servant leadership and helping others succeed. 

Knowledge of:

• The release process, SDLC
• Jira and Confluence, Miro

Knowledge & Skills:

• Deep understanding of Agile Principles, frameworks and practices (Scrum, Kanban, Lean)
• Understanding of Agile Metrics (velocity, cycle time, predictability, WIP) and how to use them to drive improvement rather than control.
• Empirical process control and how to foster a culture of transparency, inspection and adaptation.
• Product delivery lifecycle and how Agile interfaces with design, architecture, testing and release management.
• Agile Principles and various frameworks
• Reporting and Administration