Scrum Master

Scrum Master

Location: Indianapolis, IN (Hybrid – 3 days/week on-site)

Company Description

BCforward is one of the nation’s largest Black-owned workforce management and consulting firms, headquartered in Indianapolis, IN, and serving Fortune 500 organizations worldwide. We deliver technology, business, and project delivery solutions that help our clients accelerate outcomes and scale with confidence.

Role Overview

BCforward is seeking an experienced Agile Delivery Consultant to serve as a servant leader, team coach, and delivery facilitator within a dynamic, enterprise environment. This role goes beyond traditional Scrum facilitation – the ideal candidate is Agile-first but pragmatic, comfortable working with teams across the full spectrum of delivery maturity, from pure Scrum to hybrid and structured iterative approaches.

The Agile Delivery Consultant will guide cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality outcomes, remove impediments, and foster a culture of transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement. In addition to core Agile facilitation, this role brings consulting-grade skills in stakeholder engagement, delivery metrics, data visualization, and the use of AI-enabled tooling to drive smarter, faster delivery.

Key Responsibilities

Agile Facilitation & Team Coaching

• Facilitate core Scrum ceremonies – sprint planning, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives – with discipline and energy.
• Coach teams and stakeholders in Agile principles and practices, meeting teams where they are and guiding progressive adoption at a sustainable pace.
• Support Product Owners in backlog refinement, story decomposition, and prioritization to maintain a healthy, well-defined product backlog.
• Identify and remove impediments that block team progress, escalating systemic issues to leadership when appropriate.
• Foster a team culture grounded in transparency, collaboration, and a bias toward continuous improvement.

Hybrid Delivery & Methodology Flexibility

• Apply the right delivery approach based on team context and project needs – Scrum, Kanban, or structured hybrid models that blend iterative and sequential practices.
• Support teams operating in hybrid environments where some workstreams follow iterative cadences while others require phased planning, milestone gates, or formal change control.
• Help teams navigate delivery models that balance Agile responsiveness with enterprise governance requirements, without sacrificing either.
• Contribute to delivery framework standardization across teams, promoting consistency while allowing for team-level tailoring.

Stakeholder Engagement & Communication

• Build trusted relationships with project sponsors, product owners, and cross-functional stakeholders, maintaining alignment on team progress and delivery commitments.
• Translate team-level delivery status into clear, audience-appropriate communications for leadership and executive stakeholders.
• Facilitate cross-team coordination and dependency management, especially in scaled or multi-team program environments.
• Provide regular, structured status reporting on sprint progress, risks, impediments, and team health.

Metrics, Dashboarding & Data Visualization

• Define, track, and communicate team delivery metrics including velocity, sprint burndown, cycle time, throughput, and cumulative flow.
• Build and maintain team-level and program-level dashboards that provide real-time visibility into delivery health and performance trends.
• Leverage data visualization tools (e.g., Jira dashboards, Power BI, or equivalent) to surface insights that drive informed decisions by teams and stakeholders.
• Use delivery data to identify patterns, flag risks early, and support continuous improvement conversations at the team and program level.

AI & Tooling Enablement

• Leverage AI-enabled features within delivery tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence, Microsoft 365 Copilot) to improve planning accuracy, retrospective quality, and documentation efficiency.
• Champion the use of automation and intelligent tooling to reduce manual overhead in status reporting, backlog hygiene, and team metrics.
• Stay current on emerging AI applications relevant to Agile delivery and project management, sharing relevant practices with the team and broader PMO community.

Continuous Improvement & PMO Contribution

• Drive retrospective outcomes into actionable improvement initiatives, tracking follow-through and measuring impact over time.
• Collaborate with other Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, and Program Managers to share practices and elevate delivery capability across the organization.
• Contribute to PMO standards, playbooks, and delivery templates to support consistency and scalability.
• Facilitate Agile training sessions, workshops, or lunch-and-learns as needed to build team and stakeholder capability.

Required Qualifications

Delivery & Agile Expertise

• 3+ years of experience as a Scrum Master or Agile delivery practitioner in enterprise environments.
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate Agile ceremonies, coach teams, and drive consistent, high-quality delivery outcomes.
• Practical experience working in hybrid delivery environments where Agile and structured project practices coexist.
• Familiarity with scaled Agile frameworks (SAFe, LeSS, or equivalent) and how they operate in large, matrixed organizations.

Stakeholder & Communication Skills

• Strong facilitation, coaching, and conflict resolution skills, with the ability to influence without direct authority.
• Proven ability to communicate delivery status, risks, and recommendations clearly to both technical teams and executive stakeholders.
• Experience working across IT and business functions in a consulting or client-facing capacity.

Tools, Data & AI

• Proficiency with Jira and Confluence for backlog management, sprint tracking, and team documentation.
• Experience building or maintaining delivery dashboards and reporting, using tools such as Jira Dashboards, Power BI, or similar visualization platforms.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted productivity tools (e.g., Microsoft 365 Copilot, AI features in Jira or Confluence) and an interest in applying them to delivery contexts.
• Ability to interpret delivery metrics and translate data into actionable insights for teams and stakeholders.

Education & Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.
• Required: CSM, PSM, or equivalent Scrum Master certification.
• Preferred: SAFe Scrum Master (SSM), SAFe Agilist (SA), or equivalent scaled Agile certification.
• Preferred: PMP or PMI-ACP certification.
• Experience in pharmaceuticals, life sciences, or healthcare is a plus.