Associate, Scrum Master

When you join Sallie Mae, you become a champion for all students.

We're on a mission to power confidence as students begin their unique journey. To help them plan their higher education, successfully finish, and prepare for life after school. To help them Start smart. Learn big.

Students need guidance navigating this important time in their life. They need someone who acknowledges that their education path is unique. They need a partner willing to evolve and not only meet but surpass their expectations. We're changing. Because students need a better way.

We're looking for people who are excited to drive this transformation. To break barriers and think of new ways to adapt, help, and create better experiences for students-and for each other.

This is where diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives matter. It's where you're empowered to bring your authentic self to work.

Feeling your best allows you to do your best. Our benefits take care of the whole you-from physical and mental to financial and professional. You'll get opportunities to further your education and career, support for you and your family (including your pets!), paid time off to volunteer for the things that matter to you, and more.

We're obsessed with impact and making a real difference. For us, that means putting relationships first, asking "why not?" when tackling challenges, and continuously learning new skills.

Come do more than join something, change something. For students, for future generations, for the future of education.

About the Role:

We are seeking an Associate, Scrum Master to join our OCIO team during an exciting period of growth. Our organization is actively evolving its agile practices, and this role is critical in helping teams stay focused, collaborative, and productive amidst change.

This is a hands-on, facilitative role for someone who thrives sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with developers, fostering strong team rapport and guiding effective delivery practices. You'll start with 1 team, and work your way in supporting up to 3 agile teams, helping them self-organize, follow Scrum best practices, and continuously improve their performance and collaboration.

This is not just about running ceremonies-it's about protecting the team, helping the business make informed decisions, and telling the story of team progress in a way that supports sustainable, iterative change.

What You Will Do:

• Serve as a servant leader and facilitator for agile development teams, focusing on team health, productivity, and outcomes.
• Lead standard SCRUM ceremonies (Team Sync, Retrospectives, Sprint Planning, etc)
• Support the team in tracking progress using a delivery tool Azure DevOps; ensure visibility into sprint commitments, burn-downs, and velocity trends.
• Participate and contribute to Communities of Practice, SoS, and other enterprise initiatives that share and advance practical knowledge.
• Help the team maintain focus on delivery goals amidst shifting business needs, with support from your manager in navigating broader organizational challenges.
• Promote self-organization, team accountability, and accurate estimation to improve delivery predictability.
• Encourage continuous improvement through structured retrospectives and the tracking of tangible outcomes.
• Proactively identify and manage cross team dependencies, risk and impediments; effectively communicates with impacted parties and escalates immediately if objectives are not being met.
• Protects the team and builds trust with stakeholders.
• Champion change management through storytelling-helping your team and business stakeholders understand the why behind process shifts and delivery decisions.
• Partner closely with developers, testers, product owners, and other cross-functional team members to ensure smooth collaboration and shared ownership of outcomes.
• Learn the systems (legacy, modern tech stacks, mobile apps, etc.) well enough to speak knowledgeably and advocate for the team's needs and constraints.

Qualifications:

• 2+ years of experience performing Scrum Master responsibilities leading ceremonies
• Experience working within an Agile delivery tool (Azure DevOps is nice to have but not required) to track stories, tasks, and metrics.
• Background working in or closely with IT teams
• Comfortable supporting agile teams through change in a dynamic environment; adaptable and proactive in ambiguous situations.
• Strong facilitation and collaboration skills-especially across team members with varying agile maturity.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; comfortable navigating change and promoting agile values with a positive, constructive tone.
• Familiarity with Scrum, Agile, or SAFe principles; SAFe Scrum Master certification (or willingness to obtain within 6 months).
• This role will have a hybrid but flexible 3 days in office policy at our locations.

Nice to Have:

• Experience working with multiple tech stacks or types of applications (e.g., legacy, mobile, cloud, web).
• A mindset focused on delivery excellence, velocity, and predictability-balanced with empathy and servant leadership.
• Strong understanding of estimation techniques, sprint planning mechanics, and capacity planning.
• BS degree in a technical, business, or related field
• SAFe Scrum Master certification

Feeling your best helps you do your best:

Our benefits take care of the whole you-so you can build your work around your life (not the other way around!).

• Competitive base salaries
• Bonus incentives
• Generous PTO, Floating Holidays and 12 Federal Holidays observed
• Support for financial-well-being and retirement 401k with employer match
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, hospital indemnity, critical illness, pet insurance and more
• Employer paid short-term/long-term disability and basic life insurance
• Flexible hybrid working arrangements.
• Paid parental leave and adoption reimbursement programs
• Free access to on-site staffed fitness centers (in Delaware) and gym subsidy (for locations outside Delaware)
• Confidential counseling support (EAP), Health Advocacy services and Wellness program with financial incentives
• Tuition Reimbursement and Family Scholarship Programs
• Career development and training opportunities

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Sallie Mae is proud to be an equal opportunity (EEO) employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, genetic information, gender identity, disability, Veteran status or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. Click here to view the U.S. Pay Transparency Policy, here for federal job applicant notices, and here to view the California Employee Privacy Notice.

Reasonable accommodations are available for applicants with disabilities in all phases of the application and employment process. To request an accommodation please call and choose option 9. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.