Scrum Master - Agile Delivery & SDLC Leadership - TX

Job#: 3026599

Job Description:
Client: Financial Services
Team: TBA
Job Title: Scrum Master - Agile Delivery & SDLC Leadership
Location: Las Colinas, TX - ON-SITE ONLY
Bill Rate: $61 - $65
Conversion: Possible FTE conversion
Contract Length: 18mo

Top Requirements (Must Haves):

6+ years Agile Scrum Master experience

Strong understanding of SDLC best practices

Active leadership presence - not passive

Ability to influence without authority and maintain a coaching stance

Strong experience with Scrum & Kanban

Advanced proficiency with JIRA and Confluence

Demonstrated ability to escalate early, clearly, and assertively

Must be driven, proactive, and able to articulate influence-based leadership during interviews

Nice to Have:

Scrum or Agile certifications (CSM, PSM, SAFe, etc.)

Experience handling Agile transformations or moving teams from Waterfall to Agile

5+ years of Kanban experience

Experience in regulated environments (financial services preferred)

Experience coaching at the program/large-team level

Key Job Requirement - Leadership, Influence & Escalation

The Scrum Master must demonstrate:
Leadership presence

Drives outcomes and guides teams confidently

Navigates conflict and difficult delivery conversations
Influence without authority

Coaches Product Owners, tech partners, and teams

Pushes back appropriately to protect delivery
Escalation strength

Escalates early and often with context, options, and recommended actions

Notifies leadership when scope, schedule, quality, or compliance is at risk

Serves as an escalation partner for transparency, decision-making, and risk reduction
Accountability & Ownership

Advocates for the team

Challenges assumptions

Ensures enterprise agile and risk standards are followed
Job Summary:

The Scrum Master 3 leads Agile ceremonies, eliminates impediments, and ensures disciplined execution across Scrum and Kanban teams. This role blends Agile coaching, delivery oversight, and strong escalation management to keep teams aligned with business priorities. The Scrum Master must balance hands-on delivery leadership with adherence to SDLC, enterprise governance, and compliance expectations.

The ideal candidate is assertive, proactive, highly communicative, and comfortable operating in ambiguity while driving results.
Day-to-Day Responsibilities:
Scrum & Agile Leadership

Facilitate sprint planning, backlog refinement, standups, reviews, retrospectives

Coach and mentor teams on Agile values, practices, and process discipline

Protect the team from distractions and remove impediments
Project Management & Delivery Oversight

Manage risks, issues, and dependencies

Track delivery progress and maintain transparent reporting

Coordinate releases, cross-team dependencies, and SDLC alignment

Ensure all development activity meets risk, compliance, and governance expectations
Partnering with Product Owners & Stakeholders

Ensure backlog readiness and prioritization

Drive clarity in user stories and acceptance criteria

Facilitate communication between dev teams, leadership, and product management
Metrics & Continuous Improvement

Use Agile metrics (velocity, predictability, throughput) to improve team performance

Lead retrospectives with actionable improvements

Guide teams to focus on value delivery, not vanity metrics
Scaling, Governance, Enterprise Alignment

Support Agile teams in scaled environments (SAFe, LeSS, etc.)

Ensure adherence to SDLC and enterprise Agile policies

Maintain complete and accurate Agile documentation in enterprise tooling

EEO Employer

Apex Systems is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate or allow discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, genetic information, registered domestic partner status, marital status, disability, status as a crime victim, protected veteran status, political affiliation, union membership, or any other characteristic protected by law. Apex will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable law. If you have visited our website in search of information on employment opportunities or to apply for a position, and you require an accommodation in using our website for a search or application, please contact our Employee Services Department at or .

Apex Systems is a world-class IT services company that serves thousands of clients across the globe. When you join Apex, you become part of a team that values innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning. We offer quality career resources, training, certifications, development opportunities, and a comprehensive benefits package. Our commitment to excellence is reflected in many awards, including ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing in Talent Satisfaction in the United States and Great Place to Work in the United Kingdom and Mexico. Apex uses a virtual recruiter as part of the application process. Click for more details.

Apex Benefits Overview: Apex offers a range of supplemental benefits, including medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and other insurance plans that offer an optional layer of financial protection. We offer an ESPP (employee stock purchase program) and a 401K program which allows you to contribute typically within 30 days of starting, with a company match after 12 months of tenure. Apex also offers a HSA (Health Savings Account on the HDHP plan), a SupportLinc Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with up to 8 free counseling sessions, a corporate discount savings program and other discounts. In terms of professional development, Apex hosts an on-demand training program, provides access to certification prep and a library of technical and leadership courses/books/seminars once you have 6+ months of tenure, and certification discounts and other perks to associations that include CompTIA and IIBA. Apex has a dedicated customer service team for our Consultants that can address questions around benefits and other resources, as well as a certified Career Coach. You can access a full list of our benefits, programs, support teams and resources within our 'Welcome Packet' as well, which an Apex team member can provide.