Scrum Advocate

Job Details

General Notes

The Data to Insights (D2I) Initiative at UT Austin is an investment to build a trusted, integrated, and scalable information infrastructure that transforms complex UT data into valued insights for data-informed decisions.

As a team member in the Data to Insights (D2I) Initiative, you will work with a cross-campus team using the latest cloud technologies to build a next-generation data ecosystem that will improve decision-making and advance the university’s mission.

We believe the best ideas arise from collaborative work among colleagues from varied backgrounds and experiences. If you’re the type of person who loves to learn and wants to know your work has meaning, you may find your career home at UT Austin.

Please note that this position is currently funded through August 31, 2026.

The University of Texas at Austin provides an outstanding benefits package to staff, including :

• Competitive health benefits (Employee premiums covered at 100%; family premiums at 50%)
• Vision, dental, life, and disability insurance options
• Paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays
• Teachers Retirement System of Texas (a defined benefit retirement plan)
• Additional voluntary retirement programs : tax sheltered annuity 403(b) and a deferred compensation program 457(b)
• Flexible spending account options for medical and childcare expenses
• Training and conference opportunities
• Tuition assistance
• Athletic ticket discounts
• Access to UT Austin's libraries and museums
• Free rides on all UT Shuttle and Capital Metro buses with staff ID card

For more details, please see : and

This position requires you to maintain internet service and a mobile phone with voice and data plans to be used when required for work.

This position provides life / work balance with typically a 40-hour work week and travel generally limited to training (e.

g., conferences / courses).

Purpose

We are seeking a Scrum Advocate to join our team. Formerly known as a 'Scrum master,’ this position will help to support respect, justice, and effectiveness within a new work group applying Agile methodologies.

The Scrum Advocate for the Data to Insights (D2I) Initiative will guide and coach D2I Scrum teams on agile practices and principles to integrate and simplify university data for insightful decision-making.

The Scrum Advocate will engage with stakeholders from various university academic, administrative, and student support offices and with Scrum team members with functional, analytical, and technical expertise;

they also will work, as needed, with the D2I operations team and the chief strategist for D2I to steer Scrum adoption and implementation.

This position calls for a servant leader and change agent who supports the initiative and the university as we establish core practices of transparency, inspection, and adaptation and uphold our core values of respect, focus, openness, commitment, and courage.

Responsibilities

Planning and ImplementationOrganize and facilitate Scrum events such as sprint and release planning, daily stand-ups, sprint demos and reviews, and sprint retrospectives.

Work with the development team and product owner to identify techniques for effective product backlog refinement, including the curation of clear and concise backlog items, product owner communication and education, minimum viable product agreement, and product release.

Assist the development team with making appropriate commitments through task definition, estimation, prioritization, and story selection.

Equip and assist the Scrum team to remove impediments and shield the team from outside distractions.Employ holistic thinking to recognize patterns and suggest creative and iterative approaches to continuous improvement, looking for opportunities to initiate change that will increase the productivity and effectiveness of the teams.

Perceive and appreciate cultural dynamics within and across teams and continuously adapt our implementation of Scrum strategies to maximize value.

CoachingTrain, mentor, and support cross-functional teams of analysts, engineers, and functional experts to follow Agile values, principles, and practices, including self-organization, self-discipline, collaborative decision making, cooperative development, experimentation, and continuous learning.

Encourage transparency, inspection, and adaptation. Model flexibility and creativity in effectively addressing internal and external challenges.

Provide one-on-one coaching with Scrum team members, stakeholders, and administrators. Translate Scrum and Agile nuanced language and concepts.

Nurture a supportive environment to create and maintain psychological safety, individual empowerment, team cohesion, and morale.

Contribute to performance management by recognizing individual strengths and growth areas, providing mentorship, and advocating for personal advancement and success.

CommunicationFunction as the team’s information radiator, ensuring necessary internal and external communication and improving overall transparency.

Discover or establish communication channels to foster collaboration amongst team members, leadership, and stakeholders.Serve as liaison between the business, represented by the product owner, and the development team, ensuring that goals, scope, and product domain are understood by everyone on the Scrum team.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or at least 4 years of professional experience in information technology or related field.
• Agile expertise and experience coaching and guiding team members. Demonstrated knowledge of implementing incremental delivery methods, backlog tracking, producing burndown metrics, measuring velocity, and task definition.
• Understanding of fundamentals of iterative development as it pertains to moving to an Agile methodology.
• Strong skills in organization and prioritization and ability to foster team self-organization.
• Demonstrated high-energy and motivational skills, including the ability to facilitate discussion and communicate well with teams, advocating for making sure all team members have an opportunity to speak up and encouraging alternatives and divergent thinking.
• Ability to recognize and address behaviors that are counterproductive to the team dynamic and meeting sprint objectives and effectively mediate peer disputes and interpersonal or working style differences.
• Demonstrated insight and initiative to ensure effective implementation of Agile / scrum principles and practices and to engage peers and leadership when help is needed.
• Ability to bring disclosure and transparency to the organization and enhance trust.
• Understanding of other project management processes and methodologies and fundamentals of software development.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience as an Agile project manager or team lead in a data management or business intelligence context.
• Experience as an IT project manager or team lead in a large, enterprise environment.
• Experience with administering Jira.
• Experience driving or coaching DevOps best practices such as CI / CD and test-first approaches (TDD, BDD, Shift-left).
• Experience working in in higher education.
• Experience implementing Agile in highly regulated or matrixed organizations.
• Agile certification such as CSM, PSM or DASM.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.

Salary

$76,284 + depending on qualifications

Working Conditions

• Typical office environment
• Repetitive use of a keyboard
• Occasional extended work hours or on-call obligation
• Location up to 100% remote at employee discretion with office work environment also an option. Majority of team is located in Austin, TX, and working remotely with infrequent in-office presence.

Required Materials

• Resume / CV
• 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor
• Letter of interest

Important for applicants who are NOT current university employees or contingent workers : You will be prompted to submit your resume the first time you apply, then you will be provided an option to upload a new Resume for subsequent applications.

Any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) will be uploaded in the Application Questions section;

you will be able to multi-select additional files. Before submitting your online job application, ensure that ALL Required Materials have been uploaded.

Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes.

Important for Current university employees and contingent workers : As a current university employee or contingent worker, you MUST apply within Workday by searching for Find UT Jobs.

If you are a current University employee, log-in to Workday, navigate to your Worker Profile, click the Career link in the left hand navigation menu and then update the sections in your Professional Profile before you apply.

This information will be pulled in to your application. The application is one page and you will be prompted to upload your resume.

In addition, you must respond to the application questions presented to upload any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.

that were noted above.

Employment Eligibility :

Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers.

Staff who are promotion / transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval.

Retirement Plan Eligibility :

The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length.

Background Checks :

A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.