Sinota Odu
MD
Summary
Experienced Agile Certified Scrum Master with strong and effective communication coupled with an upbeat, energetic, and compassionate servant-leadership style. Committed to business/customer value, relationship building and continuous process improvement. Sound reputation for increasing product quality and Feature delivery time by improving team communication, self-organization, and self-management through continuous Agile and Scrum coaching during Product Backlog Refinement, Daily Scrum, Sprint Planning, Sprint Retrospective and Sprint Review. Led workshop on Scrum Master Best Practices for driving focus on deliverables, team communication, building and optimization. High success rate in assisting teams with removing bottlenecks/impediments. Increased revenue by coaching team on the importance of customer commitment and outcome and delivering on time. Used Agile Manifesto, Scrum and Kanban to coach and lead, resulting in a 20% increase in team's throughput and completion of Healthcare App 1 month before schedule. Applied Agile Manifesto, Principles, Values and Frameworks to ease the adoption of Agile values and principles to the business, influencing leadership on the culture change needed to shift from Traditional/Waterfall to an Agile mind set. Applying SAFe to guide team's product and program management in planning productive PI schedules for the development and delivery of prioritized Features. Continuous coaching with team, stakeholders, and other Scrum Masters on Agile and SAFe methodology and practices. Worked closely with and supported Product Owners and development teams before, during and after SAFe PI Planning to create product roadmaps, sprint goals and support the execution of PI timelines and objectives.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Lead Scrum Master
Magellan Health
10.2024 - Current
- Leading 3 onshore and offshore Scrum Teams in high complexity work streams dealing with Interoperability and EDI (Client Interface)
- Implementing Scrum and Agile process to reach about self management, respect, openness, trust and commitment
- Influencing and collaborating with teams and leadership to drive continuous improvement while advocating for transparency, inspection, and adaption
- Partnering with the Product Owner for Product Backlog health, preparedness and execution
- Creating a team environment that is open, non-judgmental, trustworthy to foster problem solving
- Protecting the Scrum team from outside interference
- Assessing and coaching team maturity at a sustainable pace
- Reducing bottlenecks in development process by actively removing impediments and facilitating solutions.
- Strengthening team cohesion and morale, organizing team-building activities and maintaining open-door policy.
Senior Scrum Master
Deluxe
02.2024 - 08.2024
- Trained, coached and drove an 11-member Onshore and Offshore team to be delivery focused using the Agile mind-set while applying the Scrum framework; ensuring a deep understanding and effective utilization of Scrum principles & practices to provide & implement Payroll production support & software initiatives
- Practiced servant leadership in coaching the Scrum Team to self management and organization, with a focus on delivery, fostering a collaborative and supportive environment
- Coordinated Daily Scrum events with the team to ensure clear communication, alignment, delivery and removal of impediments towards the sprint goals
- Supported the creation of user stories within the Product Backlog, while working closely with the product owner to prioritize and clarify requirements that the team could deliver
- Engaged in Sprint Planning and execution of the sprint process, ensuring timely delivery of sprint goals and maintained focus on the highest priorities
- Facilitated effective teamwork to build a strong sense of product ownership within the Scrum team, driving engagement and commitment
- Engaged in continuous improvement initiative by identifying and implementing ways to enhance delivery for greater efficiency and effectiveness via Sprint Reviews and Retrospectives
- Tracked key metrics and empirical data to identify bottlenecks, accurately evaluate the outcomes of Sprints, delivery and value
- Maintained transparency and alignment by collaborating with Product Owner and key stakeholders to identify risks on pending deliverables and Sprint Goals
SAFe Scrum Master
CVS
08.2022 - 11.2023
- Implemented Agile to coach a 14-member (onshore and offshore) front-end development and QA team to successfully increase their effectiveness in how to prioritize, plan, develop, build, test and deploy Web, Android & IOS Modernization and Modularization solutions for digital retail Ratings and Reviews, and Variants
- Used Scrum artifacts, metrics, team maturity and OKR's to work closely with P.O, EM and 5-member development team consisting of QA and 4 developers to improve Site Speed and Stability
- Collaborated with teams, RTE and stakeholders to identify and resolve team and train anti patterns to decrease debt and increase outcomes and value
- Improved Milestone tracking within the team by 40% and Release execution by fostering respect, concise communication, alignment and collaboration between EM's and developers
- Promoted safe space with team members and stakeholders to identify, raise, mitigate, and resolve risks and impediments using verbal and written communication, SOS, ART Sync, Rally metrics, Backlog Refinement, Planning, Daily Scrum, Review and Retrospectives
- Applied SAFe framework to guide team's product and program management in planning productive PI schedules for the development and delivery of prioritized Features
- Partnered with Engineering Mangers and development team to successfully execute Shift Left training and transition
- Continuously coached the team, stakeholders, and other Scrum Masters on Agile and SAFe methodology and practices
- Improved team efficiency by implementing Agile and Scrum methodologies for project management.
- Collaborated with Product Owners to refine requirements and ensure alignment with business goals.
- Collaborated with product owners, team members, technologists, and other scrum masters to define solutions and drive progress.
- Coached cross-functional teams on Agile principles, leading to an increase in successful project deliveries.
- Implemented continuous improvement initiatives through regular retrospective meetings with the team.
- Coached teams in Agile practices and provided necessary training to create positive mindset to Agile methodologies.
- Resolved conflicts and facilitated open communication among team members, promoting a healthy work environment.
- Planned Agile best practices and encouraged team cohesion, overcoming impediments, and hurdles to productivity.
- Streamlined and optimized workflow and communication by implementing Agile frameworks.
- Mentored junior team members on Scrum best practices, fostering their professional growth within the organization.
- Identified potential risks early in the project lifecycle and implemented mitigation strategies accordingly.
- Optimized resource allocation by identifying and addressing bottlenecks in project workflows, leading to reduced time-to-market for product releases.
- Implemented key performance metrics to track team progress and identify areas of improvement consistently throughout projects'' lifecycles.
- Managed work and project responsibilities by assigning tasks to internal individuals and external teams.
- Facilitated seamless integration of new team members into existing projects without compromising productivity levels.
Senior Scrum Master
Farmers Insurance
07.2020 - 07.2022
- Led and coached 12-member cross functional (offshore and onshore) DevOps team consisting of PO, developers, QA/Testing and Systems Architect to deliver on Data Warehousing, Customer Migration and Digital Transformation.
- Using Scrum principles, pillars, metrics, and KT sessions increased newly formed 7-member team (PO, Developers and QA) velocity by 75% and matured cross functional team to high performance within 6 months, while working on Legacy Software Modernization.
- Worked closely with and supported Product Owners and development teams before, during and after SAFe PI Planning to create product roadmaps, sprint goals and support the execution of PI timelines and objectives.
- Coordinated with assigned teams across the ART to supply and deliver testing to support major product Releases.
- Developed strong relationships and partnered with key stakeholders across various departments to collaborate on risk assessment, mitigation strategies and efforts on complex projects.
- Coached through Scrum events and team building activities to promote self management and organization.
- Resolved impediments to team progress by proactively identifying issues and facilitating effective solutions.
- Enhanced team productivity by implementing Agile methodologies and improving communication between cross-functional teams.
- Improved overall project efficiency with effective coordination between development, testing, deployment, and support teams during release cycles.
- Collaborated with Product Owners to develop clear product roadmaps and ensure timely release of high-quality deliverables.
- Optimized existing workflows by analyzing performance metrics and implementing continuous process improvements tailored to specific organizational needs.
Scrum Master
Leidos
09.2019 - 06.2020
- Coached 9-member Scrum team using metrics such as Burndown chart, to follow progress and find problems with delivery early in the Sprint, increasing the team's decision making and efficiency in product planning, delivery, and execution
- Used Agile Manifesto, Scrum and Kanban to coach and lead, resulting in a 20% increase in team's throughput and completion of Healthcare App 1 month before schedule
- Used Sprint Reviews, Retrospectives and Scrum artifacts to drive process improvement efforts in conjunction with Product Owner and Development team
- Ensured effective Product Backlog health by meeting with Product Owner 1:1 weekly to organize PB by priority and business/customer value
- Implemented Fibonacci Sequence and INVEST to grow teams story sizing and planning skills, reducing carry over by 90%
- Worked closely and listened to team members' feedback to identify issues and resolve conflicts.
- Resolved conflicts and facilitated open communication among team members, promoting a healthy work environment.
- Evangelized Agile as strategic asset of culture and business value.
- Implemented risk management strategies to minimize project delays and ensure timely delivery.
Scrum Master
US Bank
05.2017 - 08.2019
- Applied Agile Manifesto, Principles, Values and Frameworks to ease the adoption of Agile values and principles to the business, influencing leadership on the culture change needed to shift from Traditional/Waterfall to an Agile mind-set
- Empowered 6-member Production Support team to track and resolve production issues and bugs by using JIRA
- Resolved conflict between team members creating trust, respect and teamwork building higher productivity
- Enforced the usage of Kanban, cutting production response and resolution time by 25%
HR Coordinator
HealthStream
11.2014 - 02.2017
- Completed background and reference checks to facilitate hiring and onboarding of employees.
- Streamlined HR processes for increased efficiency, reducing time spent on administrative tasks.
- Reviewed human resources paperwork for accuracy and completeness.
- Enhanced company culture by organizing team-building events and professional development opportunities. Maintained accurate employee records in HRIS systems, enabling efficient data retrieval for reporting purposes.
- Supported human resources staff with new hire orientations and monthly departmental meetings.
- Reduced time-to-hire by optimizing interview scheduling processes, leading to faster decision making.
Education
B.A. - Writing
Southern New Hampshire University
Manchester, NH2020
A.A. - Communications
BMCC-CUNY
Manhattan, NY2000
Skills
- Continuous Process Improvement, Problem Solving, Conflict Resolution, Dependencies, Scope Creep
- Waterfall to Agile Transformation
- Agile , Kanban, Scrum SAFe
- Strategic Planning, Execution, OKR's, Risk Management, Business Agility
- Servant Leadership Respect, Humility, Engaging Presenter, Concise Speaker, Good Listener, Coach, Team Building
- Driving Delivery, Product Backlog Health
- Strong Verbal & Written Communication
- JIRA, Rally, Confluence, SharePoint, Mural
- Software Development Life Cycle, Root Cause Analysis
- Microsoft 365 & Teams, WebEx, Zoom
Certification
- Certified Scrum Master (CSM)
- SAFe 5 Scrum Master (SSM)
- SAFe 5 Release Train Engineer (RTE)
- SAFe 6 Scrum Master (SSM)
- Scrum for Operations and DevOps Fundamentals Certified (SODFC)
Timeline
Lead Scrum Master
Magellan Health
10.2024 - Current
Senior Scrum Master
Deluxe
02.2024 - 08.2024
SAFe Scrum Master
CVS
08.2022 - 11.2023
Senior Scrum Master
Farmers Insurance
07.2020 - 07.2022
Scrum Master
Leidos
09.2019 - 06.2020
Scrum Master
US Bank
05.2017 - 08.2019
HR Coordinator
HealthStream
11.2014 - 02.2017
- Certified Scrum Master (CSM)
- SAFe 5 Scrum Master (SSM)
- SAFe 5 Release Train Engineer (RTE)
- SAFe 6 Scrum Master (SSM)
- Scrum for Operations and DevOps Fundamentals Certified (SODFC)
B.A. - Writing
Southern New Hampshire University
A.A. - Communications
BMCC-CUNY
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