Description

About CWS

Position Title: Technical Scrum Master

Reports To: Software Development Manager

Division : Church World Service

Department: Administration, Information Technology

Job Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Grade Level: Grade 7, Supervisor, National

Introduction:

Church World Service (CWS) is a not-for-profit, faith-based organization transforming communities around the globe through just and sustainable solutions to hunger, poverty, displacement and disaster. CWS does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, gender identity, genetic information, age, disability or veteran status in employment or in the provision of services.

Primary Purpose

The Project Lead Scrum Master, working closely with the development team and product owner is responsible for coordinating and supporting the smooth running of agile processes, ensuring team productivity, removing obstacles and compliance with operational and administrative policies.

This role ensures the effective coordination of IT Software Development Team and Program engagement to meet programmatic goals and compliance standards. The Scrum Master leads cross-functional teams, drives process improvements, and serves as the secondary liaison with PRM, USCIS, and other stakeholders for efficient delivery.

Key Relationships

Internal to CWS

• Deputy Director of RSC Programs
• IT Director
• Senior Programs Team
• Software Development Manager
• Associate Director, Strategic Planning

External

• PRM and USCIS
• CWS RSC Africa's implementing partners
• As Needed

Work Environment

• Office environment with periodic travel to the field as required.

Responsibilities

Requirements Specification

• Coordinate stakeholders: invite SMEs to refinement, clarify non-functional requirements, and resolve conflicting priorities.
• Coach the Product Owner (PO) to own and prioritize the backlog; ensure the PO articulates value, acceptance criteria, and priority.
• Facilitate Backlog Refinement sessions so items become clear, small, and estimable (split epics, define acceptance criteria, surface dependencies).
• Enforce Definition of Ready (DoR) and Definition of Done (DoD) so the team only pulls sprint work that's actionable and testable.
• Promote testable requirements by encouraging acceptance tests, using relevant scenarios to reduce ambiguity and defects.

Facilitate Scrum Ceremonies

• Plan and run Sprint Planning, Daily Standups, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective and Backlog Refinement.
• Run daily unblock huddles; create escalation path; map dependencies; assign owners.
• keep meetings time-boxed and outcome-focused.

Coach Team and Stakeholders

• Teach Scrum rules, provide servant-leadership, and continuous improvement.
• Mentor individuals on collaboration and self-organization.
• Communicate progress, risks, and dependencies to managers, developers, and business stakeholders.

Protect Team Focus

• Shield team from scope creep, unnecessary meetings, and ad-hoc requests.
• Help Product Owner prioritize backlog. Help refine backlog, clarify acceptance criteria, and ensure user stories are ready for sprint planning.
• Establishing and tracking relevant metrics.

Remove Impediments

• Identify blockers (technical, organizational, external) and either resolve them or escalate with clear owner and resolution timelines.
• Mediates disagreements and fosters psychological safety.

Track and Report

• Track metrics (velocity, cycle time, sprint predictability, blocked time) and run experiments to improve them.
• Track readiness metrics: percent of sprint backlog meeting DoR at planning; number of rework items due to unclear requirements.
• Stakeholder Management through reporting.

Compliance

• Ensures all functions strictly adhere to the DOS/PRM, USCIS, RPC, CWS Africa policies, guidelines, and procedures.
• Ensures development, implementation, dissemination, monitoring and adherence to Processing Guides for processing of refugees eligible for the US Refugee Admissions Program in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Conducts job function observations to ensure compliance is met and identifies any areas of improvement or training needs.

Stakeholder Engagement and Representation

• Maintains effective relationships with RSC implementing partners, including PRM, IOM, UNHCR, RPC and domestic Resettlement Agencies.
• Ensure professional, timely, and proactive communication with partners.
• Represent CWS/RSC Africa's values and policies to staff, partners, and applicants.
• Ensure staff professionalism in all external engagements

Additional Responsibilities

• Perform other duties as assigned to enhance program quality and efficiency.

Qualifications

Experience:

• A minimum of six years' relevant paid work experience is required with hands-on coaching and measurable team outcomes.
• Proven experience supporting software teams in Agile / Scrum environments.

Skills:

• Strong communication and facilitation skills; experience with Jira, Confluence, or similar
• Strong verbal and written English language skills.
• Demonstrated computer skills, especially Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills.

Education & Certifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in IT, Business, or related field, or four (4) additional year's work experience in lieu of a bachelor's degree.
• Certified Scrum Master (PSM I/II, CSM certification)

Abilities:

• Understands enough of the product/tech stack to remove technical blockers.
• Prioritizes team needs, removes obstacles, protects team focus.
• Runs time-boxed ceremonies, keeps meetings outcome-driven.
• Teaches Agile practices, develops team autonomy and PO collaboration.
• Identifies root causes, escalates and coordinates cross-team fixes.
• Aligns PO, managers, and external stakeholders to the sprint goal.
• Turns retrospectives into measurable experiments.
• Work under pressure with competing priorities
• Analyze and solve complex problems and make sound decisions.
• Work with minimal supervision.
• Maintain a high-performance standard with attention to detail.
• Work independently and contribute to overall operations of CWS Africa.
• Actively participate in the implementation of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP)

Important Requirements:

• Strong English communication skills, both written and oral.
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment required.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and willingness to support CWS' Platform on Racial Justice as a CWS employee required.
• Remain alert and responsive to any child safeguarding and PSEAH (Prevention of Sexual, Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment) risks, acquire relevant knowledge and skills which will enable you to promote strong safeguarding PSEAH practices, understand the child safeguarding and PSEAH Policies and procedures, and conduct yourself in a manner consistent with the Child Safeguarding and PSEAH Policies.

Special Requirements

• The candidate should be in good health, willing and able to travel extensively in often difficult conditions and have a high degree of flexibility. Must have proof of Yellow Fever vaccination before traveling for RSC Africa.
• This position is based in Nairobi in Kenya.
• This position requires use of laptops at all time, competence in Microsoft office packages is required.
• This position may require travel in sub-Saharan Africa on short notice and under sometimes difficult conditions to meet demands of a dynamic operational program.
• Background check which includes references, and an educational and criminal check is required before the start of employment.
• A valid passport and the ability to maintain a valid passport throughout the entire appointment is required, which includes having enough passport pages for travel.
• Environmental: Incumbents in this position will be exposed to excessive noise, marked changes in temperature and/or humidity, dust and infectious diseases, harsh weather climates, long work hours, bumpy roads, extended travel, excessive sun exposure, and non-ventilated spaces.
• The US Embassy rates Kenya as both HIGH in crime and HIGH in terrorism. Incumbents should fully understand the insecurities present within Kenya and the region.
• The position is Full time
• All employees should be prepared to work from the CWS office within their location of hire. Remote work arrangements may vary depending on location and the governing regulations based on prevailing context.