M-Pesa Africa – Scrum Master - Compliance at Safaricom Kenya

Role Description 

M-Pesa, is a pioneering fintech business and global market leader in mobile money. From starting in 2007 as a convenient means by which the unbanked and underbanked can make digital payments, M-Pesa has now grown to offer >50 million active customers financial services, enterprise, merchant and retail solutions. We are proud of our work in enabling the digital economy in our markets, and in driving financial inclusion.

M-Pesa Africa is now making strides to deepen and strengthen its offering to consumers and businesses in our operating countries, making it easier for them to manage their money and get more from their limited resources.

Initial projects and value streams will focus on Financial Services including Merchant and Consumer loan products and Overdrafts.  Future projects may support the full range of M-Pesa services.

As a Scrum Master, you will act as a servant-leader for an Agile development team within an Agile Release Train (ART) as described by the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).  This role will include providing coaching on Agile principles and practices as well as guiding, facilitating, mentoring, and consulting on Agile techniques and ceremonies. The Scrum Master will help to maximize the Agile Team’s potential and productivity to deliver a sustainable and predictable flow of value.  The Scrum Master will also help embed continuous learning and continuous improvement with the aim to lead the Agile Team members to self-sufficiency. 

Key Role Responsibilities 

Exhibits Lean-Agile leadership: 

• Exhibits the behaviours of a Lean-Agile Leader with a Lean-Agile Mindset
• Helps the team embrace SAFe Core Values, adopt and apply SAFe Principles, implement SAFe practices  

Champions adopted Agile practice: 

• Demonstrates, champions and enforces the use of Agile practices adopted from the SAFe framework. These may include the rules of Scrum, Built-In Quality practices, Work in Process limits from Kanban, and any other process the ART or the team has agreed to adopt 

Facilitates the team’s progress toward team goals:  

• Acts as a team facilitator and is continuously engaged in challenging the old norms of development to improve performance in the areas of quality, predictability, flow, and velocity.
• Helps the team focus on creating increments of value each iteration and achieving daily and Iteration Goals in the context of the current Program Increment (PI) Objectives.  

Leads team efforts in relentless improvement: 

• Helps the team improve and take responsibility for their actions; facilitates the team retrospective.
• Teaches problem-solving techniques and helps the team become better problem-solvers for themselves.  

 Facilitates events: 

• Facilitates team events, including the Daily Stand-up, Iteration Planning, Iteration Review, Iteration Retrospective, Backlog rRefinement and the team’s PI Planning activities and ensures they are productive and kept within the timebox 

Supports the Product Owner:  

• Helps the Product Owner in their efforts to manage the backlog and guide the team while facilitating a healthy team dynamic with respect to priorities and scope.  

Facilitates the removal of impediments: 

• Helps the team in addressing and eliminating impediments and issues to improve the likelihood of achieving the objectives of the Iteration.
• Promotes SAFe core competencies:  
• Helps the team to excel at the SAFe core competencies of Agile Product Delivery, and Team and Technical Agility.  

Builds a high-performing team: 

• Focuses on ever-improving team dynamics and performance and coaches the team in self-management.
• Helps the team resolve interpersonal conflicts and challenges and identify opportunities for growth.                  
• Escalates team problems to the RTE when necessary, but only after internal team processes have failed to resolve the issue; helps individuals

Responsibilities to the RTE and Agile Release train

• Supports the RTE who is leading a team of Scrum Masters within the ART to achieve the best outcome for the ART
• Helps coordinate inter-team cooperation and helps the team to operate seamlessly alongside other teams with the ART
• Helps the RTE and other Scum Masters to achieve their goals
• Leads the team in managing external dependencies and the on time delivery of dependencies others have on the team

Coordinates with other teams

• Supports the team’s efforts to continuously improve communications and relationships with other teams
• Represent the team in the Scrum of Scrums, helping the team remain aware of opportunities to engage and improve program effectiveness
• Helps the team build effective relationships with the System Team, User Experience, Architecture, and Shared Services.

Supports SAFe adoption

• Supports the overall adoption of SAFe across the enterprise by coaching stakeholders and other non-agile teams on effective interactions with agile teams, participating in the Scrum Master Community of Practice, and supporting the organization’s Value Management Office

Enables organizational effectiveness

• Works with other Scrum Masters and stakeholders to help the team contribute towards improving the overall development Value Stream

Facilitates preparation and readiness for ART events

• Assists the team in the preparation and contribution to ART events, including PI Planning, System Demos, and the Inspect and Adapt Workshop

Supports estimating:

• Guides the team in establishing normalized estimates and helps the team understand how to estimate Features and Capabilities

Apply if you have: 

Essential

• Bachelor’s degree required, an MBA or master’s degree (Finance) in a related field preferred 
• Relevant certified Scrum Master qualification, for example, SAFe Scrum Master or equivalent
• Agile Experience including international suppliers or markets – minimum 3 years
• Communication and relationship management experience to executive level –minimum 2 years
• Hands-on experience of working with international stakeholders and teams

Desirable

• Understanding of compliance regulations and practices (anti-money laundering, fraud controls, biometric solutions.
• Demonstrable knowledge of mobile money, fintech and financial services
• Technical Mobile Payment or Financial Payment Service Experience – 2 years
• Service Operations Qualification – ITIL
• AML Qualification - ICA Certificate in Anti Money Laundering Awareness
• Regulated service industry experience