Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Certification
Timeline
Generic

Bolade Otufale

Kitchener,ON

Summary

Team-driven Scrum Master, servant-leader, and certified agile practitioner knowledgeable in task prioritization, risk management and workflow optimization. Committed Agile expert with over 5 years of expertise in delivering value, presenting information clearly, developing high performing teams and ensuring quality through the application of agile and lean principles to foster positive development across the agile release train. Collaborative individual remains poised in all types of situations. Team-oriented individual promoting exemplary presentation, project management and risk oversight skills. Demonstrative Scrum Master with background communicating effectively with and leading high-performance teams. Considered expert in prioritizing tasks and optimizing workflows.

Overview

9
9
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification

Work History

Scrum Master

Royal Bank of Canada, RBC
Toronto, ON
07.2021 - Current
  • Accountable for creating and maintaining appropriate vehicles for open communication within scrum team (e.g. Tracker boards) to create trusting and safe team environment.
  • Communicated cross functionally, ensuring transparency of progress and outcomes; report team progress and accomplishment up and across; facilitate status updates, product demos and retrospectives; ensure timely project reporting completed accurately in required systems.
  • Facilitated Scrum framework – sprint planning, backlog grooming, daily scrums, sprint reviews and sprint retrospectives.
  • Led sprint reviews, daily scrums and planning meetings to realize full team engagement.
  • Managed product backlog and supported Scrum framework for monthly sprint releases.
  • Led sprint reviews, daily scrums and planning meetings to realize full team engagement.
  • Collaborated with product owners, team members, technologists and other scrum masters to define solutions and drive progress.
  • Planned Agile best practices and encouraged team cohesion, overcoming impediments and hurdles to productivity.
  • Coached teams in Agile practices and provided necessary training to create positive mindset to Agile methodologies.
  • Applied agile methodology to shorten cycle time and achieve target margins.
  • Assessed each scrum team member's responsibilities and delegated tasks to balance each employee's workload.
  • Worked effectively with multiple Scrum teams both internally and off-shore.
  • Shielded scrum team from external interference for optimal productivity and success of Agile process.
  • Provided extensive guidance on Agile scrum processes and methodologies to highly effective teams with goals of improving quality and productivity.
  • Drove Scrum team progress to overcome obstacles and realize success throughout life of each sprint.
  • Researched emerging technologies and current trends to stay knowledgeable in methods that could benefit Scrum team.
  • Worked to provide continuous improvement for product development lifecycle, realizing 70% reduction in technical debts over four PIs.
  • Evangelized Agile as strategic asset of culture and business value, inspiring teams in implementation of new tools and techniques.
  • Anticipated impediments to team delivery involving cultural barriers and logistical challenges.
  • Collaborated with project owners and team members to set ambitious but achievable goals.
  • Managed and motivated project teams to promote collaboration and keep members on-task and productive.
  • Planned and arranged meetings with external organizations and individuals, enabling parties to meet and discuss project progress.
  • Maintained project schedules by managing timelines and making proactive adjustments.
  • Gathered and disseminated project materials at key points to stakeholders.
  • Managed minimum of 4 projects each year while maintaining adherence to budget, schedule and scope requirements.
  • Built and utilized reporting systems to keep customers and management in loop with latest information.
  • Closely collaborated with project members to identify and quickly address problems.
  • Enforced alignment of project strategy with business objectives and made modifications to promote efficient project completion.
  • Identified innovative and automated approaches to routine tasks, making suggestions that were widely received.
  • Investigated and corrected or escalated project problems.
  • Proactively identified and found ways to resolve issues to prevent distractions and keep projects on track.

Senior Scrum Master

First Bank of Nigeria
Lagos, Nigeria
01.2018 - 06.2021
  • Identified impediments and enable teams to effectively remove impediments and facilitate discussion, decision making and conflict resolution
  • Facilitated Scrum Events for teams and participate in SAFe ceremonies
  • Enabled transparency into team(s) ways of working by enabling team level metrics around key performance indicators and use facts from these metrics to drive team(s) improvements
  • Identified team(s) improvement opportunities and bring best practices to optimize team effectiveness
  • Demonstrated domain expertise and leadership; coach and guide others on emerging trends/developments and share knowledge of business and Agile-related tools/techniques through workshops/training
  • Worked with Product Owner to achieve effective Product Backlog management, and that appropriate product backlog items are added to sprint backlog, facilitate Story Mapping, assist/create user stories and Acceptance Criteria maximize value delivery
  • Enabled Scrum Team(s) to define clear product goal and sprint goal and S.M.A.R.T PI objectives
  • Enabled teams to focus on sprint Goals in context of Program Increment objectives
  • Drove continuous improvement and act as change agent to adapt processes to maximize productivity throughout product life cycle
  • Effectively collaborated and negotiated with other teams and Scrum Masters/Project Managers to manage cross dependencies
  • Implemented action plans to improve upstream planning, collaboration, and communication with stakeholders within and across Teams.
  • Supported ongoing development of positive work environment that promotes service to business, quality, innovation, and teamwork and ensure timely communication of issues/points of interest
  • Provided thought leadership and/or industry knowledge for Agile execution and participate in capability building for the team and the organization
  • Worked closely with shared services teams like Information security, Governance, Production support and infrastructure to remove impediments and look give them all heads up of dependencies
  • Facilitated Scrum framework – sprint planning, backlog grooming, daily scrums, sprint reviews and sprint retrospectives.
  • Led sprint reviews, daily scrums and planning meetings to realize full team engagement.
  • Managed product backlog and supported Scrum framework for monthly sprint releases.
  • Collaborated with product owners, team members, technologists and other scrum masters to define solutions and drive progress.
  • Planned Agile best practices and encouraged team cohesion, overcoming impediments and hurdles to productivity.
  • Applied agile methodology to shorten cycle time and achieve target margins.
  • Assessed each scrum team member's responsibilities and delegated tasks to balance each employee's workload.
  • Coached teams in Agile practices and provided necessary training to create positive mindset to Agile methodologies.
  • Proactively identified and found ways to resolve issues to prevent distractions and keep projects on track.
  • Shielded scrum team from external interference for optimal productivity and success of Agile process.
  • Drove Scrum team progress to overcome obstacles and realize success throughout life of each sprint.
  • Provided extensive guidance on Agile scrum processes and methodologies to highly effective teams with goals of improving quality and productivity.
  • Researched emerging technologies and current trends to stay knowledgeable in methods that could benefit Scrum team.
  • Anticipated impediments to team delivery involving cultural barriers and logistical challenges.
  • Evangelized Agile as strategic asset of culture and business value, inspiring teams in implementation of new tools and techniques.
  • Closely collaborated with project members to identify and quickly address problems.
  • Maintained project schedules by managing timelines and making proactive adjustments.
  • Planned and arranged meetings with external organizations and individuals, enabling parties to meet and discuss project progress.
  • Managed and motivated project teams to promote collaboration and keep members on-task and productive.
  • Gathered requirements, defined scopes, allocated resources and established schedules meeting or exceeding project demands.
  • Collaborated with project owners and team members to set ambitious but achievable goals.
  • Identified innovative and automated approaches to routine tasks, making suggestions that were widely received.
  • Analyzed projects to determine resource requirements and procured necessary equipment and software.
  • Built and utilized reporting systems to keep customers and management in loop with latest information.
  • Created clones, images, templates, snapshots, resource allocation, resource pools and system monitoring by applying subject matter expertise of VMS file system.

Scrum Master

First Bank of Nigeria
Lagos , Nigeria
08.2016 - 12.2017
  • Facilitated Scrum events and framework (sprint planning, daily scrum, sprint review, sprint retrospective) as needed or requested, helping team to understand purpose and value of each event, and need to stay time-boxed
  • Ensured direct and constant communication across teams, with delivery leaders and ensure remote team members remain engaged.
  • Encouraged self-organization and cross-functionality within teams and built trusting partnership with Business and Teams.
  • Helped remove impediments to team's progress, and work with teams on ways to avoid future impediments.
  • Participated in product backlog refinement in preparation for upcoming sprint planning
  • Collaborated with other Scrum Masters to increase effectiveness of Data Office Scrum policies
  • Managed product backlog and supported Scrum framework for monthly sprint releases.
  • Collaborated with product owners, team members, technologists and other scrum masters to define solutions and drive progress.
  • Planned Agile best practices and encouraged team cohesion, overcoming impediments and hurdles to productivity.
  • Coached teams in Agile practices and provided necessary training to create positive mindset to Agile methodologies.
  • Assessed each scrum team member's responsibilities and delegated tasks to balance each employee's workload.
  • Worked effectively with multiple Scrum teams both internally and off-shore.
  • Shielded scrum team from external interference for optimal productivity and success of Agile process.
  • Provided extensive guidance on Agile scrum processes and methodologies to highly effective teams with goals of improving quality and productivity.
  • Proactively identified and found ways to resolve issues to prevent distractions and keep projects on track.
  • Communicated with Scrum team members to keep project on schedule.
  • Gathered and disseminated project materials at key points to stakeholders.
  • Shielded scrum team from external interference for optimal productivity and success of Agile process
  • Coached teams in Agile practices and provided necessary training to create positive mindset to Agile methodologies
  • Worked to provide continuous improvement for product development lifecycle
  • Managed work and project responsibilities by assigning tasks to internal individuals and external teams
  • Drove Scrum team progress to overcome obstacles and realize success throughout life of each sprint
  • Provided extensive guidance on Agile scrum processes and methodologies to highly effective teams with goals of improving quality and productivity
  • Managed product backlog and supported Scrum framework for monthly sprint releases
  • Anticipated impediments to team delivery involving cultural barriers and logistical challenges

Business Analyst

Sycamore Group
Lagos, Nigeria
03.2014 - 07.2016
  • Supported / led small to medium projects, ensuring deliverables are completed accurately and on time
  • Worked with IT to implement system enhancements and fixes
  • Participated in product development meetings and ensure new products are implemented accurately and on timely basis
  • Ensured completeness and accuracy of reinsurance data, which is used widely for business decisions and reporting
  • Identified areas of opportunity through detailed analysis and develop/document recommendations for improvements
  • Developed and maintained strong working relationship with various departments within segment and across segments
  • Liaised between business and system areas, investigating business/system issues, recommending and implementing solutions
  • Cross-trained and back up day to day functions as required
  • Supported internal and external audits.
  • Conducted interviews with key business users to collect information on business processes and user requirements.
  • Analyzed key aspects of business to evaluate factors driving results and summarized into presentations.
  • Applied honed problem-solving skills to analyze and resolve issues impacting business operations and goal achievement.
  • Improved business direction by prioritizing customers and implementing changes based on collected feedback.
  • Identified process inefficiencies through gap analysis and outlined sensible solutions.
  • Met with stakeholders to establish favorable business relationships and support mutually beneficial interests.
  • Evaluated trends to understand competitive environments and assess current strategies.
  • Assessed impact of current business processes on users and stakeholders and evaluated potential areas for improvement.
  • Evaluated business requirements, leveraging information to forecast costs relating to hardware, software and consulting.
  • Led cross-functional teams to analyze and understand enterprise-wide operational impacts and opportunities of technology changes.
  • Developed short-term goals and long-term strategic plans to improve risk control and mitigation.
  • Established strategy for operations reporting and analytics, identifying key needs for deliverables while driving continuous improvement of processes.
  • Instituted contingency plans, ensuring business continuity through cross-training, documentation and data backups.
  • Assigned tasks to associates, staffed projects and updated involved parties to enhance optimal business flow.

Desktop Support Officer

Ultra-Moss Technologies
Lagos, Nigeria
06.2013 - 02.2014
  • Managed 10 Jira calls daily and ensured all calls are resolved in minimum amount of time
  • Tested new equipment, install upgrades to software and hardware and created, maintained and configured user databases and systems, if required
  • Delivered personal computers, sets up and instructs staff on operation; conducted preventative maintenance of personal computers
  • Accessed and maintained variety of confidential information and files to respond to request for information
  • Provided assistance and technical support to other members of IT department.
  • Followed up with clients to verify optimal customer satisfaction following support engagement and problem resolution.
  • Configured hardware, devices and software to set up work stations for employees.
  • Broke down and evaluated user problems, using test scripts, personal expertise and probing questions.
  • Helped streamline repair processes and update procedures for support action consistency.
  • Collaborated with vendors to locate replacement components and resolve advanced problems.
  • Carried out day-day-day duties accurately and efficiently.
  • Performed duties in accordance with applicable standards, policies and regulatory guidelines to promote safe working environment.
  • Maintained servers and systems to keep networks fully operational during peak periods.
  • Removed malware, ransomware and other threats from laptops and desktop systems.
  • Patched software and installed new versions to eliminate security problems and protect data.
  • Quickly learned new skills and applied them to daily tasks, improving efficiency and productivity.

Education

MBA - Executive Business Administration

Obafemi Awolowo University
Nigeria
11.2017

Bachelor of Science - Statistics And Demography

Obafemi Awolowo University
Nigeria
12.2010

Skills

  • Programming Languages: SQL
  • Collaboration Tools: Azure DevOps, JIRA Align, Atlassian Jira, Confluence, Slack, Teams, Mural board
  • MS Office Suite: Excel, Power point, Word
  • Agile Best practices, Scrum Processes and Scrum Methodology
  • Active listening and Collaborative Team Work
  • Critical thinking and team Leadership
  • Teaching, Coaching, facilitating, development team trainings and Mentoring
  • Excellent interpersonal, negotiation, persuasion, influencing and relationships management skills
  • Strong conflict resolution skills and empathy in situations
  • Project Management and Project Team Coordination
  • Work Planning, Prioritization and Coordination
  • High level of flexibility, openness, and adaptation in line with product goal
  • Organization and Time Management

Certification

Certified Scrum Master(CSM)

Timeline

Scrum Master

Royal Bank of Canada, RBC
07.2021 - Current

Senior Scrum Master

First Bank of Nigeria
01.2018 - 06.2021

Scrum Master

First Bank of Nigeria
08.2016 - 12.2017

Business Analyst

Sycamore Group
03.2014 - 07.2016

Desktop Support Officer

Ultra-Moss Technologies
06.2013 - 02.2014

MBA - Executive Business Administration

Obafemi Awolowo University

Bachelor of Science - Statistics And Demography

Obafemi Awolowo University
Bolade Otufale