SAFe Scrum Master (SSM)

support SAFe adoption at team, ART and Portfolio level with consulting, coaching and training. Establish hierarchical enterprise backlog and Kanban Systems integrating portfolio, value stream and team level. Make e2e value stream flow across organisational boundaries visible and measurable. Teach "stop starting, start finishing" and Limit WiP.

• Rework demand, development and operational organizational set up for the Solution Train
• Rework requirement refinement process flow from strategic theme to user story
• Introduction of visualization tools (Canvas) of work dependencies over different requirement levels and Solution Train leadership coaching

• Industries: Energy, Telecommunications, Manufacturing
• Transformation & Change: Supported complex IT and digital transformation programs as Scrum Master, Agile Coach, Change Manager and RTE Consultant at Siemens Energy (global SAFe rollout), E.ON (sales technology platform), Schneider Electric (S/4HANA transformation DACH) and Vodafone (Operational Excellence)
• Agile Roles: Scrum Master, Agile Coach, Product Owner, Business Analyst, RTE Consultant in cross-functional and scaled teams (SAFe, Scrum, Spotify Model)
• Procurement Excellence: Strategic purchasing consulting with a focus on cost optimization, supplier management, digitalization and organizational development, including building supplier scorecard models, AI-supported procurement approaches and process automation in purchasing
• Managed functional leadership of interdisciplinary project teams of up to 12 people in national and international settings
• Successful launch of several global ARTs at Siemens Energy with improved coordination across sites
• Increased change acceptance and established communication structures in the S/4HANA program at Schneider Electric
• Introduced agile methods, OKR frameworks and KPI dashboards at E.ON, increasing velocity and transparency
• Reduced purchasing costs through strategic sourcing and supplier optimization
• Implemented process innovations in close cooperation with IT and business teams

• Restarting and improving the Scrum process
• Reorganizing and structuring the product backlog in Azure DevOps
• Defining and implementing agile KPIs to measure team performance
• Introducing medium-term planning iterations to ensure delivery dates
• Coaching an advanced development team in finding flow

• Transformation of the program organization from six subprojects into a scaled agile setup as RTE to stabilize the go-live date

• Organizational development by building virtual, agile, cross-functional teams and establishing metrics and performance indicators

• Coaching agile development and rollout principles for an SAP migration

• Training internal staff for new roles and toughening up effort estimates towards the steering board

• Switching to agile governance and reporting structures with a focus on end-to-end business processes

• Establishing the product owner role and promoting agile principles in the SAP development team

• Reduced delivery times through domain-based scoping and smaller cycle times

• More reliable delivery forecasts and increased delivery rates

• Earlier and more frequent feedback from business units, increased trust, and cost savings by eliminating duplicate structures

Goal: Coach a new agile team to implement and deliver the MVP of an AI-powered digital insurance service.

• Kicked off and coached a new cross-functional agile team as Scrum Master.
• Introduced a new Product Owner to the role with coaching, close collaboration and support with daily operations and backlog management in Jira.
• Facilitated the ideation, design and backlog creation process for the MVP, applying the appropriate tools and techniques (user journey mapping, impact mapping, story mapping, AI prototyping).
• Managed dependencies and impediments across multiple teams, resolving challenges rising from the use of both agile frameworks and traditional project management methodologies.
• Facilitated and supported planning and decision-making activities regarding the MVP delivery (roadmap creation, release planning, test management, translation of user feedback into product decisions)
• Continuously improved processes across multiple agile teams, closely collaborating with other Scrum Masters and cross-team roles (leads, architect, test manager).
• Designed and facilitated in-person and remote workshops as needed across multiple teams (agile practices, problem solving, process improvement, AI powered product development).

The managing director stepped back from day-to-day operations because he founded another company during Corona, which left the team without leadership for around 3 years.

My task was to train a new Product Owner, shape a coherent team from the developers and the Product Owner, and coach this newly formed team into a state where self-organized value delivery for the customer was possible again.

Due to the political situation in the US, the revenue of my client’s main customer dropped, which made a change in the business model necessary for my client. I was allowed to support the transition from a service provider to an AI-first company with a broad customer base in a strategic advisory role, hire staff, and facilitate several C-level negotiations between my client and its new customer.

TASKS

• Train the team and management in Scrum and agile working
• Coach a junior Product Owner to PSPO II level
• Mediate conflicts as part of change processes
• C-level consulting and negotiation facilitation
• Develop and evaluate business models
• Lead the hiring process for 4 new employees

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Successfully coached the Product Owner to PSPO II level
• Formed a coherent Scrum team from a team without leadership
• Restored self-organized value delivery for the customer
• Successfully transformed to AI-native development (Claude)
• Successfully changed the client’s business model

TOOLS & METHODS

• Team building
• NVC according to Rosenberg
• Conflict management
• Workshop facilitation
• Negotiation facilitation
• Leadership coaching
• Personio hiring

• Build an AI product end-to-end, hands-on across the full delivery cycle so I stay current on how software teams actually work: modern development, CI/CD, and shipping to production.

• Development of an AI-supported personality analysis based on the institute's SDWA4: online survey, AI-supported and automated evaluation, and email delivery
• Requirements analysis, prototype development, evaluation, derivation of a simplified SDWA4-light analysis, continuous improvement, design, Make automation, deployment

Implementation of anti-money laundering requirements in accordance with AMLA/KYC for an international large bank in Munich

Services provided:

• Clarification of the assignment, definition of the work package structure for the AMLA/KYC implementation project
• AI-supported project planning using my own AI workflow for project management
• Creation of the project management plan
• Resource and capacity planning
• Development of collaboration structures between IT service provider and bank client
• Alignment of responsibilities (RACI matrix)
• Management of 5 project members (core team)
• Project control, project monitoring, project reporting
• Communication management
• Escalation management
• Stakeholder management (11 stakeholders)
• Permanent member of the steering committee
• Project representation internally and externally
• Project reporting, management of decision-making bodies
• Project volume: 506 person-days (development effort)
• Risk management
• Quality management
• Organization and running of workshops

Methods: PMI PMBOK, EVM, GWG, DORA, BAIT, KANBAN, AML, AMLR, AMLA, GWG, KYC

IT environment: JIRA, Confluence, Sharepoint, Kantata Kimble, AI LLM Copilot, ChatGPT, anti-money laundering systems (in-house developments and SMARAGD)

• The AVANZA project provides the deployment and procurement of a modern, reliable system for efficient access and sales and supports smooth operations at the Lötschberg & Simplon car shuttle.
• Operations are sustainably secured and the further development of the car shuttle business model is supported.
• Developed a study with an evaluation of possible solution options.
• Supported the decision on options, evaluated the RFI, prepared procurement, concept created based on the chosen option.

• Introduced Agile-CCPM in an IT project agency focused on PHP-based content management systems.
• Prepared and conducted workshops to establish an agency-wide multiproject management system.
• Coordinated and supported agency partners.
• Coached the methodological framework.
• Collected, analyzed, and used organizational metrics to plan the next steps.
• Environment: OKR, CCPM, agile coaching, agile planning, agile metrics, workshopping, facilitation, change management, JIRA, Zoom, Slack, Miro.

• Project focus: Strategic realignment of global market clusters and design of future-proof data architectures.
• Results & achievements:
• TOM design SEA & General Distributors: Development of a hub-and-spoke operating model for Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore) including site evaluation. Goal: Achieving significant savings in FTE and EUR.
• Data Intelligence Architecture: Conceptualization of a "Data Intelligence Unit" and a Central Data Hub for Europe, including role and process definition.
• AI-Driven Knowledge Management: Implementation of AI-based knowledge management in after-sales to consolidate heterogeneous sources.

• Consulting on Agile Leadership and Lean Management
• Facilitation of workshops
• Training and coaching in Agile Leadership, Lean Management and team development