Senior Scrum Master with Security Clearance

About Fulcrum Defense
Fulcrum Defense is a defense technology company building AI orchestration and governance software for the Department of War and Intelligence Community. We also put experienced practitioners on the programs our customers depend on. In this role you'll support a U.S. Space Force program in Colorado Springs.

The Role

We're looking for a Senior Scrum Master who is at heart a coach. You'll be joining engineering teams that are capable and mission-focused but new to Agile. Right now they see Scrum as extra process. Your job is to change that. You won't do it by enforcing ceremonies. You'll make every sprint event visibly worth an engineer's time, until the teams run them because they want to. You'll work with a multi-company team of engineers and a government-side Product Owner. Program leadership backs this effort and will give you real authority to reshape how the teams work.

Some teams are a natural fit for Scrum and others for Kanban, and you'll help each one adopt the approach that fits its work. This role is a good fit if you've taken a team from "why are we doing this?" to "this is how we work," and you can point to what changed.

What You'll Do

Coach engineering teams from low Agile maturity to self-sustaining Scrum or Kanban practice, and help decide which framework fits each team's work. Make ceremonies earn their place: run focused, useful Sprint Planning, Refinement, Reviews, and Retrospectives, and cut or reshape anything that isn't adding value. Close the retrospective loop by making sure improvement actions are owned, tracked, and actually carried into the next sprint. Teach teams to write clear user stories with testable acceptance criteria, and to break work into sprint-sized pieces.

Build capacity-based sprint planning so commitments are realistic and teams start hitting them. Coach and support the Product Owner on backlog ownership, prioritization, and refinement, and fill gaps directly while that capability grows. Establish consistent, low-friction Jira practices (board design, workflows, definitions of ready and done) so the data reflects reality. Implement Kanban practices for flow-based teams: visualized workflow, WIP limits, and flow metrics such as cycle time and throughput. Use team metrics to show progress to the teams themselves and to government stakeholders.

Represent your teams in program-level planning and sync events, and escalate impediments and cross-team dependencies.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's degree and 6+ years of related experience equivalent to a System Engineer Level 4
Active Secret clearance; U.S. citizenship required.
Current industry-recognized Agile certification (Scaled Agile, Scrum.org, Scrum, Inc., Scrum Alliance, or PMI)
Demonstrated experience coaching a low-maturity or struggling team to sustained Agile practice, with specific examples of what improved.
Hands-on experience with both Scrum and Kanban.
Experience coaching Product Owners or backfilling PO responsibilities.
Proficiency configuring and managing Jira boards, workflows, and reporting.

Desired Qualifications

Coaching-focused credentials such as ICAgile ICP-ACC, SAFe Advanced Scrum Master (SASM), or Kanban University KMP/TKP.
Experience coaching engineering-heavy teams (software, systems, or cyber) that were skeptical of Agile.
Experience working across multi-contractor teams as a subcontractor or embedded coach.
Prior experience supporting DoD, Space Systems Command, or U.S. Space Force programs.
Familiarity with SAFe and DevSecOps practices.
Experience with Confluence.

Work Arrangement

Hybrid. On-site in Colorado Springs as program needs require. Candidates must live within commuting distance.

Compensation & Benefits

The pay range for this position is $120,001–$160,000.annually. Actual pay depends on experience, qualifications, and contract requirements. Fulcrum Defense is an

Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.