Business Analyst & Scrum Master

The Business

• Analyst, Scrum Master and POD Lead is the accountable lead of an SKO delivery
• POD, a self-contained unit comprising a Front-End Developer, an API/Middleware
• Developer, a Database Developer, and a QA/Test Engineer, deployed to deliver
• projects and features for an SKO client.

The role

• combines four responsibilities: business analysis (planning, gathering, and
• analysing requirements), project and delivery management (planning, estimation,
• scope, risk, and release), Scrum Master facilitation (including sprint events
• and retrospectives), and POD leadership. The individual serves as the single
• point of contact for the client, supported by POD members on technical matters,
• and is accountable for the POD delivering agreed scope on time, to the agreed
• quality, and within the agreed commercial terms.

Essential Functions / Deliverables

• Requirements Elicitation, Analysis and Documentation: Plan
• and conduct stakeholder interviews, workshops, and clarification sessions with
• the client to understand business objectives, user needs, business rules, and
• functional and non-functional requirements. Prepare and maintain business
• requirements, functional specifications, use cases, user stories, and testable
• acceptance criteria. Identify assumptions, dependencies, and gaps, and maintain
• requirements traceability from request to release.
• Solution and Process Analysis: Analyse current and
• future-state processes, perform gap and impact analysis, and prepare process
• flows and wireframes. Work with the Front-End, API/Middleware, and Database
• Developers to translate requirements into a feasible solution across the UI,
• integration, and data layers, including API contracts and data requirements at
• a functional level.
• Solution and Process Analysis: Analyse current and
• future-state processes, perform gap and impact analysis, and prepare process
• flows and wireframes. Work with the Front-End, API/Middleware, and Database
• Developers to translate requirements into a feasible solution across the UI,
• integration, and data layers, including API contracts and data requirements at
• a functional level.
• Backlog Management and Story Readiness: Maintain the POD
• backlog with the client Product Owner. Refine and split backlog items, clarify
• business value, and ensure stories meet the agreed Definition of Ready before
• sprint planning. Recommend priorities while leaving final product prioritisation
• with the client Product Owner.
• User Acceptance Testing and Business Validation: Align
• business test scenarios with the QA/Test Engineer, plan and coordinate client
• UAT, triage functional defects, and obtain formal client acceptance of
• delivered features.
• User Acceptance Testing and Business Validation: Align
• business test scenarios with the QA/Test Engineer, plan and coordinate client
• UAT, triage functional defects, and obtain formal client acceptance of
• delivered features.
• Project and Delivery Management
• Delivery Planning, Estimation and Scheduling: Develop and
• maintain release plans, sprint roadmaps, and milestone schedules for each
• project or feature. Lead feature-level effort estimation with POD members, plan
• capacity across roles, allocate work, and set delivery commitments that are
• realistic and agreed with the client.
• Scope, Change and Risk Management: Manage scope against the
• agreed statement of work. Assess change requests for impact on effort, cost,
• timeline, and quality, and obtain approval through the agreed change-control
• process. Maintain a RAID log (risks, assumptions, issues, dependencies), apply
• mitigation actions, and escalate to SKO Delivery Management and the client in
• line with the escalation matrix.
• Scope, Change and Risk Management: Manage scope against the
• agreed statement of work. Assess change requests for impact on effort, cost,
• timeline, and quality, and obtain approval through the agreed change-control
• process. Maintain a RAID log (risks, assumptions, issues, dependencies), apply
• mitigation actions, and escalate to SKO Delivery Management and the client in
• line with the escalation matrix.
• Release, Quality and Handover Management: Coordinate release
• readiness, deployment planning, and go-live activities with the POD and client
• teams. Ensure quality gates, the Definition of Done, and documentation
• standards are met, and manage handover, user guidance, and knowledge transfer
• after delivery.

Scrum Master

• Scrum Event Facilitation and Retrospectives: Facilitate
• sprint planning, daily Scrum, sprint reviews and demonstrations with the
• client, and sprint retrospectives within agreed timeboxes. Ensure retrospective
• outcomes are converted into owned, tracked improvement actions and reviewed in
• subsequent sprints.

Impediment Removal, Agile Practice and Delivery Metrics

• Identify and remove impediments, including access, environment, dependency, and
• decision delays. Promote Agile practices, transparency, and team
• self-management. Track team-level measures such as sprint goal achievement,
• velocity predictability, carry-over, defect leakage, and impediment ageing, and
• use them to drive continuous improvement.

Impediment Removal, Agile Practice and Delivery Metrics

• Identify and remove impediments, including access, environment, dependency, and
• decision delays. Promote Agile practices, transparency, and team
• self-management. Track team-level measures such as sprint goal achievement,
• velocity predictability, carry-over, defect leakage, and impediment ageing, and
• use them to drive continuous improvement.
• Client Engagement and POD Leadership
• Client Single Point of Contact and Governance: Act as the
• primary point of contact between the client and the POD, supported by POD
• members on technical topics. Run client governance including weekly status
• reporting, sprint and release reviews, and periodic steering meetings. Manage
• client expectations, track agreed delivery KPIs and SLAs, and monitor client
• satisfaction and engagement health.
• POD Leadership and Team Development: Lead the POD as a
• cohesive unit. Onboard new members, set working norms, provide performance
• input to SKO line managers, plan leave and backup coverage, resolve team
• conflicts, and support the professional development of POD members.

Working

• closely with the client Product Owner and stakeholders, and with SKO Delivery
• Management, the individual ensures that requirements are clearly understood,
• delivery commitments are realistic and transparent, and the POD operates as a
• cohesive, continuously improving team.

Requirements

• Required Certifications : a recognised business analysis certification
• (CBAP, CCBA, or IIBA-AAC) or equivalent.
• Strongly preferred: a Scrum certification (PSM I, CSM, or
• SAFe Scrum Master) and a project management certification (PMP, PRINCE2
• Practitioner, or PMI-ACP).
• Required Experience : 7–10 years of total experience in software or
• technology-driven projects, including: 5+ years of business analysis; 2+ years
• performing Scrum Master or delivery lead responsibilities for a
• cross-functional team covering front-end, API/middleware, database, and QA
• roles; and 2+ years in a client-facing role as the primary point of contact for
• an external client.

Critical Professional

Required Areas

Required Skills and Tools

• Strong requirements elicitation, analytical thinking,
• process mapping, and documentation skills, including user stories and testable
• acceptance criteria covering business rules and exception scenarios.
• Project planning and control: release and sprint planning,
• effort estimation, scope and change management, RAID management, and status
• reporting.
• Practical command of Scrum accountabilities and events,
• backlog refinement, sprint goals, Definition of Ready and Definition of Done,
• and facilitation of effective retrospectives.
• Working technical literacy across the POD stack: front-end
• concepts, REST APIs and integration patterns (reading API specifications in
• Swagger/OpenAPI; using Postman), relational databases with the ability to write
• basic SQL queries, and software testing life cycle and defect management.
• Hands-on experience with a backlog and delivery management
• tool such as Jira or Azure DevOps, including boards, dashboards, and reporting.
• Familiarity with at least one wireframing or
• process-modelling tool, such as Figma, Miro, or Visio.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and
• Outlook for client reporting and presentations.
• Experience planning UAT, analysing functional defects, and
• maintaining requirements traceability.
• Practical command of Scrum accountabilities and events,
• backlog refinement, sprint goals, Definition of Ready and Definition of Done,
• and facilitation of effective retrospectives.
• Working technical literacy across the POD stack: front-end
• concepts, REST APIs and integration patterns (reading API specifications in
• Swagger/OpenAPI; using Postman), relational databases with the ability to write
• basic SQL queries, and software testing life cycle and defect management.
• Hands-on experience with a backlog and delivery management
• tool such as Jira or Azure DevOps, including boards, dashboards, and reporting.
• Familiarity with at least one wireframing or
• process-modelling tool, such as Figma, Miro, or Visio.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and
• Outlook for client reporting and presentations.
• Experience planning UAT, analysing functional defects, and
• maintaining requirements traceability.

Other Requirements

• Excellent client-facing communication, presentation,
• negotiation, and conflict-resolution skills, with the confidence to manage
• senior client stakeholders.
• Ability to balance analysis, delivery management,
• facilitation, and leadership responsibilities, and to escalate capacity
• conflicts early.
• Willingness to provide working-hour overlap with the client
• time zone and to travel to client sites when required.

Preferred Education

MBA or a relevant postgraduate qualification in Business or

Information Technology.

Preferred Experience

• Experience leading delivery in a POD, squad, or
• managed-services model for an external client.
• Experience with SaaS or PaaS products, and with both
• fixed-scope and time-and-materials engagement models.
• Exposure to digital transformation, process automation, and
• responsible use of approved AI-assisted analysis and documentation tools.
• Experience supporting product demonstrations, user training,
• and knowledge transfer.

Knowledge, Skills &

Abilities

• Ownership mindset: treats on-time, quality delivery and
• client satisfaction as personal accountabilities.
• Servant leadership: leads the POD by enabling, unblocking,
• and developing people rather than directing technical work.
• Commercial awareness: understands how scope, effort, and
• change affect cost, margin, and the client relationship.
• Sound judgement on when to facilitate team decisions and
• when to commit on behalf of the POD, with transparent communication of either.
• Structured problem-solving and the ability to remain
• composed and decisive under delivery pressure.

Ethics & Compliance

• The role requires integrity, transparency, accountability,
• and respectful collaboration. The Business Analyst, Scrum Master and POD Lead
• must follow SKO’s and the client’s policies, governance requirements,
• confidentiality obligations, and information-security practices, ensure the POD
• does the same, and promptly raise potential compliance or delivery concerns
• through the appropriate channels.