Candidates About

Scott T. Johnson, Esq.

Agile Coach with Chief Scrum Master Experience

Expert in Lean and Agile Corporate Transformations within Large IT Departments.

Providing expert coaching, mentoring and training to leadership and teams.

Product champion and Agile / Lean coach with diverse experience in continuous learning & improvement, mentoring and training in the areas of strategy, problem solving, root cause analysis, and maturity assessments for scrum teams and leadership at all levels. 12+ years of IT experience including Product Owner and Scrum Master, marked by proven record delivering innovative, highly successful, and scalable products from concept to market launch with such companies as Northwestern Mutual Insurance, Thomson Reuters, and Deloitte. Keen ability to align with changing trends and priorities, understand business and user needs, and contribute to big-picture objectives. Superb communication, facilitation, and analytical skills enhanced by a legal education at a Big Ten university.

Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) | State Bar Membership | Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

Key Strengths

Agile Coaching | Lean Coaching | Agile Software Development | Scrum Master | Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) | Product Management | Lean Management Training | Continuous Improvement Training | Backlog Management (TFS, LeanKit, JIRA, Agile Central) | Sprint Planning | User Stories | Root Cause Analysis | Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) | Technical Writing | Business Requirements | A3 Problem Solving | Process Improvement | Value Stream Mapping | DevOps Strategy | Kanban | Intellectual Property Law | Six Sigma

D+H (now Finastra) | Mequon, WI | 2017

Chief Scrum Master

As the only Chief Scrum Master at the 3rd largest Financial Technology (FinTech) company in the world, I provided effective collaboration, facilitation, leadership and coaching skills to Agile development teams across the enterprise. I enforced Agile tenants to promote efficiencies, remove large impediments, and promote transparency between teams in both North America and India. I directly coached, mentored, and provided training to Scrum Masters.

§  Acted as servant-leader, coach, and Agile evangelist to Agile teams and leaders.

§  Acted as liaison to the corporate Agile Center of Excellence (CoE) for the New Lending Products division. 

§  Planned and facilitated division-wide touch-points for the Scrum Master Community of Practice (CoP).

§  Facilitated weekly Scrum of Scrums with agile teams in multiple geographic locations.

§  Organized Lunch & Learns to promote awareness of Agile and Lean constructs.

§  Facilitated quarterly planning events (PI Planning) involving leadership and Agile teams in multiple locations.

§  Created Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) to document and promote best-known-practices across the enterprise.

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance | Milwaukee, WI | 2016-2017

Agile Coach – Continuous Learning & Improvement

Sourced to serve as coach, evangelist and subject matter expert (SME) for Lean and Agile IT transformation at a premier insurance and financial services company. Facilitated lean management workshops and led training sessions on Lean and Agile transformations for leadership, development teams, and operational teams. Led strategy, planning, and rapid improvement events throughout the enterprise. Served as post-training coach to ensure maturity and sustainability of new scrum teams. Mentored teams on techniques and best practices.

§  Coached 4 new scrum teams including Product Owners and Scrum Masters from formation to full maturity and sustainability

§  Led week-long DevOps strategy and planning event that resulted in an actionable roadmap to create DevOps teams and adopt best practices; additionally produced a completion plan that identified gaps, risks, and dependencies.

§  Planned and facilitated 6 Lean workshops resulting in the successful launch of 7 new scrum teams across 2 value streams, implementation of Lean and Agile best practices, adherence to Sprint cycles, and improved leadership visibility.

§  Facilitated A3 problem-solving events resulting in 80% increase in Lean and Agile maturity for three scrum teams within 8 weeks.

West Bend Mutual | West Bend, WI | 2015-2016

Program Analyst

Managed tracking and management of information related to overall program performance. Partnered with program manager to reconcile budgets and resource-related items. Coordinated and aligned project plans across work streams.

§  Managed program scope, schedule, and budget communications.

§  Identified cross-track challenges and dependencies across project teams.

Northwestern Mutual | Franklin, WI | 2014-2015

Product Owner | 2015

Promoted to lead an Agile scrum team of four project assistants across the Enterprise Projects and Support division. Updated cost models, managed budget burn-down charts for stakeholders, and led weekly meetings.

§  Led Sprint planning, set Sprint goals, and authored user stories for all product backlog items (PBIs).

§  Developed a metrics dashboard for program managers and directors.

ScrumMaster / Product Owner | 2014-2015

Led two 6-8 person scrum teams charged with the development and implementation of core eSignature services for the Service Request Center of Northwestern Mutual and Northwestern Mutual Investment Services.

§  Owned, managed, and prioritized the product backlog using LeanKit and Team Foundation Server (TFS).

§  Planned scrum sprints, led grooming sessions, Sprint Reviews, retrospectives, business partner meetings and daily scrum huddles.

§  Liaised with business partners, subject matter experts, and corporate leadership to create product backlog and roadmap.

§  Raised eSignature adoption from 23% to 82% of clients in 4 months; achieved a 500% overall increase in eSig transactions.

Thomson Reuters | Bingham Farms, MI | 2010-2014

Product Manager |2012-2014

Owned the Intellectual Property (IP) Rules & Fees automation engine for the Innovation & Asset Management Division producing +26K docketing actions and IP payment calculations across 400 global jurisdictions – the most robust and comprehensive in the industry. Safeguarded intellectual property portfolios against the loss of intellectual property rights. Served as product evangelist for product initiatives; presented and championed proposed product enhancements to the executive team. Utilized Agile development methods and JIRA for backlog management and tracking.

§  Ensured that IP rules & fees calculations were kept up-to-date with 2,500+ patent & trademark law changes occuring annually.

§  Achieved on-time and on-budget releases on every successive project release.

§  Product Manager for a new Intellectual Property Rules & Fees engine that helped increase client adoption and expand to the Cloud.

§  Developed a product roadmap to maintain the company’s position as a global leader in IP management.

§  Partnered with marketing to design the go-to-market (GTM) strategy for the commercial integration.

Lead Technical Writer | 2010-2012

Created and delivered help files, training courses, User Guides for a broad array of Intellectual Property management tools. Developed technical documents and communications for the Legal Division.

§  Created and maintained materials for Thomson's Intellectual Property solution, Thomson IP Manager, utilized by global Fortune 1000 companies to protect and manage intellectual property assets such as patents, trademarks, and licensing agreements; developed online help/user guides, technical requirements, installation guides, and release notes.

§  Authored a style guide that was used throughout the IP Asset Management Division.

§  Earned Six Sigma Greenbelt by leading a global project that reduced late delivery of translations by 90% and increased quality 93%.

Deloitte Consulting | Lansing, MI | 2007-2010

Senior Technical Writer& Business Analyst |2007-2010

Authored and delivered technical, business, and functional requirements.

§  Solely created a 100+ page user guide for the new public assistance eligibility program utilized by every Department of Human Services (DHS) office in Michigan; assisted with live classroom instruction.

§  Wrote and delivered 350+ step-by-step Wizards and 200 business use cases.

Juris Doctorate, Michigan State University College of Law, East Lansing, MI

§  Winner of the 2005 All-School Appellate Competition and the Basic Bankruptcy Jurisprudence Award

Bachelor of Arts, Communication & Rhetorical Speech, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI