Kiran Kumar Chitikela
Senior Scrum Master
Hyderabad
Summary
With over 13 years of IT experience, including 11 years in Agile methodologies such as Scrum, SAFe, and Kanban. Currently responsible for managing two Scrum teams following the SAFe and Kanban frameworks. Focus on ensuring Agile best practices and driving continuous improvement. Led SAFe Scrum teams in Tennessee, USA, successfully driving Agile transformations and fostering high-performing teams. Led a team of 25+ members in Hyderabad for four years, emphasizing project management, planning, and execution. Former QA Manager ensuring high-quality deliverables through structured testing and automation strategies. Served as a Test Lead for an Agile Scrum team in Uruguay, South America, driving quality standards and implementing Agile testing best practices. Strong capabilities in facilitating communication and collaboration across teams and expertise in project management tools and techniques. Committed to driving successful project outcomes and fostering continuous improvement.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
7
7
years of post-secondary education
5
5
Certifications
4
4
Languages
Work History
Senior Scrum Master , GSK Pharma
Cognizant Technology Solutions, CTS
06.2022 - Current
- Managed two Agile teams, one following Scrum and another following Kanban, ensuring optimal delivery and adherence to Agile best practices.
- Managed Scrum teams responsible for building automated solutions and applications to monitor and streamline the maintenance and deployment of bots in Automation Anywhere
- Streamlined project delivery by conducting daily stand-ups, sprint planning, and review meetings for multiple projects simultaneously.
- Facilitated the successful transition of a Scrum team to Kanban, optimizing workflow visualization, limiting WIP, and improving cycle time.
- Enhanced team efficiency and transparency by utilizing Jira reports, dashboards, and structures for tracking key Agile metrics such as velocity, cycle time, and burn-down charts.
- Introduced AI-powered tools to improve user story writing and requirement refinement, ensuring better backlog quality and alignment with business needs.
- Collaborated with Product Owners to develop clear product roadmaps and ensure timely release of high-quality deliverables.
- Developed strong relationships with key stakeholders across various departments to enhance collaboration efforts on complex projects.
Scrum Master , Cigna Healthcare
Tata Consultancy Services , TCS
04.2019 - 05.2022
- Led a Scrum team operating within the SAFe framework, ensuring adherence to Agile Release Train (ART) planning, PI objectives, and Lean-Agile principles.
- Managed Scrum teams developing Payer Solutions and Capitation-based transactional modules, ensuring alignment with business and regulatory requirements.
- Spearheaded multiple Agile transformations, guiding teams new to Agile and SAFe, ensuring smooth adoption and maturity in Agile practices.
- Facilitated all Scrum Ceremonies Like Sprint Planning, Daily Stand-Up, Sprint Reviews, Retrospectives and Scrum of Scrums
- Performed Capacity and Velocity based planning to ensure team is committed to Sprint Goals
- Supported Product Owner with creation, refinement, and prioritization of Features and user stories within product backlog
- Managed product backlog and Sprint Backlog in tools like Rally/Jira and supported Scrum framework for Bi-Weekly sprints by prioritization and estimation of Sprint Goals
Project Lead
Tata Consultancy Services
01.2015 - 03.2019
- Recruited, hired and supervised resources to staff project team
- Monitored progress and examined risks of various projects, including setting forth contingency plans
- Maintained tactical control of project budgets and timelines to keep teams on task and achieve schedule targets
- Performed System, Integration and Regression tests on modules and full software implementations for more than 5 projects per year
- Operated under multiple Scrum teams which follow TDD/BDD Approach of Development and have good understanding on processes like Specification by Example, Continuous Integration and Deployment
- Wrote and optimized test cases to maximize success of manual and Automation software testing with consistent, thorough approaches
- Worked in multiple phases of testing and have vast expertise working on many applications like SQL/Toad for Oracle/Soap UI/Informatica/CA Work Station/Mainframes
Education
Bachelor of Technology - Computer Science
S.R.K.R Engineering College
01.2007 - 01.2011
Intermediate - MPC
Intermediate
01.2004 - 01.2006
SSC - 10th
Board of Secondary Education
01.2003 - 01.2004
Skills
- Scrum Project Management
- Agile Methodology Facilitation
- Financial Forecasting Skills
- Product backlog management
- Coaching and mentoring
- Scrum framework expertise
- BDD Methodologies
Certification
Certified Scrum Master by Scrum Alliance
Accomplishments
- Showcased ability to deal with multiple roles and responsibilities at a single time and received appreciations
- Coached multiple new Scrum Teams on successfully adapting to Agile and Scrum practices.
- managed multiple scrum teams that followed different methodologies and trained teams effectively on the best practices
Timeline
Professional Scrum Product Owner PSPO1
09-2024
Certified SAFe Advanced Scrum Master
12-2022
Professional Scrum Master PSM1
10-2022
Senior Scrum Master , GSK Pharma
Cognizant Technology Solutions, CTS
06.2022 - Current
Scrum Master , Cigna Healthcare
Tata Consultancy Services , TCS
04.2019 - 05.2022
Certified SAFe Agilist
05-2018
Certified Scrum Master by Scrum Alliance
02-2017
Project Lead
Tata Consultancy Services
01.2015 - 03.2019
Bachelor of Technology - Computer Science
S.R.K.R Engineering College
01.2007 - 01.2011
Intermediate - MPC
Intermediate
01.2004 - 01.2006
SSC - 10th
Board of Secondary Education
01.2003 - 01.2004
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