Denise Apondi

Certified Professional Scrum Master (PSM I) with 12+ years of experience delivering enterprise technology programmes across banking and financial services, including 3+ years leading Agile teams within PMO/EPMO governance environments. Proven success facilitating Scrum ceremonies, coaching Product Owners and Scrum Masters, managing enterprise Agile delivery, executive reporting, portfolio governance, and stakeholder engagement. Experienced leading enterprise digital transformation programmes valued at KES 200M–300M across cross-functional teams using Azure DevOps, ClickUp, Jira, Microsoft Project and Agile best practices.

Scrum Master at HFCB (2026-03 – Present)

• Lead Agile delivery across 3 cross-functional Scrum teams (~18 members) delivering enterprise mobile banking, internet banking, USSD, API integration and digital transformation initiatives.
• Support delivery of enterprise programmes valued at approximately KES 200–300M.
• Facilitate Sprint Planning, Daily Stand-ups, Sprint Reviews, Retrospectives, Backlog Refinement, Release Planning and Scrum of Scrums.
• Partner with Product Owners to maintain prioritised backlogs and value-driven delivery.
• Prepare Steering Committee packs, executive dashboards, RAID logs, portfolio reports and programme updates.
• Coordinate UAT, CAB approvals, pilot releases, production readiness and go-live activities.
• Introduced ClickUp as the enterprise delivery platform with structured backlogs, dashboards and reporting.
• Led adoption of Spira to improve UAT governance and traceability.
• Coach Product Owners and fellow Scrum Masters on Agile delivery, backlog management and servant leadership.
• Track Agile metrics including velocity, burndown, throughput, sprint predictability and release readiness.

Scrum Master at Equity Bank Kenya (2024-08 – 2026-02)

• Led 7 concurrent Scrum teams delivering five digital insurance products across five subsidiaries.
• Facilitated all Scrum ceremonies, coached Product Owners, managed dependencies, Agile metrics and executive reporting.
• Mentored Scrum Masters and Product Owners, improving Agile maturity and delivery effectiveness.

IT Project Manager at Equity Bank Kenya (2016-11 – 2024-07)

• Managed enterprise technology projects, budgets, vendors, governance, risks and executive reporting.
• Introduced Agile practices to improve delivery speed and collaboration.

Project Management Officer at Equity Bank Kenya (2014-06 – 2016-11)

• Supported strategic technology initiatives, governance, planning, reporting and stakeholder coordination.

Bachelor of Commerce in Management Science & Microfinance – Strathmore University