Senior Manager, Agile Operations and Portfolio

Johnson Controls, a global leader in thermal management, mission-critical building systems, energy efficiency, and decarbonization, helps customers use energy more productively, reduce carbon emissions, and operate with the precision and resilience required in rapidly expanding industries such as data centers, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, advanced manufacturing, and higher education.

For more than 140 years, Johnson Controls has delivered performance where it really matters. Backed by advanced technology, lifecycle services and an industry-leading field organization, we elevate customer performance, turn goals into real-world results and help move society forward.

The Senior Manager, Agile Operations & Portfolio Management drives execution of the product-based operating model by improving portfolio visibility, delivery predictability, and alignment between strategy, funding, and execution.
 

Role Purpose

Enable scalable, predictable, and value-driven execution of the product model by:

• Improving portfolio visibility across all products, programs, and workstreams
• Enhancing delivery predictability and flow efficiency across Agile teams
• Strengthening alignment between strategy, funding, and execution
• Establishing consistent ways of working, governance, and reporting standards
• Integrating delivery performance with financial management

Key Responsibilities

1. Agile Operations & Delivery Governance

• Establish and enforce standard Agile ways of working across product teams (Scrum, Kanban, scaled practices)
• Drive consistency in:
  • Sprint execution and cadence
  • Backlog health and prioritization discipline
  • Lifecycle management (idea → delivery → value realization)
• Partner with Product Owners, Engineering Managers, and Scrum Masters to:
  • Remove systemic delivery impediments
  • Improve team throughput and stability
  • Standardize intake and execution processes

2. Portfolio Visibility & Flow Management

• Own end-to-end portfolio transparency, including:
  • Demand intake (above/below the line work)
  • Work-in-progress (WIP) tracking
  • Capacity allocation across teams
• Implement and manage flow-based metrics, including:
  • Throughput
  • Cycle time / lead time
  • WIP limits and bottleneck identification
• Provide leadership with real-time views of portfolio health, risks, and dependencies

3. Financial & Investment Governance

• Align delivery execution with financial planning and budget oversight
• Partner with Finance and Product leadership to:
  • Track actuals vs. plan across the portfolio
  • Provide visibility into cost-to-deliver by product / initiative
  • Support capacity planning tied to investment decisions

• Enable more effective trade-off decisions (value vs. cost vs. capacity)

4. Portfolio Planning & Prioritization

• Facilitate structured portfolio intake and prioritization processes
• Support quarterly planning and ongoing backlog prioritization by:
  • Aligning work to strategic outcomes and OKRs
  • Ensuring capacity is allocated to highest-value initiatives

• Drive clear segmentation of work:
  • Strategic initiatives (above the line)
  • BAU / operational / tech debt work (below the line)

5. Reporting, Metrics & Insights

• Define and operationalize a standard set of portfolio KPIs and dashboards, including:
  • Delivery predictability (planned vs. actual)
  • Velocity and throughput trends
  • Flow efficiency and bottlenecks
  • Cost and budget performance
• Build executive-level reporting to support data-driven decision-making
• Establish a single source of truth leveraging tools such as Jira and financial systems

6. Organizational Alignment & Continuous Improvement

• Act as a change leader in advancing Agile maturity across the organization
• Identify and drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance delivery performance
• Partner with leadership to:
  • Clarify roles and accountabilities
  • Eliminate duplication and inefficiencies
  • Strengthen alignment between business and IT

Key Outcomes / Success Measures

• Improved portfolio predictability (reduced delivery variance)
• Increased visibility of demand, capacity, and execution status
• Strong al