Agile Process Manager

Description

The agile process manager is responsible for various methods and practices working on the priorities of the business to deliver value and provision capabilities as well as improving the overall maturity in agile practices. This function has the responsibility to integrate delivery of the organization’s portfolio of projects, products, and structured work efforts ensuring all are manageable, consistent and aligned toward progressive achievement of overarching goals. 

This role will develop and support a learning model through mentorship and coaching, enabling training and continuous improvement throughout. The agile process manager embodies and enables an agile culture.  

Primary Responsibilities and Activities 

• Lead and drive Agile transformation efforts through collaboration with leadership and other stakeholders
• Facilitates among the stakeholders and department leadership a consensus around the mission and vision of the team to foster an agile oriented mindset while building product and project-oriented capabilities aligned to value delivery
• Engages senior leadership and business partners to define the goals and operating model in the form of team charter or mission statement 
• Leads the identification and development of team members, team configuration and recruitment appropriate to deliver the agreed-upon goals and objectives 

Methodology Competency

• Leads the identification and implementation of agile processes, methods, tools, guidelines and standards in order to establish a stable framework that supports all project teams and stakeholders to improve the probability of successful product delivery 
• Develops and guides the agile practice, putting in place the systems, processes and ways of working to sustain high performing teams 
• Facilitates the agreed-upon process that develops plans and prioritization by leadership and governance 
• Defines, manages and directs the needed end-to-end APMO work effort, which includes leveraging best practices and techniques in identifying, quantifying and tracking the realization of expected benefits 
• Accountable for the consistency of DDI’s operating methodology and associated processes 

Coaching and Engagement

• Provides ongoing coaching and mentoring to Scrum Masters and leadership as needed 
• Builds and maintains relationships with senior leadership and stakeholders, and acts as a trusted advisor 
• Leads the establishment of an agile community of practice (CoP) to facilitate collaboration and best-practice sharing among practitioners 
• Instill a learning culture to continuously inspect and adapt methodology and efficiency 
• Provides support to goal coaches and KPI leaders ensuring that culture, behaviors and mindsets support the organization’s values
• Ensure alignment to the cross-departmental roadmaps, create a collective plan to manage dependencies 

Continuous Improvement

• Regularly reviews and evaluates opportunities to improve the project management best practices in order to achieve higher agile maturity model1 
• Evolve and continually improve the interdependencies between business models and operating practices, integrating waterfall, iterative, and agile delivery models into one, cohesive delivery strategy to best meet the evolving business needs 
• Engage the organization to ensure continual feedback and identify emerging methodology and alignment needs 

Performance

• Assess enterprise or portfolio performance, using metrics and reporting. Supporting the organizations progression towards a value based operating model 
• Assures strategic alignment through prioritization, resource capacity management, key result tracking and program management to achieve strategic vision 
• Manages and optimizes the flow of value through the organization 
• Tracks and communicates key organization metrics 
• Escalates and tracks organization impediments, removing them where possible 

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, information systems or related field with ten or more years’ experience in combined (waterfall and agile) environments along with applicable certifications such as (not all are required) 
• Fifteen or more years of overall experience in IT and business/industry 
• Five to seven years of leadership responsibilities 
• Experience with one or more agile or lean methodologies 
• Program management skills and experience, plus significant knowledge of productivity tools with evidence of practical application (which is highly desirable). 
• Exceptional leadership skills with the ability to develop and communicate the strategic vision and inspire and motivate staff.