Agile Product Coach

How will this role impact First Command?

The Agile Product Coach will be instrumental in shaping long-term strategy for the Digital Solutions department, ensuring that our digital products are developed and delivered with agility and strategic foresight. By coaching teams on Agile, Product, and Client-centric mindsets, this role bridges the gap between delivery and strategic product planning. The Agile Product Coach will guide and mentor agile teams, Product Managers, and Product Owners while actively contributing to strategic discussions and reporting on key commitments to the organization. This is a hands-on role that involves not only facilitating process improvements and cultural change but also directly influencing digital product strategy, roadmaps, and performance measurement.

What will you do in this role?

Portfolio Strategy Alignment

• Serve as a strategic advisor for the Digital Solutions department, aligning agile practices with digital product initiatives and long-term business goals.
• Collaborate with department leadership to integrate digital transformation goals into agile processes and team strategies.
• Mentor Product Managers in developing robust product strategies and detailed roadmaps that support digital initiatives.

Agile and Product Coaching

• Guide teams on maintaining agile techniques and refining practices to ensure product strategies and overall business objectives are met.
• Develop and integrate the First Command Delivery Playbook, leveraging the Forrester Product Management Marketing (PMM) model to ensure business-ready solutions that include comprehensive Training, Adoption, Communications, and Marketing strategies.
• Lead specialized agile workshops that address product strategy, market analysis, and innovation for both Product Managers and Product Owners.
• Work closely with Product Owners to enhance backlog analysis, story creation, and effective refinement practices, ensuring that digital products are aligned with customer needs and strategic goals.

Reporting and Accountability

• Develop and maintain a reporting framework that tracks commitments made to the company, ensuring transparency and accountability.
• Champion the use of metrics (velocity, quality, digital performance indicators, etc.) and other objective measures to track team and digital product performance.
• Monitor progress against strategic milestones and digital product commitments, providing regular updates and actionable insights to stakeholders.

What skills & qualifications do you need?

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, business administration, or a relevant field.

Work Experience

• 10 years experience in an Agile environment.
• 5 years of experience in an Agile Product Coach role or team coaching position with an Agile mindset.

Certifications 

• Possession of relevant certifications such as Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Certified Scrum Professional (CSP), ICAgile Certified Professional in Agile Product Coaching (ICP-ACC), or Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP.)

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong experience and deep understanding of various Agile methodologies such as Scrum, Kanban, and Scrumban.
• Familiarity with Agile frameworks like SAFe (Safe Agile Framework) and LeSS (Large-Scale Scrum) and experience leading/implementing these frameworks.
• Demonstrated experience in the Agile process, including coaching and mentoring teams and individuals in Agile practices and roles.
• Proficiency and competencies in using, implementing, and championing the use of Agile tools and processes to support team collaboration such as Jira, Trello, or Azure DevOps.
• Experience in guiding and supporting organizations through agile transformations, familiarity with the changing management principals, frameworks, and strategies to facilitate a smooth transition.\
• Hands-on experience introducing, adapting, and maintaining the Agile approach to cross-functional teams.
• Possesses excellent communication and interpersonal skills and the ability to convey ideas, facilitate discussions, and provide feedback effectively.
• A strong sense of empathy and the ability to understand and relate to the perspectives of team members while building trust, promoting collaboration, and resolving conflict.
• Adaptable and flexible with the ability to adjust coaching techniques based on the needs of different teams.
• Ability to promote open dialogue and create an inclusive and safe environment for the sharing of ideas and knowledge.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to gather and interpret data, metrics, and feedback to identify areas for improvement.

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