Agile Coach

How will your role impact First Command? 

The Agile Coach will play a key role in long-term strategy across the business, helping our teams deliver better products in a faster, more efficient manner.  They will engage in coaching Agile (Scrum, Scrumban, Kanban) and Product mindsets by actively demonstrating and embracing the principles, values, and behaviors of each mindset. This role will not only coach, mentor and guide agile teams and senior leaders but they will also be a “roll up your sleeves” doer. They will be accountable for providing necessary and direct feedback to key stakeholders including agile team members, senior leaders, and others.

What will you be doing? 

• Guide teams on how to stay on track with agile techniques, fine-tuning their approach to ensure that overall strategy is being met.
• Champion the use of metrics (velocity, quality, etc) and other objective measures by teams.
• Accountable for the identification, measurement, and reporting of agile metrics.
• Make recommendations and drive improvements with agile teams to increase performance and throughput.
• Drive cultural change by championing an agile mindset, and ensure the organization is adhering to industry best practices.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement, setting goals, and milestones.
• Lead agile workshops for developer and functional teams, as well as for key stakeholders (Product Owners, Product Managers, etc.)
• Facilitate learning and development among employees through individual and team coaching.
• Coach senior managers in agile practices to ensure adoption of best practices from the top down.
• Communicate agile principles and overall operating model across the organization.
• Maintain objectivity regarding issues and how to troubleshoot them by applying agile principles.
• Support teams in determining resource allocations to maintain agile practices and ensure smooth project/product delivery.

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 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 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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