Agile Coach

Customer Value Partners

About The Position

The Agile Coach is a senior leadership position responsible for championing and implementing Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®) practices across clinical informatics teams supporting VA's Electronic Health Record Modernization. This role leads Agile transformation, coaches teams and leadership on Lean-Agile principles, facilitates Program Increment (PI) planning, and ensures continuous value delivery across 170+ VA Medical Centers.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree required in Business, Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field; Master's degree preferred
SAFe® certification required:
Minimum: SAFe® Agilist (SA), SAFe® Scrum Master (SSM), or SAFe® Release Train Engineer (RTE)
Minimum 7 years in Agile delivery and transformation roles
Minimum 3 years in SAFe® implementation or coaching capacity
Proven experience facilitating PI Planning events for large programs (50+ participants)
Demonstrated success coaching and mentoring Agile teams and leadership
Experience with Agile metrics, tools (Jira Align, Jira), and reporting
Deep knowledge of SAFe® principles, practices, and all levels (Team, Program, Large Solution, Portfolio)
Expert understanding of Lean-Agile mindset, values, and principles
Strong knowledge of Scrum, Kanban, XP, and other Agile frameworks
Understanding of DevOps, Continuous Delivery, and technical practices
Experience scaling Agile across multiple teams and complex programs

Nice To Haves

SAFe® Program Consultant (SPC) strongly preferred
Additional certifications preferred: Certified Scrum Master (CSM), PMI-ACP, or equivalent
Healthcare or federal government Agile experience preferred

Responsibilities

SAFe® Implementation & Facilitation
Lead implementation and maturation of SAFe® practices across multiple Agile Release Trains (ARTs)
Champion Lean-Agile principles and mindset, driving cultural transformation throughout the organization
Facilitate quarterly Program Increment (PI) Planning sessions ensuring alignment of teams to common objectives
Guide execution of 20 iterations annually with two-week sprint cycles and additional intervals for innovation and planning
Establish and maintain Agile governance structures, ceremonies, and metrics aligned with SAFe® best practices
Facilitate Inspect and Adapt (I&A) workshops to drive continuous improvement
Coaching & Team Development
Provide expert coaching to Agile teams, Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and Release Train Engineers (RTEs)
Mentor leadership on Lean-Agile transformation, servant leadership, and change management
Coach teams on SAFe® ceremonies including Sprint Planning, Daily Stand-ups, Reviews, Retrospectives, and PI Planning
Guide teams in breaking down features into user stories with clear acceptance criteria
Foster culture of continuous improvement, psychological safety, and high performance
Support development of self-organizing, cross-functional teams
Program Optimization & Stakeholder Engagement
Oversee Agile metrics and reporting including velocity, burn-down/burn-up charts, and predictability measures
Identify and eliminate impediments, bottlenecks, and organizational barriers to flow
Collaborate with Product Management to maintain and prioritize program backlogs
Partner with VA leadership, Product Owners, and technical teams to drive Agile adoption
Present Agile practices, progress, and recommendations to executive stakeholders
Support risk identification, dependency management, and issue resolution across ARTs