Agile Manager

WoodmenLife•Omaha, NE

2d•$120,000 - $160,000•Hybrid

About The Position

WoodmenLife is hiring an Agile Manager to lead Agile Scrum Masters and serve as an organizational agile coach, using the SAFe framework or other Lean/Agile frameworks as appropriate. The role requires hands-on organizational change experience across teams and organizational boundaries. It grows Scrum Masters’ capabilities and advances agile practices through coaching, mentoring, and constructive challenge. The Agile Manager enables new and existing teams to increase business impact by building sustainable Agile behaviors and ways of working. The role ensures Agile values, practices, and frameworks are understood and applied effectively, and coaches inclusively to encourage creativity and problem-solving. The position has a hybrid work schedule at WoodmenLife Tower in Omaha, Nebraska.

Requirements

Advanced knowledge of SAFe and the Agile software development lifecycle, including relevant techniques, principles, and values.
Experience with processes and tools supporting SAFe and Agile methodologies, such as ADO and VSTS.
At least 4 years of experience as an Agile Coach.
At least 7 years of experience successfully running Agile projects of varying size and complexity.
Experience coaching and mentoring organizations and teams to reach their potential.
Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work with diverse personality types and communicate with people at all levels and technical aptitudes.
Facilitation skills for planning meetings, reviews, retrospectives, and pointing sessions; ability to build consensus while being comfortable not necessarily making the decision.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, attention to detail, self-direction, and ability to identify and prioritize issues and mobilize efforts to resolve them quickly.
Ability to demonstrate discretion, objectivity, integrity, and confidentiality in all interactions.
Ability to act as a servant leader and coach or mentor without owning the work.
Ability to embrace and implement an Agile mindset and its associated values and principles.
Ability to operate with a Kaizen mindset and continually improve oneself, teams, and the organization.
Ability to engage effectively with others and a passion for delivering high-quality products and an exemplary customer experience.
Must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis; WoodmenLife will not sponsor work visas.

Nice To Haves

Organizational Change Management (OCM) and adoption strategy experience for Agile transformation.
SAFe Practice Consultant (SPC) certification.
Experience with SAFe Agile transformation.

Responsibilities

Coach, mentor, and lead business and IT leaders by example on the value and benefits of SAFe and leadership in a SAFe/Agile/Lean organization.
Coach and mentor Scrum Masters and Agile teams on SAFe and Agile values and principles to improve the management and optimization of predictable value flow.
Recruit, coach, mentor, develop, and evaluate Scrum Masters.
Lead teams through the cultural transition from traditional waterfall practices toward Lean and Agile mindsets, decision-making, and execution.
Maintain and continually evolve Agile tooling and reporting, including standards and information radiators that illuminate value delivery, team agility, and opportunities for improvement.
Design and execute team-agility health assessments and recommend development plans and roadmaps for skills and practices aligned with organizational practices.
Design, maintain, and continuously improve standard multi-channel Agile training programs to develop Lean-Agile leaders.
Guide leaders on team-level cadence and synchronization to improve progress toward sprint or increment goals.
Help Agile teams commit to small batches of work, reduce feedback cycles, and adapt to changing needs.
Advise on iteration practices and teach teams to break work into small features and user stories, maintain backlogs, and prepare for the next product increment or sprint.
Negotiate across the organization to remove impediments and manage risks.
Foster open communication, feedback, and collaboration between teams and disciplines.
Actively contribute to the company’s Lean Agile Community.
Identify challenges in adopting Agile and recommend adjustments to teams and leadership to sustain progress.
Coach Scrum Masters to use data-driven approaches to analyze team productivity and support high productivity and value flow.
Coach and partner on problem-solving practices that identify root causes and support iterative feedback cycles.