Manager, IT Delivery: Agile Practices

OCC • Chicago, IL

4d • $126,500 - $168,800 • Hybrid

About The Position

This strategic leadership role drives organizational Agile transformation by leading a team of practitioners who teach, mentor, and advise stakeholders across the enterprise on Agile methodologies and practices. The role requires expertise in multiple Agile frameworks at program and team levels, people-management capabilities, and the ability to foster operational excellence and continuous improvement. It shapes the maturity of delivery teams and works with senior stakeholders to embed Agile principles across the organization. The position also serves as Jira Product Manager, owning configuration, governance, and optimization of Jira as the enterprise Agile delivery platform.

The manager leads Scrum Masters across multiple product teams, manages relationships with managed service providers, and supports delivery teams through coaching and servant leadership. In partnership with the Group Director and senior leaders, the role evolves enterprise Agile capabilities, assesses Agile maturity, develops improvement roadmaps, and establishes practices aligned with organizational priorities. It also governs Jira configurations and strategy, maintains leadership dashboards and Advanced Roadmaps, and uses delivery metrics and feedback to improve team and program performance.

The role requires a bachelor's degree in information technology, computer science, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and 7+ years of relevant experience. Candidates must have at least five years of direct Scrum Master experience leading software development teams, including five or more years of enterprise-scale Jira administration or product management experience. Preferred qualifications include Jira Product Manager or Administrator experience in an enterprise environment and professional Agile, Six Sigma, or Atlassian certifications.

The position is hybrid, with up to two remote workdays per week. The stated salary range is $126,500 to $168,800, with an eligible annual discretionary incentive target range of 8% to 15%.

Requirements

• Demonstrated success guiding organizations through Agile transformations and building high-performing Agile teams.
• Extensive experience leading Scrum Masters, including career development and professional growth of direct reports.
• Practical experience implementing and managing Agile metrics and KPIs that drive improvement.
• Deep understanding of SAFe and direct implementation experience.
• Hands-on experience with Agile methodologies beyond Scrum, including XP and Kanban.
• Experience with enterprise-scale release planning and coordination.
• Experience consolidating and analyzing data from diverse sources to identify trends and inform decisions.
• Experience as a Jira Product Manager or Jira Administrator, translating Agile process needs into tool configurations.
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills and ability to influence across organizational levels.
• Strong analytical, reasoning, and problem-solving abilities.
• Demonstrated servant leadership approach to team management.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Experience working in diverse Scrum teams and contexts, including different team sizes, organizational cultures, and co-located or distributed environments.
• Recent Agile training, conference participation, and community involvement demonstrating continuous professional development.
• Ability to analyze complex data sets and translate findings into actionable insights.
• Enterprise-scale Jira experience administering projects, workflows, permission schemes, notification schemes, and custom fields; 5+ years required.
• Advanced proficiency with Jira Advanced Roadmaps for program-level planning, capacity management, and dependency tracking.
• Experience building and maintaining Jira automations, integrations such as Confluence, Bitbucket/GitHub, and ServiceNow, and reporting dashboards using native or third-party tools such as EazyBI and Scriptrunner.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Project for data analysis and stakeholder communications.
• Working knowledge of ServiceNow or similar ticketing systems for process management and workflow automation.
• Fundamental understanding of IT infrastructure and systems design principles affecting team operations.
• Bachelor’s degree in information technology, computer science, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and 7+ years of relevant experience.
• Minimum 5 years of direct experience as a Scrum Master leading software development teams applying Agile methodologies.
• Track record managing high-performing Agile teams through complete delivery lifecycles.
• Advanced knowledge of Agile/Scrum frameworks with practical application across diverse contexts.
• Ability to proactively identify potential impediments and guide teams toward resolution before delivery is affected.

Nice To Haves

• Experience as a Jira Product Manager or Jira Administrator in an enterprise environment.
• Professional Agile certifications.
• Six Sigma certification.
• Atlassian Certified Professional – Jira Project Administration or similar Atlassian certification.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of Scrum Masters deployed across multiple product teams and manage relationships with managed service providers.
• Coach delivery teams to self-organize and achieve objectives, fostering psychological safety, transparent problem-solving, constructive conflict resolution, and continuous improvement.
• Establish accountability frameworks and monitor Scrum Master effectiveness and team performance metrics.
• Serve as Jira Product Manager, governing project configurations, workflows, permission schemes, and board setups.
• Partner with the Group Director and cross-functional senior leaders to evolve enterprise Agile capabilities in line with changing business priorities.
• Design and implement approaches to mature Agile teams and squads from foundational to advanced practices.
• Develop and socialize Agile best practices tailored to the organization.
• Conduct Agile maturity assessments and use findings to create targeted improvement roadmaps.
• Own Jira instance strategy, including scheme standardization, custom field management, and automation rules.
• Design and maintain Jira dashboards and Advanced Roadmaps views that give leadership real-time delivery visibility.
• Advise Product Owners and delivery teams and model servant leadership.
• Facilitate discussions and decision-making forums to establish clarity and alignment.
• Establish communication frameworks that improve transparency and information flow.
• Identify and mitigate project risks through structured governance.
• Use data to measure and improve team performance.
• Lead program-level retrospectives to identify systemic improvement opportunities.
• Develop and refine Agile ceremonies to maximize productivity and engagement.
• Create feedback mechanisms that support ongoing learning and adaptation.
• Evaluate and optimize Jira configurations, automations, and integrations to reduce friction and improve velocity tracking.
• Manage a team.
• Support regulatory compliance through documented process flows.

Benefits

• Hybrid work environment with up to 2 days per week of remote work.
• Tuition reimbursement.
• Student loan repayment assistance.
• Technology stipend for a device of the employee's choice for remote work.
• Generous PTO and parental leave.
• 401(k) employer match.
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits.
• Collaborative and supportive environment intended to encourage work-life balance and employee wellness.
• Eligible for an annual discretionary incentive compensation award with a target range of 8% to 15%.
• Employees may be eligible for a discretionary bonus, based on company and individual performance.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager