Job DescriptionJob Title: Principal Agile Coach Enterprise Product and Portfolio Transformation
Job Location: Chicago, IL, 60604, USA
Work Model: Hybrid
Duration: 12+ Months
Must Have Skills/Attributes: Agile coach, Finance, Product Management
Experience Desired:- Experiencecoaching Agile product management and organizational transformation -financial orgs (10+ yrs),
- Experiencecreating leadership communications, Agile guidance, playbooks, trainingmaterials (10+ yrs)
- Directexperience converting traditional waterfall project silos into lean-agilevalue streams (10+ yrs)
Job DescriptionRequired Skills for the Agile Coach- 10+ years ofexperience coaching Agile product management, and organizationaltransformation within large financial institutions
- Exceptionalwritten communication skills with demonstrated experience creatingleadership communications, Agile guidance, playbooks, articles, trainingmaterials, or similar content
- Directexperience leading scaled-agile execution for financial service technologyportfolios - prior framework experience may include SAFe, LeSS, DAD,Spotify Scrum@Scale or similar approaches
- Ability toidentify and nurture value streams at portfolio level. Direct experienceconverting traditional waterfall project silos into lean-agile valuestreams
- Priorexperience in establishing portfolio-level workflow structures, operatingmodels, and transformation roadmap
- Experiencecreating playbooks maturity models, guidance materials, and coachingframeworks that support Agile adoption at portfolio, program-project, andteam levels
- Exceptionalwritten communication skills with experience producing high-qualitypublished content
- Highlyflexible/dynamic/consultative work approach - a problem-solver
- Well-versedthrough direct experience in establishing and reinforcing an Agileadoption lifecycle at portfolio, program-project, and team levels
- Highaptitude for heavy interaction with business owners, polishedcommunication skills
- Excellentfeedback, conflict management and mentoring skills
Preferred Skills:- Experiencedeveloping, implementing, or experimenting with AI Assistants, AI agents,generative AI solutions
- Experiencedesigning, configuring, or developing AI-enabled solutions, AI assistants,or AI agents
Agile Coach Overview:- This rolewill operate at the program and portfolio level, helping establish andscale Agile, product management, and product ownership capabilities. TheCoach will facilitate and guide product teams through discovery activitiesincluding customer journey mapping, persona development, product strategy,value stream identification, epic and feature prioritization, andorganizational transformation efforts. The role will also conduct Agileassessments, evaluate team and program maturity, identify improvement opportunities,and help develop transformation roadmaps based on assessment results. Inaddition, this role will contribute to the development of Agile guidance,playbooks, coaching content, maturity models, and thought leadershipmaterials used across the organization.
Responsibilities:- As an AgileCoach helps teams, programs and leaders move beyond process adoption andimprove organizational effectiveness through Agile principles, productthinking, continuous improvement and Lean practices. Through education,mentorship, leadership development, content creation, assessment andfacilitation, help teams and teams-of- teams internalize Agile principlesrather than blindly following a new process
- Lead withinfluence and operate at all levels of the organization including seniortechnology, operations and line of business leadership. Guide andinfluence both cultural and process change
- Utilizein-depth knowledge of Lean-Agile frameworks along with industry andtechnology experience to assess program maturity and recommend, establishand ensure consistency in Agile practices across portfolios and programs
- CoachProduct Owners and Business Analysts on best practices around backlogmanagement, product discovery, customer value and the creation andelaboration of Features and Epics
- FacilitateSolution Architects and Development Leads to explore features and reachenough definition and design
- CoachSolution Architects and Development Leads in Systems Thinking and assiststhem in setting up architectural guidelines/guardrails that enabledecentralized decision making
- Ensurehealthy product backlog prioritization and refinement, Release planning,Iteration/Sprint planning practices are used
- DevelopAgile enablement content including playbooks, guidance materials, coachingframeworks, assessments, maturity models, articles, and training resources
- Support thecreation and adoption of AI-enabled Agile coaching capabilities includingexperimentation with AI agents, assessment automation, knowledgemanagement solutions, and productivity tools
- Collaboratewith stakeholders to identify opportunities where AI technologies canimprove coaching effectiveness, assessments, planning, reporting, andorganizational agility
Program Metrics:- Assess theProgram's agile practices through various tools including healthassessments, maturity models, predictability measures, flow metrics, WIPmeasures and other indicators of organizational effectiveness
- Deliver keymetrics to stakeholders to demonstrate continuous improvement and ensurealignment in coaching and Agile practices
- Review Teampractices routinely with Team coaches and Scrum Masters to establish teamcoaching and transformation plans
- Establishteam health and maturity measurements
- Establishcoaching and transformation backlog and share progress with keystakeholders
- Demonstratecontinuous improvement across the program in predictability and deliveryas adoption of Agile practices increases
