HOW WILL YOUR ROLE IMPACT FIRST COMMAND?

This leader will drive First Command forward through our Agile Transformation across the business and in partnership with technology and other transformation counterparts. The incumbent will be key to the transformation throughout the enterprise.  

WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING?

• Lead the overall transformation of First Command to enterprise agility, providing knowledge, expertise, and architecture of enterprise-level Lean-Agile processes

• Use large scale Agile transformation expertise to develop and execute an overall transformation plan, tracking and communicating adoption of practices and processes

• Guide organization and develop enterprise understanding and application of Agile principles and processes

• Through collaborative leadership and stakeholder engagement, install, scale and continuously improve business agility competencies at the enterprise level. 

• Raise recurring issues and pinch points, develop and implement comprehensive solutions to resolve delivery impediments and risks which limit enterprise productivity.

• Promote lean thinking principles such as reduced cycle times, limiting work in progress, understanding of flow, identify waste/inefficiencies, and lead remediation efforts.

• Coach executive team and field leadership in the Agile culture change, creating an environment that meaningfully values and promotes empowerment, skill mastery, transparency, innovation, and learning. Help foster a fail-safe, fail-fast environment where multiple experiments lead to the best solution for the end-user.

• Coach Release Train Engineers, Product Management, and Epic Owners at the program level. Empower others to speak up, take ownership and drive change.

• Create, execute and evolve leadership engagement strategy, creating Agile champions and change agents throughout the Home Office and Field. Evangelize broader transformation mindset throughout the Home Office and Field.

• Identify and continuously refresh First Command value streams through leadership and facilitation of workshops and working groups. Use value streams to inform organizational design concepts in collaboration with Human Resources.

• Lead the Lean-Agile Center of Excellence (LACE). Ensure adaptation of project and portfolio management processes to the Agile framework, establish and support consistent reporting practices. Awareness and working knowledge of each First Command Community of Practice (competency specific or otherwise).

• Collaborate with stakeholders and leadership to establish consistent metrics and KPIs for measuring progress, and effectiveness at the team, product, and enterprise level.

• Work with Leadership Development to maintain appropriate Agile learning paths and internal coaching program.

• Conduct organizational Agile health assessments, including quarterly business value results, key metrics, annual competency maturity assessments, and create action plans for relentless improvement.

• Provide thought leadership to the organization, including external perspectives, to drive client experience improvements through Agile delivery.

• Ensure the organization is 'being Agile' and not just 'doing Agile'.

• Partner with Agile leaders and Human Resources to ensure we have the necessary skills, are proactively addressing skills gaps effectively and are thinking about the skills needed for the future.

 WHO WILL YOU BE LEADING?

This role will lead Release Train Engineers.  Additionally, this role will influence and lead First Command leadership through the ambiguity of an enterprise wide Agile transformation.

 WHAT SKILLS/QUALIFICATIONS DO YOU NEED?

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, MIS, related field, or equivalent experience
• Requires SA/SPC or equivalent SAFe Program Consultant Trainer (SPCT) preferred.
• Lean, Kanban, Continuous Improvement, Process experience/certifications, a plus

Work Experience

• 5+ years of Agile coaching experience 3+ years experience guiding portfolios, product lines, and budgeting in agile methods.
• 5+ years experience managing people and/or teams

Certifications

• Requires SA/SPC or equivalent SAFe Program Consultant Trainer (SPCT) preferred.
• Lean, Kanban, Continuous Improvement, Process experience/certifications, a plus

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (all are required)

• A track record of leadership in Agile transformation in large organizations (150+ people impacted), with proven knowledge of the application of Agile at scale, and the demonstrated ability to coach and lead the cultural and organizational change to make it work
• Experience working in an Agile environment using Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) is mandatory. Experience with other Agile Frameworks like Large Scale Scrum (LeSS), a plus
• Experience transitioning multiple release trains in complex environments.
• Ability to take ambiguous topics and translate into actionable plans working with multiple business and technical stakeholders
• Strong team player with outstanding communication, organization, and collaboration skill
• Excellent listener with a positive and collaborative attitude who possesses skills in conflict-resolution, behavior influencing, and leadership
• Proven ability to think strategically and communicate the strategy to a large organization
• Working knowledge of infrastructure concepts to facilitate delivery of DevOps components of the Agile Transformation program. (build automation, test automation, test-driven development (TDD), Continuous Integration (CI), Continuous Development (CD), Infrastructure as code, etc.)
• Active engagement in external agile and product communities with a network of professional contacts outside of the organization
• Experienced and comfortable working at the highest levels (C-Suite) of the organization
• Use experience, knowledge and expertise to influence decisions that have a wide impact across the organization.
• Proven executive with strong change management and communications acumen
• Proven leadership ability with the skills to identify the necessary skills on a team, attract, build, hire and manage a diverse organization that can drive transformation

#LI-NC1

Required Skills Required Experience

QUALIFICATIONS:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education/Experience:

High school diploma or general education degree (GED); and 6 months to 2 years related experience and/or training preferred.

Language Ability:

Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence. Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of organization. Bilingual and able to read, write and speak Spanish proficiently may be required based on service location.

Math Ability:

Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.

Reasoning Ability:

Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.

Computer Skills:

To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of Word Processing software.

Certificates and Licenses:

A valid driver’s license from the state that the employee resides as well as a clean driving record. Must be accessible to appropriate and reliable transportation to perform essential duties and responsibilities. CPR Certification encouraged but not mandatory.