Position Title: Agile Coach

Location: Aberdeen, MD

Reports To: Program Manager

Job Type: Full-time

Clearance Requirement: US Citizenship required with the ability to obtain a government security clearance.

Summary:

This role is responsible for bridging the gap between high-level agile strategies and the practical implementation and team execution of continually evolving methodologies and processes.

The Agile Coach is a dedicated servant leader whose primary mission is to unlock the diverse potential of individuals and teams by fostering an environment of psychological safety, mutual respect, and shared purpose. By understanding the unique motivations and challenges of team members and stakeholders, an Agile Coach acts as a mentor, facilitator, and bridge-builder, clearing impediments so that teams and program leadership can focus on what they do best: rapidly and continuously delivering meaningful value to customers and stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities:

At LufCo, “Agile” is not a ‘thing' we do, it's the ** way** we do everything.

Agile Servant Leadership and Coaching

• Facilitate and document continual improvement by teaching Agile and Lean-Agile mindsets, leading quarterly "Inspect and Adapt" cycles, and designing unique Retrospectives that engage critical introspection and which result in accountable SMART goals; foster a culture of Kaizen where small, incremental changes are validated through continuous feedback and analysis
• Act as the steward of agility for the program, exemplifying and advocating for the 12 Principles of Agile Software Development and the 10 SAFe Lean-Agile Principles. Evolve and expand these principles to include hardware-focused and hybrid HW/SW projects.
• Provide 1-on-1and team professional development, mentorship, and coaching to new hires, Scrum Leaders, Product Owners/Managers, Resources Leads, Release Train Engineers (RTEs), and customers and stakeholders as requested/required
• Manage, train, and develop all program Scrum Leaders and assist them where needed by monitoring and/or facilitating Agile Team Events
• Encourage and promote all team and company best practices

Practical Implementation of Agility

• Design, organize, and launch Agile Release Trains (ARTs) and Agile teams using Scrum, Kanban, and Hybrid methods based on the specific needs of the team or program. Balance and coalesce Agile delivery cycles with rigorous government compliance, reporting, and milestone/event requirements without sacrificing agility
• Lead the preparation and implementation of large, hybrid Program Increment (PI) Planning workshops, Inspect and Adapt (I&A) workshops, and leadership and improvement focused sessions to include Scrum of Scrums, Sprint Reviews, and team-based Technical Deep Dives.
• Identify and eliminate bottlenecks in the delivery pipeline to reduce lead time and improve the flow of value, establishing clear and consistent direction for program teams via value stream mapping
• Monitor, compile, analyze, and present qualitative feedback and data-driven insights to identify systemic impediments and to evaluate improvements, providing program leadership with critical information to drive decision-making and evaluation of KPIs and OKRs.
• Own and update all program documentation related to Agile best practices

Tool Administration

• Atlassian Suite Administration
  • Act as the primary administrator for Jira, Confluence, and Jira Service Desk software in both Cloud and Data Center implementations, operating instances deployed in secured, virtual environments.
  • Configure, optimize, and maintain complex custom Jira workflows, automations, schemes, permission structures, etc. in order to create custom project and board configurations
  • Develop automated reporting dashboards (within Jira and via custom platforms using data from the Jira API) and Advanced Roadmaps to provide real-time visibility into individual and team velocity, flow, burn-up/down charts, and program predictability metrics
• GSuite Administration
  • Create, organize, and maintain multiple Groups, Calendars, and Drive file structures to include permissions management. Requires Sheets, Docs, and Slides familiarity.
• Communication Tool Administration
  • Manage combined communications to include Slack, Meet, and MS Teams, among others
  • Create, organize, and maintain all channels, canvases, groups, organizations, etc. in all tools.

Qualifications

• Required:
  • SAFe 6 Practice Consultant (SPC) or SAFe 6 Release Train Engineer (RTE)
• Preferred:
  • ICAgile Certified Professional in Enterprise Agile Coaching (ICP-ENT) OR
  • Project Management Institute - Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)
  • Atlassian Certified Professional (Jira/Confluence Administration, Cloud and On Prem)

Education:

• B.S. degree ideally in Computer Science or related Engineering discipline

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years in IT/Software development, with at least 2 years dedicated to Agile Coaching, Transformation, and Leadership
• Demonstrated experience leading agile transformations, launching at least one Agile Release Train (ART), or serving as Agile Coach for at least one large-scale program (50+ people)
• 2+ years of demonstrated experience navigating government reporting structures, security protocols, and inter-agency collaboration in collaboration with federal or state agencies.

Skills:

• Characteristics of servant leadership
• Organizational wizardry
• Unparalleled communication skills (that means talking/writing AND listening/reading)
• Getting off the “Agile” soapbox and actually making things better
• Being a mostly decent human
• Generally being not willing to take...uh…guff, from SW developers
• Caring that people actually improve and succeed
• Expert-level proficiency in Atlassian Tool Suite Administration

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to travel as required.
• Standard office environment with occasional requirements to visit client sites, labs, or field environments.

Why Join Us?

• Impactful Work: Contribute to critical national security initiatives and make a real difference in protecting our nation.
• Cutting-Edge Technology: Work with the latest advancements in SIGINT and related fields.
• Career Growth: Opportunities for professional development, training, and advancement within a growing company.
• Collaborative Environment: Join a team of highly skilled and supportive engineers who are passionate about their work.
• Comprehensive Benefits: Competitive salary, generous PTO, health/dental/vision insurance, 401K matching, tuition reimbursement.

Compensation and Benefits:

• Competitive Pay: Annual salary ranges from $80,000 to $115,000. Salaries depend on labor category, years of experience, education, skills relevant to the position, and type of contract.
• Benefits: Including Paid Time Off; 401K Contribution and Employer Match Contributions; and Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage.
• For the full list of LufCo Benefits, visit our website:https://www.lufburrow.com/careers

Position availability can vary due to dynamic, evolving contract needs. This job posting being active does not guarantee an immediately available position matching its description. This job description is intended to provide a general overview of the responsibilities and qualifications for this position. It is not an exhaustive list and may be subject to change based on the needs of the company.

LufCo provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

LufCo Employees: This position qualifies for up to a Blue Award level referral bonus. For more information, visit the Employee Portal.