Agile Coach

Overview

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.

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

• Facilitate and document continual improvement by teaching Agile and Lean-Agile mindsets, lead quarterly Inspect and Adapt cycles, and design Retrospectives that engage critical introspection and result in accountable SMART goals; foster a Kaizen culture with 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 these principles to include hardware-focused and hybrid HW/SW projects.
• Provide 1-on-1 and team professional development, mentorship, and coaching to new hires, Scrum Leaders, Product Owners/Managers, Resources Leads, Release Train Engineers (RTEs), and customers/stakeholders as requested.
• Manage, train, and develop all program Scrum Leaders and assist them by monitoring and facilitating Agile Team Events.
• Encourage and promote all team and company best practices.

• Design, organize, and launch Agile Release Trains (ARTs) and Agile teams using Scrum, Kanban, and Hybrid methods based on team or program needs. Balance Agile delivery with 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/improvement sessions including Scrum of Scrums, Sprint Reviews, and Technical Deep Dives.
• Identify and eliminate bottlenecks to reduce lead time and improve value flow, establishing clear direction via value stream mapping.
• Monitor, analyze, and present qualitative and quantitative feedback to identify impediments and evaluate improvements; provide leadership with KPI/OKR insights.
• Own and update program documentation related to Agile best practices.

• Atlassian Suite Administration
  • Serve as the primary administrator for Jira, Confluence, and Jira Service Desk in Cloud and Data Center deployments.
  • Configure, optimize, and maintain Jira workflows, automations, schemes, and permissions to support project and board configurations.
  • Develop automated reporting dashboards and Advanced Roadmaps to provide visibility into velocity, flow, burn charts, and program predictability.
• GSuite Administration
  • Manage Groups, Calendars, and Drive structures; require familiarity with Sheets, Docs, and Slides.
• Communication Tool Administration
  • Manage channels and communications across Slack, Meet, MS Teams, and other tools.

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

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

• Minimum of 5 years in IT/Software development, with at least 2 years dedicated to Agile Coaching, Transformation, and Leadership.
• Experience leading agile transformations, launching at least one ART, or serving as Agile Coach for a large-scale program…