Agile Coach - Potawatomi Federal Solutions, LLC

Agile Coach

Location:    Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 

Clearance:     ****This position requires an Active Secret Clearance****  

FLSA Classification:    Exempt - Salaried

Employment Class:    Full Time Regular

Position Summary:

Command Cyber Solutions (a federal government contractor) is looking for an Agile Coach to support The Defense Enterprise Accounting Management System (DEAMS) Program Management Office (PMO) (AFLCMC/GBGD) located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB).

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

•    The Agile Coach shall review and assess the DEAMS PMO against the SAFe Implementation Roadmap to determine the point at which the organization is currently operating. The purpose of this assessment is to provide specific and measurable recommendations on progressing the program forward along the SAFe Implementation Roadmap. Given the organization has been implementing Agile principles for over two years, recommending the program start over is not an option; if necessary, provide feedback on ways to fully implement activities earlier in the roadmap that require further refinement. The assessment shall address the IPTs, stakeholders’ involvement, processes, organizational structure, and the tools at both the project and program levels. In addition, the Agile Coach shall also include observations gained from viewing Agile ceremonies, including Release Planning, and customer surveys. The Agile Coach shall draft an Agile Assessment Report No Later Than (NLT) 120 days after contract award that outlines findings in terms of people, processes, tools and technology portfolio, to include identification of strengths, weaknesses, and recommendation for further improvement to the project and program team levels.
•    The Agile Assessment Report will include “as-is” and “to-be” states in order to identify fits/gaps required for the Division’s enterprise SAFe implementation, as well as decomposition and benchmarking of people, process, and technology aspects of as-is and to-be designs to identify fits, and gaps/risks mitigations, for total-system optimization. Environmental scans will assess people, processes, organization, technology, governance, and other perspectives. 
•    The Agile Coach shall update the initial Agile Assessment Report quarterly (once per Program Increment) to document progress and recommendations. The assessment update shall include input from interviews with leadership, POs, technical leads and project managers of Contractor teams.
•    The SAFe 5.0 Coach shall work side-by-side with multifunctional teams as DEAMS personnel execute Agile practices. The coach shall also assist in easing the organizational culture from well-established federal hierarchical structures, processes, and reporting to support an Agile mindset in order to meet desired outcomes. 

The Coach shall:  
•    Facilitate Cross Functional Collaboration among the teams – participate in integrated Agile program/projects to enhance communications, share lessons learned and facilitate rapid dependencies between the various functional entities to deliver value to the end users  
•    Coach DEAMS PMO in achieving Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment and Delivery  
•    Assist DEAMS with adapting effective SAFe 5.0 methodologies to the work environment and tools (e.g. development and coordination tools) and overcome internal barriers to excellence by assisting with tasks such as defining the “Definition of Done” and navigating through difficult Agile issues  
•    Collaborate with leadership, project managers, business analysts, IT specialists, POs and others who are responsible for forward progress and proven results, focusing on the facilitation of events that help create change and improvement  
•    Collaborate with the team’s Product Owners (PO), end users, and requirements analysts to refine and groom user stories  
•    Assist the team to adopt an Agile mindset that serves users with implementing a product vision that continually improves  
•    Provide advice on how best to protect dedicated Agile teams from being tasked with non-Agile work assignments  
•    Provide recommendations on adapting performance metrics reporting and budgeting to SAFe 5.0 approaches  
•    Provide root causes when an Agile team(s) is veering away from Agile practices and provide actions to steer the team(s) back to Agile practices   
•    Collaborate with the team to establish agile practices that ensure high quality results and maintains software in a constant “ready-to-release” condition  
•    Mentor personnel on how best to develop requirements (Product Vision, Backlog, Roadmap and other Agile artifacts) and generate results for Agile adoption that can be reported in project plans, performance reports, and dashboards to senior management, and build documentation subject to oversight scrutiny  
•    Assist DEAMS “do” Agile properly and successfully, while avoiding a team dependency on the Coach  
•    Expose teams to the latest innovative thinking and ideas from the Agile community to increase agility, leveraging lean, Scrum, Kanban, and other agile thinking  
•    Mentor teams and leadership towards improving SAFe 5.0 process and metrics, evaluate and mentor existing Scrum teams, and deliver training classes for POs, developers, and testers  
•    Facilitate Sprint Planning, Backlog Grooming, Sprint Reviews, Sprint Retrospectives and other Scrum ceremonies  
•    Aid the government in tasking developers to apply test-driven development, assist in refactoring work, and help improve the continuous integration system or other activities that are close to the code  
•    Baseline how long it will take requirements from being properly identified to being in production, then continue tracking to measure overall program velocity and products improvement resulting from continual coaching of SAFe 5.0 processes  
•    Facilitate the adoption of organizational culture change and common standards as SAFe 5.0 practices are applied  
•    Interface with Business Enterprise Systems (BES) Agile Office to coordinate SAFe implementation efforts across the portfolio  
•    Analyze and recommend tools (e.g., software) that would eliminate manual-intensive tasks, deliver valuable metrics, or otherwise provide efficiency and productivity across the program. The Contractor shall provide the analysis to DEAMS leadership summarizing the benefits of the tool, projected cost, and how the tool could be utilized by the team  

Education, Certification & Experience Requirements:

•    The Agile coach shall have the following minimum qualifications. The Government, at its sole discretion, may consider substitutions and/or requests for deviation from any of the following personnel qualifications (e.g., experience in lieu of education), if to do so would be in the best interest of the Government  
•    SAFe Program Consultant-5 (SPC-5): Possess a SAFe Program Consultant-5 (SPC-5) certification, which certifies to the SAFe 5.0 version. (NOTE: Agile coach having only other Agile or SAFe certifications, such as Certified Scrum Master, SAFe Agilist (SA), which is typically a prerequisite to SPC certification, SAFe Product Manager, or the Project Management Institute Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) are NOT acceptable and will not meet this minimum qualification. DEAMS operates in a SAFe environment and, given its enterprise complexity and high visibility, requires SPC certified coach with experience at the enterprise level.)  
•    Coaching Experience: Have at least five (5) years of real-world experience applying Agile principles to complex enterprises in commercial and/or government sectors, preferably Department of Defense (DoD) organizations. In addition, the Contractor shall be experienced in the various Agile methodologies including Scrum and Kanban. The Contractor may request a years of experience waiver from the Contracting Officer by submitting a resume they feel meets the requirement for government consideration. Waivers will be granted at the discretion of the Contracting Officer based on applicant experience and program needs. 

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:
Required:
•    Must have excellent oral, verbal, written communication skills
•    Exceptional fundamental analytical and conceptual thinking skills
•    Expert understanding and knowledge of Agile 

Working Conditions/Working Environment/Physical Demands

•    Basic office work environment at government facility location
•    Hours of operation are M-F between 0600-1800.
•    Occasionally, project requirements may require temporary adjustment of work hours/days
•    Duties are subject to change based on the needs of the customer

Command Cyber Solutions is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing a workplace free from harassment and discrimination. We celebrate the unique differences of our employees because that is what drives curiosity, innovation, and the success of our business. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, pregnancy, parental status, genetic information, political affiliation, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. Accommodations are available for applicants with disabilities.