Mid-Level Agile Coach
Alexandria, VA

Job Description

Grant Thornton is seeking a Senior Associate to join its Enterprise Technology Services service line and take an active role in engagement execution, project management and key business development activities.

Grant Thornton Public Sector helps executives and managers at all levels of government maximize their performance and efficiency in the face of ever tightening budgets and increased demand for services. We give clients creative, cost-effective solutions that enhance their acquisition, financial, human capital, information technology, data analytics, and performance management. For more information, visit grantthornton.com/publicsector.

At Grant Thornton, our professional staff applies traditional, cutting-edge approaches and methods to a variety of analyses. As part of our team, the Senior Associate will utilize various methodologies and models to execute client projects.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

Provide coaching/mentoring support for product development teams, conducting agile assessments, agile training to all levels including senior management/executives in the client organization.

Coach and mentor software developments on the agile best practices and strategy that is differentiated and delivers unique value based on customer demands. This includes defining personas and analyzing environmental and competitive conditions.

Create long lasting agile transformation changes at the team level and organizational level.

Conduct SAFe, Agile and Kanban classes to the stakeholders at all level and help facilitate to implement enterprise scale SAFe at the client.

Conduct and contribute to the agile coaching hour sessions to help and knowledge share client/vendor community.

Support other agile COE activities as directed by the client and engagement lead

Help define what the product development team will deliver and the timeline for implementation. This includes creating a release plan, capturing actionable feedback and ideas, and prioritizing features

Provide cross-functional leadership, most notably between technical teams, business teams, and other support stakeholders. A key aspect of this is communicating the product roadmap and keeping everyone informed of updates.

Facilitate the work and communication between CX, technology and the business

Work with PMs to spend time with customers regularly and using feedback to validate hypotheses and guide delivery teams.

Educate PMs on how to decide on what order to work on things based on factors such of ease of development, cost and customer value.

Review and leverage data gathered in order to remain informed and help drive product decisions.

Challenge others, in a respectful way, with empathy driven by evidence and not simply opinion

Work with our Product Owner teams effectively to apply and improve upon foundational Agile practices.

Determine and implement the appropriate product development activities to achieve product vision, from strategic to tactical.

Direct the completion of projects within estimated time frames and budget constraints Coordinate project specific parties, and review work products for completeness and adherence to applicable regulations and customer requirements.

Coach and mentor peer and junior staff members.

Coach and mentor peer software development resources from vendors, government staffs and PMs on the best practices.

Meet or exceed targeted billing hours (utilization).

Assist with business development activities, such as proposals, capture, account teams, whitepapers, conferences, and/or other thought leadership materials.

Experienced coaching resource in a competitive environments to help define the best practices to achieve business outcome.

Experience in coaching/mentoring rather than being directive on the best practices.

Experience in conducting training sessions (Agile, SCRUM, SAFe and Kanban etc.,) to all stakeholders at different level

Demonstrates experience of a Lean Startup mindset, working iteratively (�build, measure, learn� loop) and learning continuously

Has measurable examples of customer testing and going from idea to MVP

Experienced Agile/Scrum /Kanban coach with practical experience as an agile practitioner with an in-depth understanding of the practice and principals of Agile/Scrum and have hands-on, real-world experience in each of the Scrum core team roles.

Extensive experience with Product development teams, background in software engineering or prior experience of working closely with software development/testing teams would be a big plus.

Experienced with product planning, road mapping, release planning, conducting Inspect /adapt session and IP planning activities.

Experienced in creating working agreements, definition of ready(DoR) and Definition of done (DoD) required.

Experience creating and educating the agile roles and responsibilities and institutionalizing them.

Deep understanding and experience working with Kanban teams.

Experience working with data analytics, statistical modeling, and trend analysis

Has taken on increasing responsibility in the design, implementation, and management of projects.

Experience writing and working with product requirements, features, and user stories preferred.

Demonstrates ability to work with direction as well as to work independently, to find and discover issues and to solve problems with limited guidance in a fast paced, highly visible environment.

Understands that overtime is required on occasion

Experience with the United States Federal agency is preferred.

Demonstrated ability to provide guidance and direction for specific projects or sub-tasks.

Capability to manage multi-task project of high complexity for Federal government clients.

Advisory and consultancy skills, experience interfacing with the client on project specific issues.

Experience working with Scaled Agile teams is preferred

Experience using Rally, Version one, JIRA or any other agile tool is preferred.

Scaled Agile certification (SPC) preferred

Certified Scrum Master (CSM) certification required

Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) certification preferred

Product Manager (CPM) or Agile Certified Product Manager and Product Owner (ACPMPO) certification highly preferred

PMP certification highly preferred

Bachelor's Degree required from an accredited college or university in a related field.

Ability to obtain and maintain certain job-related certifications if no job-related advanced degrees.

U.S. citizenship may be required. Ability to work in the United States indefinitely required.

Travel may be required.

Ability to work overtime required on occasion.

Ability to sit in an office environment for long periods of time.

Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.

Ability to communicate clearly in writing and verbally.

Ability to obtain and maintain firm independence and abide by firm ethics requirements.

Meet or exceed continuing professional education (CPE) requirements.

Grant Thornton LLP is the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International, one of the six global accounting, tax and business advisory organizations. Grant Thornton's Public Sector, based in Alexandria, VA, is a global management consulting business with the mission of providing responsive and innovative financial, performance management and systems solutions to governments and international organizations. Visit Grant Thornton's Public Sector at www.grantthornton.com/publicsector.

It is Grant Thornton's policy to promote equal employment opportunities. All personnel decisions, including, but not limited to, recruiting, hiring, training, promotion, compensation, benefits and termination, are made without regard to race, creed, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.