Position Details:

CSG is looking for an Agile Program Manager to join our Lean Portfolio Leadership team to help “Change the Way We Work” by making our work visible, driving engagement and excitement throughout CSG, and empowering our team members by connecting them to our mission.

This Agile Transformation Leader understands the purpose, risks, and dependencies of the features on their release train(s) and steers empowered teams on an Agile Release Train(s) through successful planning, execution and delivery of features in defined program increments. This person will work across our enterprise to accomplish the following:

• Identify and resolve impediments for release train planning, execution, and delivery
• Drive delivery of features for their train using feedback, observation, and metrics to identify areas of opportunity
• Facilitate continuous improvement of release train activities to advance CSG’s SAFe, Lean, and Agile practices
• Promote transparency and awareness of progress and impediments to release train teams and stakeholders

What’s in it for you?

CSG provides you with unlimited PTO, a conveniently located Chicago office, market competitive pay, and benefits—including 5.5% 401k match, a discounted employee stock purchase program, tuition/certification reimbursement, extended maternity/paternity leave, and much more!

Job Responsibilities:

The Agile Program Manager serves the release train in four primary capacities:

Release Train Impediments Facilitator:  Cultivates an environment of optimal velocity and continual flow across teams, helping the release train identify and share issues that impede progress.  Owns all release train impediments and ensures their swift resolution before they negatively impact the release trains’ ability to deliver value.

Release Train Process Owner:  Has good knowledge of, and is a strong advocate for, agile values and processes within the Agile Release Train (ART).  Intelligently adapts Agile practices and guides the release train in high-performing collaborative and cross team Agile execution.  Helps the release train transform from traditional methodologies to Lean/ Agile/ SAFe in a way that ensures shared understanding and commitment.

Agile-At-Scale Partner:  Guides the Release (PI) planning process, including early and proactive preparation for ultimate team commitment, scrum of scrums meetings, retrospectives and inspect and adapt workshops.  Ensures dynamic and timely collaboration with other teams on the Release Train.

Scrum-of-Scrum (SOS) Host & Servant Leader:  As a ‘host’, provides the appropriate environment for a team of teams that is conducive to maximizing performance at a sustainable pace while managing dependencies across teams.  This includes culture, team dynamics & behaviors, fail-small fail-fast learning, and continual improvement.  As servant leader the Agile Program Manager nurtures a ‘developer of people’ approach, putting collaboration, active listening, and coaching at the forefront.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Facilitate program events, including PI Planning, ART Retrospectives, Scrum-of-Scrums
• Liaison for the Release Management functions
• Facilitate processes and program execution, escalates impediments, manages risk, captures recurring metrics, drives program-level continuous improvement
• Establish the annual calendars for sprints and PIs
• Ensure Agile practices are current, coached, and practiced across the ART
• Ensure Client Reviews/Demos are being held during solution construction
• Contribute to Value Stream Status report by PI/Release for Executive Management and Release Management
• Coordinate cross ART dependencies
• Manage delivery schedule: Released frequently, whenever there is enough value
• Manage change: Change embraced, adjusted at PI and iteration boundaries
• Facilitate readiness: Vision, Program Backlogs (Epic visibility, Feature Breakdown)
• Aggregate team objectives into Program PI Objectives and publish for visibility and transparency
• Promote team collaboration
• Promote team and program level Quality Practices and Communities of Practice around SAFe, Scrum, and Agile program management
• Participate in enterprise Program Management improvement and standardization activities
• Continuous near-term ‘road mapping’
• Review PORs for Features Requiring Formal Implementation Plan
• Create Development Risk Assessment
• Beta/Pilot/Pre-Release Readiness and Testing Scope, Client recommendations and asks based on risk-for-risk mitigation
• Review defects for deferral and communicate risks
• Facilitate Operations Impact/Turnover reviews
• Compliance with required standards including audits

Education & Experience:

• 4+ years’ experience in an Agile Project or Program Manager, Product Owner, Release Train Engineer, Scrum Master, or Agile Coach/Consultant role
• 4+ years’ supporting the SDLC (software development lifecycle)
• Experience using Jira and Confluence
• Experience communicating cross-functionally and with executive leadership, including presenting information in a public forum
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent education/experience
• Desired certifications: SAFe Release Train Engineer, SAFe SPC4

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities:

Throughout the above activities, the Agile Program Manager is expected to demonstrate servant leadership with a focus on:

• Positive, constructive, consensus-building behaviors
• Insanely curious and highly inquisitive
• Enterprise thinking regarding impacts and risks
• Create and leverage personal influence to accomplish responsibilities
• Trustworthiness
• Knowledge-sharing attitude
• Goal-oriented exploration
• Fail-fast, fail-safe approach to calculated risk-taking
• Self-driven to continuously learn or upgrade current skills
• Continuous improvement of current processes that are in the Agile Program Manager’s control or influence
• Can-do attitude towards continuous improvement