Agile Coach (IT)

Agile Coach (IT)

Location: Chicago, Illinois (Onsite 3 days a week)

Role Overview

This senior role operates at the program and portfolio level to establish and scale Agile, product management, and product ownership capabilities. The selected professional will facilitate and guide product teams through discovery activities including customer journey mapping, persona development, product strategy, value stream identification, epic and feature prioritization, and organizational transformation efforts. This position also involves conducting Agile assessments, evaluating team and program maturity, identifying improvement opportunities, and developing transformation roadmaps based on assessment results. Additionally, the role contributes to the development of Agile guidance, playbooks, coaching content, maturity models, and thought leadership materials utilized across the organization.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead with influence and operate at all levels of the organization to guide and influence both cultural and process change.

• Utilize in-depth knowledge of Lean-Agile frameworks along with industry and technology experience to assess program maturity and recommend, establish, and ensure consistency in Agile practices across portfolios and programs.

• Coach Product Owners and Business Analysts on best practices around backlog management, product discovery, customer value, and the creation and elaboration of Features and Epics.

• Facilitate Solution Architects and Development Leads to explore features and reach sufficient definition and design.

• Coach Solution Architects and Development Leads in Systems Thinking and assist them in setting up architectural guidelines and guardrails that enable decentralized decision-making.

• Ensure healthy product backlog prioritization and refinement, release planning, and iteration/sprint planning practices are utilized.

• Develop Agile enablement content including playbooks, guidance materials, coaching frameworks, assessments, maturity models, articles, and training resources.

• Support the creation and adoption of AI-enabled Agile coaching capabilities including experimentation with AI agents, assessment automation, knowledge management solutions, and productivity tools.

• Collaborate with stakeholders to identify opportunities where AI technologies can improve coaching effectiveness, assessments, planning, reporting, and organizational agility.

• Assess program Agile practices through various tools including health assessments, maturity models, predictability measures, flow metrics, WIP measures, and other indicators of organizational effectiveness.

• Required Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, or a related field is preferred.

• Experience: Ten or more years of experience coaching Agile, product management, and organizational transformation within large financial institutions is required.

• Technical

Skills

• Direct experience leading scaled-agile execution for financial service technology portfolios utilizing SAFe, LeSS, DAD, Spotify, Scrum@Scale, or similar approaches. Direct experience converting traditional waterfall project silos into Lean-Agile value streams and establishing portfolio-level workflow structures, operating models, and transformation roadmaps is required. Proficiency with Microsoft Word and experience creating playbooks, maturity models, guidance materials, and coaching frameworks is necessary. Demonstrated experience producing high-quality published content, including leadership communications, Agile guidance, playbooks, articles, training materials, or similar documents, is required, and writing samples must be provided.

• Preferred Qualifications

• Experience designing, configuring, or developing AI-enabled solutions, AI assistants, or AI agents is highly desirable.

• Highly flexible, dynamic, and consultative work approach with strong problem-solving skills.

• Excellent feedback, conflict management, and mentoring skills.

• Everforth Apex is a world-class IT services company that serves thousands of clients across the globe. When you join Everforth Apex, you become part of a team that values innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning. We offer quality career resources, training, certifications, development opportunities, and a comprehensive benefits package. Our commitment to excellence is reflected in many awards, including ClearlyRateds Best of Staffing® in Talent Satisfaction in the United States and Great Place to Work® in the United Kingdom and Mexico.

• Everforth Apex uses a virtual recruiter as part of the application process. Click here for more details. By applying for this job, you agree to receive calls, AI-generated calls, text messages, or emails from Everforth Apex and its affiliates, and contracted partners. Frequency varies for text messages. Message and data rates may apply. Carriers are not liable for delayed or un