Agile Coach

Team Context

At Aflac Northern Ireland the intention is for our teams to continually adapt and reinvent their skills and capabilities over time as technologies change and evolve. As we evolve the company, we are looking to progress our Agile capabilities and have an opportunity for someone to lead the ongoing adoption of Agile working practices in Aflac.

Role Context

This role would suit someone with expert experience in Agile (particularly Kanban) and in leveraging AI tooling to identify improvements in ways of working across the organization. 

What you’ll be doing 

The role will be focused on: 

• Coaching teams and Leadership on Agile/Lean frameworks, practices and processes (e.g. Scrum, Kanban, LeSS)
• Guide Product Owners, Scrum Masters, and team members in their respective roles to focus on value delivery and alignment to business goals
• Take ownership of one or more Agile OKRs
• Identify opportunities for leveraging AI in agile delivery, to increase the flow of value across the organisation
• Develop, Refine and Document Agile practices/processes particularly as development moves to AI-native approach
• Develop and deliver Agile / AI adoption training and workshops
• Play a leading role in establishing ways of working for multi-team initiatives
• Liaise between development teams and leadership to resolve organization wide impediments
• Foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement for our people across our Community of Practice.

Skills and experience

Below is an overview of the skills and experience we are looking for, but remember, don’t rule yourself out if you don’t have everything on the list - it’s your intellect and your attitude we are really after. 

Essential 

• 5+ years working in software development, with 3+ years in a lead role. 
• Extensive hands on experience (2+ years) in Flow Metrics and Kanban ways of working
• A proven track record of fostering continuous improvement within teams
• Experience coaching teams to inspect and adapt their ways of working using data, and the willingness to challenge or retire practices when they no longer serve the team
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to coach and train others effectively in Agile techniques
• Strong influencing, conflict resolution, decision making and negotiation skills.
• Bachelor’s degree - preferably in a Computer Science, Engineering, or STEM subject
• Comparable commercial experience may also be considered.
• Applicants must be located in Northern Ireland and hold the relevant right to work status. We are unfortunately unable to offer sponsorship

Desirable

• Previous Managerial experience in a technology environment
• Experience with different Agile frameworks e.g. Kanban, XP, Lean Software Development, LeSS 
• Experience/ Knowledge of good engineering practices (e.g. Test Automation, CICD, TDD, paired programming) 
• Experience of working with partners in a different time zones 
• Agile certification with evidence of practical application in real-world environments

Please note this in NOT a remote position, we operate a hybrid model with 2 days in the office per week.

So that's us. Thanks for taking the time to read this far. We look forward to hearing from you if you fancy taking the next step in your Agile career.

Aflac Northern Ireland is an equal opportunities employer.