Senior Program Manager
Location: Washington, DC
Duration: 2 months
Employment Type: Contract (NO BENEFITS)
Job Summary
The organization has an ongoing need for skilled agile professionals to assist with agile maturity in its Division of Information Technology (IT). Agile maturity and related services will be required for a Business and Technology Modernization program.
The Agile Program Manager is responsible for leading the strategic direction and operational execution of the Agile transformation program. This senior role will drive team maturity, ensure consistency in Agile practices across teams, maintain the Agile playbook, create program documents, report on overall Agile transformation progress, and achieve measurable business value across multiple teams, with planned expansion.
The Contractor will work closely with the manager of the Transformation Office, program sponsors, and business stakeholders to build a sustainable, data-driven Agile program that adapts to the organizational culture while maintaining rigor and consistency. This is a strategic role requiring someone who can both operate and innovate, executing day-to-day program management while shaping the future direction of Agile practices.
Responsibilities
- Establish and maintain transparency with program stakeholders through meaningful status reporting, proactive communication of changes, data-driven insights on team progress, and regular engagement with sponsors and business stakeholders
- Drive team maturity progression by implementing and maintaining assessment frameworks, ensuring Agile Coaches create and execute coaching plans, measuring advancement, and recommending maturity models and metrics beyond velocity/throughput
- Ensure Agile resource effectiveness by establishing performance standards for Coaches and Scrum Masters, monitoring coaching quality, resolving team/coach conflicts, and providing evidence-based recommendations on resource performance
- Ensure consistent application of the Agile playbook across all teams, coaches, and Scrum Masters to maintain standardization, alignment, and continuity in Agile practices
- Drive business value realization by ensuring Agile teams deliver work that meets expected business outcomes through coaching oversight, metrics analysis, and alignment between team outputs and program objectives
- Build sustainable program governance through documented processes, stakeholder engagement rhythms, risk management protocols, resource management systems, and strategic recommendations that enable long-term program success
- Shape program strategy by continuously assessing program effectiveness, piloting innovative practices, recommending adaptations to the Agile approach, and ensuring the program evolves with organizational maturity
Required Skills and Experience
- Direct experience leading agile transformations in either the federal or private sector
- Direct experience with Jira and Confluence
- 10+ years of professional experience, with at least 5+ years leading enterprise Agile transformations
- At least 5+ years of hands-on experience and a proven track record of coaching teams
- At least 3+ years of effective project/program management or systems engineering experience demonstrating the ability to manage complex initiatives
- Deep understanding and expertise of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
- Deep expertise in multiple Agile frameworks (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, or similar), with the ability to adapt practices to organizational culture rather than rigid framework adherence
- Demonstrated ability to define and implement Agile maturity models and assessment frameworks
- Strategic thinker with a track record of evolving Agile practices, recommending improvements, and driving organizational change
- Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage and influence senior leadership, sponsors, and business stakeholders
- Experience building sustainable governance models, including documentation standards, engagement rhythms, and risk management
- Strong conflict resolution and problem-solving skills for addressing team dynamics and resource challenges
- Excellent communication skills, including status reporting, presentations, and facilitation
- Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field
Preferred
- Advanced degree
- Industry-leading Agile practitioner certifications, such as Certified Scrum Master, Certified Scrum Product Owner, PMI-ACP, or SAFe
- Government or highly regulated industry experience