Agile Delivery Manager (Senior Level)

About Element 84

Element 84 is a woman-owned small business that works with public, private, and non-profit sector clients to develop geospatial data processing pipelines & build software that helps answer big questions about our health, our infrastructure, and our changing planet. We solve challenging problems across a wide range of industries, but our superpower is cloud-based geospatial data processing, remote sensing, and Earth science systems. Our headquarters is located in Alexandria, VA, and we have a satellite office in Philadelphia, PA. Element 84 also supports a large remote workforce from a variety of other states.

A Few Other Things You Should Know

1. Element 84's values are: We Invest in Each Other, We are Reliable, and Our Work Benefits our World.

2. Element 84 works on meaningful projects that are challenging—from a technical, people, and team perspective. We make an impact on large projects through our leadership and expertise, both formal and informal.

3. Element 84 values life outside of work. We offer parental leave for everyone and support each other through family challenges like medical problems, adoptions, and new babies.

4. Element 84 has had a flexible work schedule since our founding in 2010.

5. Element 84 is committed to fostering a culture of curiosity and respect for all individuals as we constantly strive to create a work environment where everyone feels welcome and supported.

About You

You are curious about the world, are constantly learning, driven to lead (formally or informally), and have a strong work ethic. You're interested in solving impactful problems in science, medicine, and other projects that have a societal good. You can work independently or with a team, prioritize your projects, and be effective without micromanagement.

You'll care about writing. Our team is remote, and written communication is essential. In addition to caring about a well-crafted email and a succinct conference abstract, you understand that good writing is good design and engineering.

Job Description

Element 84 is seeking an experienced Agile Delivery Manager to guide a program of interconnected agile teams supporting a geospatial data analysis program. In this pivotal role, you will act as a coach and facilitator for the entire program, focused on empowering teams and optimizing the flow of value from concept to customer.

You will be responsible for leading large-scale planning events, proactively managing program-level risks and dependencies, and driving a culture of improvement and accountability. By mentoring our scrummasters and clearing systemic roadblocks, your primary objective is to build and manage an efficient delivery engine. This ensures our teams are aligned with business goals and can consistently deliver high-quality solutions. The ideal candidate is data-driven, an expert facilitator, a strategic problem-solver, and an exceptional communicator who is passionate about enabling teams to do their best work.

Previous experience as a SAFe RTE or otherwise leading scrum-of-scrum based programs is required.

Key Responsibilities:

• Program Orchestration: As a customer-facing leader, you help the team understand high-level customer goals and the value of individual feature requests so that the team may deliver the most value possible.

• Program Increment (PI) Planning: Facilitate the PI planning event, ensuring that the teams create a realistic and committed plan for the upcoming multi-sprint increment. Guide the teams in defining and committing to PI objectives.

• Execution and Progress Tracking: Track and report on the progress of scrum teams towards the PI objectives. Facilitate the visualization of work and the flow of value using tools like Jira and Confluence.

• Impediment and Risk Management: Proactively identify and remove impediments to plan execution. Capture, manage, and mitigate program-level risks and dependencies, escalating when necessary.

• Jira and Tooling: Maintain and optimize the Jira boards and other agile tooling to provide transparency and support the program’s processes. Ensure data integrity for accurate reporting and metrics.

• Coaching and Facilitation: Coach leaders, teams, and scrummasters on the best use of Agile practices and navigating team dynamics. Facilitate key planning and reporting meetings.

• Continuous Improvement: Drive a culture of continuous improvement by collecting and using feedback and data to identify areas for growth. Guide the program in improving its processes and outcomes.

• Stakeholder Communication: Foster a collaborative partnership with stakeholders to ensure teams are building the right solutions and that expectations are aligned. Effectively manage competing stakeholder priorities to make informed trade-offs and maximize overall value.

Qualifications:

• Required:

  • 5+ years of project management experience in a software development environment which includes setting up teams for successful delivery by removing obstacles (or blockers to progress).

  • 2+ years of experience as a Release Train Engineer or leading scrum-of-scrum programs.

  • Expert-level knowledge of Jira and Confluence for agile project management.

  • Excellent facilitation, communication, teambuilding, and interpersonal skills.

  • Strong problem-solving and risk management skills.

  • Travel to client sites up to six times per year to facilitate in-person planning meetings.

  • Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent experience.

• Preferred:

  • SAFe Release Train Engineer (RTE) certification.

  • Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)

  • Experience with other agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban, etc.).

  • Experience in a large-scale agile transformation.

  • Technical background or experience working closely with software engineering teams.

  • Experience in the geospatial software industry or an understanding of geospatial concepts, technologies, and customer needs.

  • Willingness to explore and adopt AI tools to enhance productivity, decision-making, and team effectiveness.

Additional information

Paying attention to who we are as a company–people, family members, friends, and colleagues–is our primary focus at Element 84. There are lots of ways to run a company, and, for us, we prioritize wanting to come to work, being around people we enjoy, taking on big things with people you trust, and sharing our achievements as a team.

• You’ll get credit when things go right and we’ll have your back when things go wrong.

• We only take on work that is challenging and right for us. There are projects we will turn down and the team has a say.

• We may be a small company, but we have big company benefits meant to support the idea that we're here for the long term and happiness comes from much more than where you work.

• We have an extraordinary retention rate because we hire extraordinary people. We hope that’s you.

The salary range for this position is $128,000 to $175,000. Actual compensation offered to candidate will be finalized at offer and may be above or below the posted range due to skill level, experience, industry-specific knowledge, education/certifications, and/or geographic location. Base salary represents just one component of the Element 84 total compensation package. Employees will also receive a number of benefits as listed below. Other compensation for this position may include bonus eligibility (dependent on employee performance and company profits).

Benefits Offered

• Competitive medical, dental and vision benefits

• Choice of PPO or HSA plans. HSA plans include a company contribution to HSA accounts.

• Flexible spending accounts (medical, dependent care and transportation)

• Life Insurance, Short & Long Term disability insurance

• Voluntary Accident, Critical Illness & Hospital Insurance

• 401(k) and Roth 401(k) retirement plans with a fixed 3% of salary employer contributions (paid regardless of employee participation)

• Company-paid parental leave after one year of employment

• Flexible work schedules

• Paid employee assistance program

• 9 paid holidays

• 4 weeks + 1 day Paid Time Off per calendar year (prorated first year)

• Monthly cell phone stipend

Element 84 is an equal opportunity employer.