VP, Agile Coach (L12)

Job Description:

Role Title: VP, Agile Coach (L12)

Company Overview

Synchrony (NYSE: SYF) is a premier consumer financial services company delivering one of the industry’s most complete digitally enabled product suites. Our experience, expertise and scale encompass a broad spectrum of industries including digital, health and wellness, retail, telecommunications, home, auto, outdoors, pet and more.

• We have recently been ranked #2 among India’s Best Companies to Work for by Great Place to Work. We were among the Top 50 India’s Best Workplaces in Building a Culture of Innovation by All by GPTW and Top 25 among Best Workplaces in BFSI by GPTW. We have also been recognized by AmbitionBox Employee Choice Awards among the Top 20 Mid-Sized Companies, ranked #3 among Top Rated Companies for Women, and Top-Rated Financial Services Companies.

• We offer Flexibility and Choice for all employees and provide best-in-class employee benefits and programs that cater to work-life integration and overall well-being. 

• We provide career advancement and upskilling opportunities, focusing on Advancing Diverse Talent to take up leadership roles.

​Organizational Overview

Synchrony’s Strategic Partnerships and Agile team is an amalgamation of 4 sub verticals, SM (Supplier Management), CSS (Client Systems & Support) , OOA (Office of Agile) & SR (Strategic Relationships). Supplier Management & Strategic Relationship teams have the mission to maintain a right-sized, healthy, and dynamic portfolio of suppliers with the breadth and depth of capabilities to power Synchrony products and services while maintaining compliance with our Supplier Management program and reduce the 3rd party outsourcing risk. The Office of Agile(OOA) endeavours to support the enterprise-wide adoption and adherence to Lean-Agile principles through the promotion of progressive thinking, tools, and techniques. In addition, the Office of Agile strives to define organizational guidelines which identify, prioritize, align and successfully execute the strategic directives of senior leadership. The Client Systems Support (CSS) team delivers multi-platform configuration solutions to drive functionality behind many core processes across Synchrony’s credit and pay later products including loyalty programs and campaigns, cardholder pricing and billing, promotional financing, merchant processing, billing statement content, cardholder letters, and plastics.

Role Summary/Purpose

The VP, Agile Coach will provide training, feedback and consulting on the application of Scrum, Kanban, and SAFe Agile frameworks in support of the organization's Agile teams. The ideal candidate will have a passion for Agile methodologies and a strong desire to help teams improve their processes and achieve greater efficiency. The role will partner closely with Enterprise SAFe Coaches to promote Agile adoption and maturation across the company.

This position is remote, where you have the option to work from home. On occasion we may request for you to commute to our nearest office for in person engagement activities such as team meetings, training and culture events. We’re proud to offer you choice and flexibility.

Key Responsibilities:

• Assist in the implementation and adoption of Agile methodologies across teams and departments.

• Provide training and coaching to team members on Agile principles, practices, and frameworks, including SAFe, Scrum, and Kanban.

• Partner closely with Teams and ART Leadership to align Agile practices with organizational goals and objectives.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify and address impediments to Agile adoption and delivery.

• Help teams establish and track key performance metrics to measure progress and identify areas of improvement.

• Support the development and maintenance of Agile artifacts, including user stories, backlog refinement, PI Planning, and releasing activities.

• Assist in ensuring that Agile teams adhere to governance parameters regarding delivery execution and compliance standards.

• Act as a mentor to team members, providing guidance and support as they navigate the Agile journey.

• Support the Office of Agile in developing workshops and training content.

• Perform assessments and analyze the results to make data driven recommendations for improvement.

• Participate and provide thought leadership in our many Communities of Practice.

• Provide support for Jira and Jira Align stakeholders.

• Perform other duties as required.

Required Skills/Knowledge:

• Bachelor's Degree and a minimum of 10 years’ experience within an information technology organization. In lieu of a Bachelor's Degree 12 years comparable experience in Information Technology and Agile program management.

• Minimum 3+ years experience working experience as a Release Train Engineer (RTE), Scrum Master, or Product Owner

• Experience coaching and training teams.

• Certified coach: International Coaching Federation (ICF), ICAgile Coaching Certification (ICP-ACC), SAFe Practice Consultant (SPC6) or other recognized coaching certification. 

• Extensive knowledge with Jira, Confluence, and Jira Align

• Financial Services experience.

Desired Skills/Knowledge:

• Excellent analytical skills - ability to follow issues through to resolution

• Ability to work independently with minimal guidance in a fast-paced environment

• Ability to manage multiple moving parts at any given time through effective time-management and planning.

• Adaptability in approach, adjusting techniques based on the needs of different teams.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and ability to interface and influence at all level in the organization.

• Empathy skills to relate to the perspectives of team members, helping build trust, resolve conflicts and promote collaboration.

• Ability to work with distributed teams and discernment to bring structure to ambiguous environments and constructs.

• Comfortable presenting and facilitating large groups of people for workshops and training sessions.

• Experience as a SAFe Agile Coach with demonstrated implementation of Scaled Agile framework.

• Enabled to train SAFe certification courses

Eligibility Criteria:

Bachelor's Degree and a minimum of 10 years’ experience within an information technology organization. In lieu of a Bachelor's Degree 12 years comparable experience in Information Technology and Agile program management.

Work Timings :

This role qualifies for Enhanced Flexibility and Choice offered in Synchrony India and will require the incumbent to be available between 06:00 AM Eastern Time – 11:30 AM Eastern Time (timings are anchored to US Eastern hours and will adjust twice a year locally). This window is for meetings with India and US teams. The remaining hours will be flexible for the employee to choose. Exceptions may apply periodically due to business needs. Please discuss this with the hiring manager for more details.)

For Internal Applicants:

• Understand the criteria or mandatory skills required for the role, before applying

• Inform your manager and HRM before applying for any role on Workday

• Ensure that your professional profile is updated (fields such as education, prior experience, other skills) and it is mandatory to upload your updated resume (Word or PDF format)

• Must not be any corrective action plan (First Formal/Final Formal, LPP)

• L10+ Employees who have completed 18 months in the organization and 12 months in current role and level are only eligible.

• L10+ Employees can apply

*Strong Candidate identified, eligible candidates can still apply*

Grade/Level: 12

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