Director of Training

• Dec 2022 - Present

Agile Coach and Trainer

• Jul 2022 - Dec 2022

• Lead the transformation efforts on an Agile Release Train using their current track team framework making it a total of 6 teams and a program level. • Organized and facilitated over 10 Agile processes workshops for the ART accordingly. • Coached several Senior Managers and Federal Stakeholders on Agile frameworks and processes. • Updated and facilitated and Agile Maturity assessment for the Train. • Created and facilitated PI planning event and ensured all Agile processes that are Train related to be carried out appropriately. • Trained the entire train on Jira and Confluence use. • Created and configured several jira boards to meet the needs of the teams. • 1:1 coaching session with potential Scrum masters and team leads. • Facilitated office hours frequently for both tools and process maintenance. • Created and maintained a checklist for all Agile processes train and process related. • Reviewing and supporting organizational and team progress against Program Increment objectives driven by business value. Show less

Apex Systems (Client: T-Mobile. Bellevue, WA)

• Feb 2022 - Jul 2022

• Value Stream workshop and ART identification sessions. • Launched several Agile Release Trains • Facilitated several SAFe trainings in preparation for ART launch (SAFe SM, POPM, Teams etc) • Coached 10 teams of SAFe principles and assisted in Triad guidance and coaching. • Facilitated PI planning events and coached RTE and leadership on the norms of the 2 day event. • Delivered Agility health assessments on ART teams health and performance. • Tools training for ART teams (Jira Align, Jira…) • Facilitated empathy assessment workshops for leadership. • Facilitated WSJF and Business value assigning workshops with PMs and Business owners. • Embedded coaching / workshops facilitation with leadership on process mapping. • Assisted in ART team members interviews for hire. • Served as a reach back for multiple ARTs on agile processes and practices. Show less

Apex Systems (Client: Charles River Labs, MA)

• Jul 2021 - Jan 2022

• Coached 6 teams on the values of agile and its benefits. • Embedded coaching with Senior leadership, product owners and scrum masters during the Agile transformation. • Developed an alignment plan for all 6 teams who worked on several apps supporting similar initiatives. • Developed and facilitated trainings on the following: capacity planning, story point estimations, Agile roles, and responsibilities. • Coached Senior leadership: Senior Directors, Executives etc on the principles of agile and the challenges faced by the teams in their various organizations. • Ensured that all the agile teams under my coaching had the proper resources and roles needed to practice agile at its best. • Recommended several team margining that were not staffed enough to be called and agile team. • Coached senior leadership on the advantages on having frequent agile training for all roles. • Filled in as Scrum master for 1 of my teams as we interviewed to fill the position. • Assisted with interviewing Scrum masters for other parts of the organization. Show less

Agile coach

• Jun 2018 - Jul 2021

Scrum Master/Agile Coach, Digital Technology

• Jun 2018 - Jul 2021

• Transformed agile delivery teams through coaching and defining scaled agile practices. • Coached Scrum masters, product owners, and other stakeholders to adopt agile best practices. • Built strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders. • Facilitating daily standups, iteration planning, team retrospectives and backlog refinement for a cross-functional, geographically distributed, high-performing scrum team in an IT department. • Coaching product owners, stakeholders. Scrum masters and teams on self-organization, user story writing, backlog refinement and management, story pointing, dependency, and risk identification and management • Managing program and portfolio level dependencies and risks, resolving cross-team or in partnership with leaders and stakeholders. • Removing impediments to the program’s progress in partnership with other agile release trains or escalating to leaders and stakeholders. • Preparing information radiators in JIRA and JIRA Align for each Iteration Review and Product Demo to transparently share accomplishments, metrics and continuous improvement efforts and outcomes. • Participating and facilitated Program Increment (PI) Planning, to include pre- and post- PI activities: reviewing the backlog, proactive dependency and risk identification for upcoming known scope, updating JIRA and JIRA Align. • Reviewing and supporting organizational and team progress against Program Increment objectives driven by business value. • Evolving from a siloed, role-based, leadership-driven team culture to one based on self-organization, continuous improvement, collaboration, learning, and accountability • Monitoring the enterprise’s digital footprint in the Agile software systems of record to ensure compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and other regulatory requirements within the company. • Utilizing negotiation and positive psychology skills to resolve team conflict or misunderstandings to maintain a positive team culture. Show less

Senior Computer & Information Systems Manager (Agile Coach / Jira Admin)

• Feb 2021 - May 2021

• Identified and set up both scrum and kanban teams for the REMIS project. • Set up jira projects and boards for all 6 teams both scrum and Kanban boards. • Coached stakeholders, other managers and teams members on the agile framework, ceremonies and practices. • Facilitated lunch and learn sessions with various managers and stakeholders on story point estimation, definitions of Done, Definition of ready and capacity planning. • Coached management on various matrixes and their roles on both Kanban and Scrum teams at both Team and management level. • Created norms and processes for the Kanban Defect maintenance team. • Set up Confluence spaces for all teams for documents and requirement visibility. • Used the Weighted shortest Job first (WSJF) approach to educate management on epic and capability prioritization. • Identified and set up process on both bug and Defect management. (In Development and Production) Show less

Scrum Master/ Agile Coach

• Dec 2017 - May 2018

• Defined program metrics and reporting process targeted towards senior leadership. • Worked with technical and non-technical stakeholders to deliver program objectives. • Serving as Scrum Master for three cross-functional scrum teams, coaching the teams in their transformation from waterfall to Agile, and used team’s progress as agile growth and maturity evidence for senior management. • Holding teaching sessions across the organization to support alignment and adherence to agile practices and principles. • Facilitating daily standups, iteration planning, team retrospectives and backlog refinement ceremonies. • Assisted product owner and product managers with backlog grooming and potential sprint visualization and MVP delivery. • Supporting a positive team culture through creating open and healthy communication between team members, Product Owners and stakeholders. • Assisting in developing a hiring and onboarding process for the company. • Strong ability to look at the big picture as well as execute day-to-day operational details. • Defining roles, responsibilities and accountabilities for key project roles. • Maintaining the education and learning KPI infrastructure. • Primary Point of Contact for all Change Management, ensuring all applicable requirements are satisfied. Show less

Agile coach / Scrum Master

• Mar 2013 - Nov 2017

• Coaching leadership, stakeholders and teams on Agile principles to support the transformation to Agile • Educating and reinforcing the Agile framework and Scrum methodology across the organization • Conducting technical training sessions regarding Agile and Scrum methods and best practices • Facilitating daily standups, iteration planning, team retrospectives, backlog refinement and product (software) demonstrations • Providing guidance and coaching to the team to encourage adoption of Agile best practices, including positive cross-team communication, coordination and collaboration • Improving transparency of work and communication, both internally and externally, by creating a visual system to track progress of work during iterations • Creating information radiators based on iteration data to increase transparency of scrum team progress, areas of improvement and outcomes of continuous improvement initiatives • Protecting development team from distractions, impediments or team conflicts, maintaining focus on iteration backlog and project timelines • Partnering with Product Owner to manage the Product Backlog and continuous delivery of features Show less

Scrum Master

• Dec 2012 - May 2013