Agile Operations Manager
New York, New York / Atlanta, Georgia / Chicago, Illinois / Washington, D.C. / Minneapolis, Minnesota / Detroit, Michigan / Columbus, Ohio / Cincinnati, Ohio / Baltimore, Maryland / Philadelphia, Pennsylvania / Boston, Massachusetts
( Solutions Development ) – Digital Operations Group /
Full Time /
Hybrid
AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, automation and analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation.
At AHEAD, we prioritize creating a culture of belonging, where all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create spaces to empower everyone to speak up, make change, and drive the culture at AHEAD.
We are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate based on an individual's race, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived.
We embrace all candidates that will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD.
The Agile Operations Manager is a strategic, hands-on leader responsible for advancing agile practices and operational excellence across the IT organization. This role blends agile coaching, delivery facilitation, and operational oversight to support team alignment, process consistency, and measurable outcomes tied to OKRs (Objectives & Key Results).
The ideal candidate brings both agile transformation experience and operational leadership skills, with the ability to coach teams and managers, streamline execution rhythms, and drive cross-team alignment through metrics, retrospectives, and feedback loops.
Key Responsibilities
- Serve as an internal Agile Coach for technology and operations teams, guiding adoption and continuous improvement of Agile frameworks (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, or hybrid).
- Partner with team leads and functional managers to establish and maintain consistent operating rhythms, including planning, stand-ups, demos, retros, and backlog refinement.
- Lead and continuously improve the OKR management process, ensuring team-level OKRs are aligned, visible, and reviewed consistently.
- Act as a delivery partner to managers and product owners, supporting delivery governance, roadmap cadence, and change adoption.
- Lead, mentor, and develop a team of Scrum Masters to ensure consistent facilitation of agile practices, cross-team alignment, and continuous improvement in delivery outcomes.
- Facilitate retrospectives, maturity assessments, and improvement workshops that drive measurable outcomes.
- Support operational health tracking through metrics dashboards, KPI reporting, and stakeholder updates.
- Maintain and evolve shared templates, frameworks, and practices for Agile delivery, capacity planning, and intake management.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with PMO, Business Applications, Product, and Enterprise IT to ensure alignment and communication.
Required Qualifications
- 5+ years of experience in IT operations, internal product management, or business systems teams.
- 3+ years of experience leading Agile transformations or working as an Agile Coach or Scrum Master.
- Strong understanding of Agile frameworks (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe) and delivery metrics (velocity, lead time, throughput).
- Proven ability to coach teams and leaders, manage change, and implement scalable operating models.
- Experience with OKRs, KPI frameworks, or performance measurement processes.
- Strong collaboration, facilitation, and communication skills.
- Proficiency with tools such as Jira and Confluence.
Preferred Qualifications
- Agile certifications (e.g., ICP-ACC, SAFe Program Consultant, CSM, CSP).
- Experience in a matrixed or enterprise internal IT environment.
- Familiarity with ITIL, Lean, or business systems operations.
What Success looks like
- Agile ceremonies are consistently adopted and drive value across teams.
- OKRs are visible, owned, and aligned across delivery layers.
- Teams demonstrate measurable improvement in agile maturity and delivery health.
- Operational noise is reduced, and stakeholder confidence improves.
- Team feedback loops are embedded in the operating culture.
$140,000 - $165,000 a year
Why AHEAD:
Through our daily work and internal groups like Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity of people, ideas, experience, and everything in between.
We fuel growth by stacking our office with top-notch technologies in a multi-million-dollar lab, by encouraging cross department training and development, sponsoring certifications and credentials for continued learning.
USA Employment Benefits include:
- Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
- 401(k)
- Paid company holidays
- Paid time off
- Paid parental and caregiver leave
The compensation range indicated in this posting reflects the On-Target Earnings (“OTE”) for this role, which includes a base salary and any applicable target bonus amount. This OTE range may vary based on the candidate’s relevant experience, qualifications, and geographic location.
