IT Agile Program Manager - Corporate & ERP Systems

Introduction

Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of global food retailer Ahold Delhaize, is part of the U.S. family of brands, which also includes five leading omnichannel grocery brands – Food Lion, Giant Food, The GIANT Company, Hannaford and Stop & Shop. Ahold Delhaize USA associates support the brands with a wide range of services, including Finance, Legal, Sustainability, Commercial, Digital and E-commerce, Technology and more.

Overview

The Agile RTE & Program Manager II - IT Agile PMO role will manage waterfall, Agile and hybrid programs. They have responsibility for financial management, scope management, risk management, dependency management, stakeholder management, and communication with exec leadership for their programs / ARTs. The role ensures execution of complex IT programs including full lifecycle execution, risks mitigating and communicating progress to all major stakeholders. They may lead a small team of internal and external project managers / scrum masters. This role plays a crucial role in the Agile transformation, in that they will coach leaders, team and Scrum Masters in Agile processes and mindsets. This role should be able to pivot between program manager and RTE role and is able to work in bi-modal fashion.

Our flexible/hybrid work schedule includes 3 in-person days at one of our core locations and 2 remote days. Our core office locations include Salisbury, NC; Quincy, MA; Chicago, IL; Carlisle, PA; and Scarborough, ME.

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.

Responsibilities

• Actively manage and deliver complex Agile and Waterfall programs of $20M or less while managing risks and issues to minimize scope, budget, and schedule impacts
• Partner with finance, project teams, and value stream owners to ensure all financial cadences (e.g., quarterly budgeting cycles, month-end closings, etc...) are supported by and aligned to portfolio financials.
• Ensure compliance to project delivery methods, tools, framework, and IT controls.
• Develop plans for resource allocation, timeline, and budget to develop an overall project plan.
• Collaborate with delivery teams and Project Managers of other, related projects, to map and plan for dependencies
• Outline and define clear deliverables, roles, and responsibilities for the team members to maintain clarity on requirements, through the creation of a project charter.
• Develop blueprints and roadmaps to lay down the possible failures and exceptions, to manage the risk and uncertainty associated with the launch of new solutions.
• Synthesize and implement technological projects that are customized to meet an organization's needs.
• Report progress, risk mitigation, and any updates to the initial resource, timeline, and budget plans to relevant stakeholders.
• Deliver the project while meeting the expectations of relevant IT and business stakeholders.
• Run periodic meetings to monitor and track progress of project execution ensuring KPIs are being met and adherence to standard procedures for its delivery (examples include following SLAs, timelines, budget, sourcing/ partnerships needed, vendor selection & onboarding, etc.) is maintained.
• Create and drive project dashboards reflecting weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual status (as needed) to facilitate transparent and regular communication with stakeholders and focus on improving the operational performance of the project.
• Collaborate with other program managers and project managers in the process of balancing the interdependencies between the managed project and other projects to identify and plan for/ address these interdependencies
• Accountable for the managing of cross project related tasks needed to deliver the program
• Collaborates with the solution team to ensure adherence to release management practices on the program.
• Holds solution teams accountable for the development of the deployment and hypercare plan
• Assists the project manager in receiving the Go/No-Go Signoff and CAB/ TAB approvals
• Responsible for program level governance and managing stakeholder expectations
• Accountable for risk management - mitigation and resolution of risk and issues
• Lead the waterfall programs and help with Agile transformation
• Facilitate SAFe Lean-Agile processes and execution of a train.
• Facilitate ART events (i.e. PI Planning, key ceremonies) and assist team in delivering value.
• Drive continuous improvement and collaboration among ARTs
• Coach, guide and mentors project managers and scrum masters
• Mentors, coaches the Business Owners, Product Owners, Scrum Masters and teams to foster agile mindset and guides the teams on the continuous improvement path
• Support Scrum of Scrums coordination to gain visibility into team progress and any impediments/blockers.
• Assists as Product Management Teams and Agile Team in prioritization and sizing decisions
• Manage dependencies with other ARTs/ Agile or waterfall teams and collaborates with other RTEs / Program Managers to resolve the dependencies
• Holds the Product Management team (Product Managers, Product Owners) accountable and helps them maintain a healthy prioritized backlog
• Responsible for Financial Management, Risk Management and Dependency management for the Agile Teams
• PMO Maturity, Process & Tools:
  • Execute upon and contribute to process improvements and best practices across PMO to support delivery excellence
  • Actively drive the transformation of waterfall projects to agile
  • Understands the RBS PMLC and Agile processes and ensures adherence to the processes.
  • Ensure accurate usage of Clarity and Jira Tools
  • Configure SAFe to the organization's needs and standardize and document practices.
• Keeps the Portfolio Lead informed of the teams progress, the risks, issues and dependencies and seeks helps when necessary
• Ensure operational stability of a 24/7/365 grocery retail environment by providing PMO support to the planned and unplanned deployments which may require support during off-hours, weekends, and holidays.

Requirements

• Master's degree in computer science, Business or Technical field; equivalent trainings/certifications/experience equivalency will be considered.
• 7+ years practical experience at varying levels of project/program management in waterfall and 5+ years of experience on Agile Projects as RTE
• Working knowledge of Waterfall and agile methodology
• Working knowledge if PPM and agile tools (Jira)
• Thorough understanding of enterprise software development lifecycle; ability to adjust and apply this knowledge in a dynamic environment using agile methodologies.
• Bring a data-driven approach to decision making, both in day-to-day activities and when helping others make strategic trade-offs.
• Self-starter with the ability to lead teams through ambiguity to solve problems and drive results.
• Strong organizational, communication, interpersonal, relationship-building skills conducive to collaboration; able to work well in a cross-functional environment.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with a history of hands-on, detail orientated.
• Ability to establish credibility and rapport with senior executives and technical and non-technical team members alike
• Financial Acumen
• Interpreting and applying understanding of key financial indicators to make better business decisions.
• Understands the meaning and implications of key financial indicators.
• Uses financial analysis to generate, evaluate, and act on strategic options and opportunities.
• Communicates Effectively - Developing and delivering multi-mode communications (verbal and written) that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.
• Collaborates - Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
• Demonstrated experience in servant leadership.
• Key Skills: Agile Processes and procedures (including SAFe framework, metrics, and the implementation of Agile Release Train)

Preferred Qualifications

• MBA or advanced degree in relevant business-related field.
• Agile / SAFe certification
• Proficiency working in and managing agile, SAFe, scrum teams (scrum of scrums), lean teams.
• Retail experience is a plus.

ME/NC/PA/SC Salary Range: $108,880 - $163,320

IL/MA/MD Salary Range: $125,200 - $187,800

Actual compensation offered to a candidate may vary based on their unique qualifications and experience, internal equity, and market conditions. Final compensation decisions will be made in accordance with company policies and applicable laws.