Agile Coach (Volunteer)

Agile Coach (Volunteer)

PromiseOperations | Organizational Agility, Team Effectiveness & Continuous Improvement

Organization: Mentor A Promise (MAP)

Division: PromiseOperations

Location: Remote / Hybrid (NYC Collaboration as Needed)

Type: Volunteer Leadership Role

Commitment: Approximately 5–10 Hours Per Week

Minimum Commitment: 6-Month Commitment Required

Reports To: Chief Operating Officer

Works Closely With: Executive Leadership Team, Division Chiefs, Project Managers, Product Teams, Program Teams, PromiseStack, PromiseStudios, PromisePeople, PromiseMeasure, and Cross-Functional Working Groups

About Mentor A Promise

Mentor A Promise (MAP) is a New York City–based nonprofit organization supporting children, youth, and families experiencing housing instability through mentorship, literacy, social-emotional learning, educational enrichment, creative expression, technology innovation, workforce development, and community-centered opportunity.

As MAP continues to grow, collaboration becomes increasingly important.

Strong organizations are not built solely through talent.

They are built through clear communication, aligned priorities, accountability, effective systems, and continuous improvement.

This role helps make that possible.

About PromiseOperations

PromiseOperations serves as the operational backbone of Mentor A Promise.

The division supports organizational effectiveness, cross-functional collaboration, project execution, strategic implementation, and operational excellence across the MAP ecosystem.

PromiseOperations helps transform ideas into action and strategy into results.

Role Overview

Mentor A Promise is seeking an experienced and collaborative Agile Coach to help strengthen how teams plan, communicate, prioritize, collaborate, and deliver meaningful work across the organization.

This role focuses on helping MAP build practical, sustainable, and mission-centered ways of working.

The Agile Coach will partner with leaders, project managers, volunteers, and teams to improve:

• Team effectiveness
• Project execution
• Communication practices
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Organizational agility
• Continuous improvement
• Strategic alignment
• Delivery systems

This role is not focused on rigid adherence to frameworks.

Instead, the Agile Coach helps teams adopt the right practices, processes, and habits that enable them to work more effectively while supporting MAP's mission.

Core Responsibilities

Organizational Agility & Continuous Improvement

Help build a culture of continuous improvement across MAP by:

• Assessing team workflows and processes
• Identifying operational bottlenecks
• Recommending improvements
• Facilitating retrospectives and lessons learned
• Encouraging experimentation and learning
• Supporting healthy team practices

Help teams work smarter, not harder.

Team Coaching & Development

Coach leaders, project managers, and teams on:

• Agile principles
• Team collaboration
• Prioritization
• Accountability
• Communication
• Planning and execution
• Continuous improvement

Help teams become more effective, self-organized, and outcome-focused.

Project & Workflow Optimization

Partner with project managers and team leaders to:

• Improve project planning
• Clarify priorities
• Reduce work duplication
• Improve visibility of work
• Strengthen coordination
• Improve delivery predictability

Support the development of scalable and sustainable project management practices.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Work across divisions including:

• PromiseOperations
• PromiseStack
• PromisePeople
• PromiseMeasure
• PromiseStudios
• PromiseLearning
• PromisePublic
• PromiseFinance

Help improve communication and alignment across teams and initiatives.

Agile Frameworks & Best Practices

Support teams in applying appropriate practices such as:

• Scrum
• Kanban
• Lean
• Agile project management
• Sprint planning
• Retrospectives
• Work-in-progress management
• Continuous improvement cycles

Adapt approaches to fit MAP's nonprofit environment and volunteer workforce.

Leadership Partnership

Support executive and departmental leaders by:

• Facilitating strategic planning sessions
• Supporting organizational change efforts
• Advising on team structures and workflows
• Identifying organizational risks and opportunities
• Improving operational effectiveness

Help leaders create environments where teams can succeed.

Metrics & Organizational Learning

Partner with PromiseMeasure to:

• Define operational success metrics
• Track team effectiveness indicators
• Monitor project delivery performance
• Identify trends and improvement opportunities
• Support data-informed decision-making

Help connect organizational learning to measurable improvement.

First-Year Priorities

Within the first year, the Agile Coach will help:

• Assess current organizational workflows
• Develop practical agile and project management standards
• Support project managers across divisions
• Establish retrospective and continuous improvement practices
• Improve cross-functional collaboration
• Strengthen organizational planning processes
• Build team effectiveness frameworks
• Support leadership development and change management initiatives

Success Measures

Success in this role includes:

• Improved project delivery and execution
• Stronger cross-divisional collaboration
• Reduced operational bottlenecks
• Increased visibility and accountability
• Improved team satisfaction and effectiveness
• Better alignment between strategy and execution
• Sustainable continuous improvement practices
• Stronger organizational agility

Qualifications

We welcome candidates from nonprofit, technology, education, consulting, operations, and organizational development backgrounds.

Helpful experience may include:

• Agile coaching
• Scrum Master experience
• Project management
• Organizational development
• Operations leadership
• Change management
• Product management
• Team facilitation
• Continuous improvement initiatives

Strong candidates often demonstrate:

• Excellent facilitation skills
• Strong systems thinking
• Coaching and mentoring abilities
• Organizational effectiveness expertise
• Strong communication skills
• Ability to build trust across teams
• Experience leading organizational change

Agile certifications, Scrum certifications, project management certifications, or equivalent practical experience are highly valued.

Why This Role Matters

Many organizations struggle not because they lack talent.

They struggle because talented people are not aligned, supported, or connected through effective systems.

The Agile Coach helps MAP build healthier workflows, stronger teams, better communication, and more effective execution.

This role helps transform good intentions into consistent results.

What You'll Gain

• Executive-level exposure to organizational strategy and operations
• Opportunity to help shape how a growing nonprofit works and scales
• Collaboration with senior leaders and cross-functional teams
• Meaningful impact supporting children, youth, and families experiencing housing instability
• Professional references and letters of recommendation
• The opportunity to build a culture of continuous improvement across a mission-driven organization

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply directly through Idealist and submit:

• Resume or CV
• Brief statement of interest
• Relevant Agile, Scrum, project management, coaching, or organizational development experience

Please share experience involving:

• Agile coaching
• Team development
• Project management
• Change management
• Continuous improvement
• Organizational effectiveness
• Cross-functional leadership

Help build a stronger, more agile Mentor A Promise.

Because mission-driven organizations deserve systems that are as thoughtful, collaborative, and impactful as the people behind them.

This role holds the pieces together.

From planning to collaboration to execution—help ensure great ideas become meaningful results.

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with our organization. At this time, volunteer opportunities are limited to individuals based in the United States due to legal, safeguarding, data-privacy, and programmatic requirements. We appreciate your interest in our mission and your understanding of these constraints.