Job Description

Agile Coach & Value Manager - JHBDescriptionRole purpose:M-Pesa, is a pioneering fintech business and global market leader in mobile money. From starting in 2007 as a convenient means by which the unbanked and underbanked could make digital payments, M-Pesa has now grown to offer over 50 million active customers financial services, enterprise, merchant and retail solutions. We are proud of our work in enabling the digital economy in our markets, and in driving financial inclusion. M-Pesa Africa is now making strides to deepen and strengthen its offering to consumers and businesses in our operating countries, making it easier for them to manage their money and get more from their limited resources. Your role sits within the <> who have the mission <> Working within the scaled agile framework (SAFe), you will perform all aspects of the Value Management Officer role. You will be responsible for implementing lean governance and operations, helping the organisation make better, more informed decisions that enables business agility. Unlike in a traditional Project Management Office, which is highly process driven, your role will be to help create an outcome focused Value Management function, supporting value delivery and flow through small, lightweight controls. Helping to culture shift towards agile values, you will focus on individuals and their interactions and create an environment that rewards the generation of value for customers in the quickest possible time.You will be part of the team responsible for our Lean-Agile Transformation, helping to coach leaders, managers and teams to support M-Pesa in achieving its goal of becoming the #1 FinTech company in Africa by supporting the implementation of our world-class agile operating model and developing M-Pesaxe2x80x99s xe2x80x9cAgile mindsetxe2x80x9d while aligning the business to the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).You will work closely with people at all levels of the organization across Portfolio Management, Technology, Operations, HR, Procurement, Governance and Compliance to establish consistent and best-practice agile processes and principles. You will ensure continuous improvement by regularly monitoring and assessing team performance to identify areas where improvement is required and applying appropriate SAFe principles and practices. You will act as a facilitator and enabler, continuously engaging and challenging the organisation to improve value delivery, flow of work and quality of outcomes.Key AccountabilitiesAgile TransformationDrive and support the adoption of the Scaled Agile mindset, techniques and culture at all levels of the organization to help M-Pesa achieve true business agility.Support the evolution of the Value Management Office and the establishment of a full Lean Agile Centre of Excellence (LACE)Identify value streams within the organisation, create appropriate implementation plans and support the launch of new Agile Release Trains (ARTs)Agile MaturityWork alongside the other agile coaches to implement the M-Pesa Target Operating Model (TOM) and establish consistent and best-practice agile processes and principles.Work with our local market teams to help them align to the M-Pesa agile process and operating model.Mentor and coach, all levels of the organization on Scaled Agile principles, practices, roles, artefacts and ceremonies to maintain consistency of adoption and continuously improve performance.Provide regular training in the Scaled Agile Framework using SAFe Approved course content, incorporating M-Pesa related content and tools where needed to align courses to the organisation and support the launch of new ARTs.Manage and facilitate best practice knowledge sharing throughout the organisation through informal and formal methods such as Communities of Practice and ensure effective communication and knowledge capture.Align the organizationxe2x80x99s agile principles, practices, standards and ceremonies with Scaled Agile best practice.Effective OutcomesSupport the xe2x80x9clean start-up cyclexe2x80x9d by facilitating transparent discussion of key initiatives to ensure the intended benefits are delivered and our agreed strategic outcomes are achieved.Effective persuasion, negotiation, and dependency resolution skills.Support Lean Portfolio Management:Support Portfolio Manager to prepare and facilitate key SAFe Lean Portfolio events including Portfolio Syncs and Strategic Portfolio reviews.Collaborate with Lean Portfolio Management, ART Leadership roles to ensure we deliver the best outcomes for our customers.Help transition our teams towards our Target Operating model, organizing people around value and a common vision.Help shift the funding model, moving away from traditional project funding towards directly fund value streams.Support and help facilitate twice-yearly portfolio planning through our Participatory Budgeting events.Ensure adherence to the agreed Lean-Budget GuardrailsHelp manage uncontrolled and unlimited portfolio demand by visualizing work in process and matching demand to portfolio capacity.Help the transition away from traditional governance and quality gates by moving our teams to a xe2x80x9cbuild in qualityxe2x80x9d mindset and value focused delivery.Guide Product Management to create Lean Business Cases that are outcome-focused and establish a sensible xe2x80x9cminimum viable productxe2x80x9d (MVP)Support Agile Portfolio Operations:Help our Agile Release Trains execute and deliver by generating progress metrics that are used to improve value delivery and optimize flow.Help co-ordinate our key PI Planning events and guide Agile Release Trains to prepare the necessary content to support a successful event.Support preparation for other key Scaled Agile program level events, including:Pre and Post PI Planning SyncART SyncPO-SyncScrum of ScrumsSystem DemosInspect and Adapt WorkshopsGuide Agile Release Trains to comply with our agile governance model by ensuring:the xe2x80x9cdefinition of donexe2x80x9d (DoD) is captured, communicated and used to anchor conversation in program level events.our Jira toolset is used correctly to capture additional compliance activities as necessary.Become a Jira and Tools champion, supporting adoption and correct use of tools to improve data quality and decision making.Help implement and operate xe2x80x9crisk and dependencyxe2x80x9d processes within our Agile Release Trains (ARTs)Help implement Vendor Management processes within our Agile Release Trains (ARTs) Provide Servant leadership:Provide data-driven intelligence to create valuable insights and positively influence decision making.Create an environment of mutual influence, understanding and empathy.Coach people with xe2x80x9cpowerful questionsxe2x80x9d rather than using authority and commands.Think beyond day-to-day activities; apply systems thinking.Support the teamsxe2x80x99 commitments.Be open and appreciate openness in others.Encourage collaboration between teams, Release Train Engineer, Product Management and System ArchitectsDrive Relentless Improvement:Provide regular reporting and analysis to drive effective decision making and continuous improvement.Support our drive for relentless improvement by supporting Inspect and Adapt workshops; assess the agility level of the ART and help them improve.Support our Communities of Practice and the use of engineering and Built-In Quality practices.Core competencies, knowledge, and experience: Strong understanding of / experience with agile ways of working and software development lifecycle Flexible and adaptive to change, ensuring we maximize flow and minimize waste caused by ineffective processes Focus on real value delivered to business and customers Strong data analytical skills, able to identify solutions to complex problems Ability to work proactively within a demanding environment, being a key contributor to a fast-moving product development process Able to communicate and influence with tact and diplomacy Demonstrable numerical, analytical, and verbal skills, well-developed written and verbal communication skills in English Experience working within a multi-national team and serving customers from multiple countries would be of benefit Demonstratable mentoring and coaching experienceTechnical / professional qualifications: Essential Education to degree level, or equivalent commercial experience Proven experience as an Agile Coach within a delivery organisation with experience leading teams in adopting and implementing agile methodologies. Extensive experience working with agile methodologies, e.g., SAFe, Scrum, Kanban, XP, TDD, and BDD SAFe Programme Consultant (SPC) Certification Agile Experience including experience working with international organisations xe2x80x93 minimum 5 years Other certifications in agile practices e.g., Agile Certified Coach (ACC), Professional Scrum Master, Professional Scrum Product Owner Demonstrable competence using the JIRA and Confluence tools, backed with experience Communication and relationship management experience Excellent problem analysis and resolution skills to support work in reactive and proactive environments.Desirable Professional experience and knowledge of Telecommunications and/or Financial Services, FinTech, Mobile Payment or Financial Payment Service Experience Contagious passion and commitment for driving innovation in a FinTech organisationKey performance indicators % decrease in time to market % increase in productivity % increase in employee engagement % increase in supplier engagement % increase in end-user or customer satisfaction ART performance assessment metrics

JTJ Group