Agile Coach

A pioneer in K-12 education since 2000, Amplify is leading the way in next-generation curriculum and assessment. Our core and supplemental programs in ELA, math, and science engage all students in rigorous learning and inspire them to think deeply, creatively, and for themselves. Our formative assessment products help teachers identify the targeted instruction students need to build a strong foundation in early reading and math. All of our programs provide educators with powerful tools that help them understand and respond to the needs of every student. Today, Amplify serves more than 10 million students in all 50 states. For more information, visit amplify.com.
Amplify is a leader in creating immersive, rigorous digital learning experiences that look great, play great, and help students expect great things of themselves. Amplify has been described as the best tech company in education, and the best education company in tech.
You will join a talented team tackling the toughest problems in education with the best ideas in technology and product development.
Amplify's COVID-19 vaccination policy requires all staff to provide proof of vaccination for in-person meetings unless an approved exemption is provided.
What You'll Do
As an Agile Coach, you will help individuals and teams in Engineering discover and master relevant Agile principles and practices through a combination of coaching, mentoring, and direct action. The result of your work is empowered and effective teams who sustainably improve in innovation and delivery.
You will work with Product Owners, Engineering Leads, and Product Development Teams across the department on focused engagements such as team lift-offs, Agile skills refreshers, and solving specific innovation and delivery issues. You will grow capabilities in others with an eye towards self-sufficiency.
You will also assess department needs and deliver ad-hoc workshops, Scrum guild sessions and events such as Open Space to help people in Engineering achieve our mission and live our values including our commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility.
Teach and mentor Product Development Teams on how to:

• Create high value increments using Agile practices such as user story mapping and story splitting.
• Continuously inspect and adapt the value delivered and ways of working by conducting positive and productive Scrum events such as sprint planning, daily standup, sprint review and retrospective.
• Empower everyone on the team through transparency of the product goal, sprint goal and definition of done.
• Include everyone on the team by encouraging cultural awareness and drawing out all learning and thinking styles.
• Write effective Objectives and Key Results that make it clear to Teams what's important and what tradeoffs to make during their day-to-day work
• Coordinate their work with other teams when contributions from diverse groups are needed to deliver a project.

Coach individuals such as product owners and engineering leads, and teams as a whole by partnering with them in thought-provoking and creative processes that inspire them to maximize their potential. Be open, curious and centered on the person and team being coached. Enable their choices, rather than advocating for what you think is best for them.
Facilitate workshops for Product Development teams, across the Engineering department and with partners in the broader organization. Assess group needs, plan appropriate group processes, create and sustain a participatory environment, guide the group to appropriate and useful outcomes.
Should Have

• BA/BS or equivalent experience
• 4+ years of experience as a ScrumMaster/Agile Coach in a fast-paced, engineering-focused culture and are comfortable with conversations about software product development.
• Experience guiding at least four teams through significant performance improvements, and launching at least two new teams
• Experience facilitating at least three different types of group working sessions such as release retrospectives or product planning.
• Experience assessing innovation and delivery issues for a single team or group of teams, providing guidance, and collaborating with them to enable the solution they choose.
• Some travel will be required between once per quarter and a maximum of once per month.

Extra Credit For

• Experience with powerful questions and professional coaching as defined by the International Coaching Federation.
• Experience crafting and facilitating a variety of cross-team workshops and department events.
• Familiarity with OKRs, Design Thinking, pair programming and/or TDD.
• Experience assessing innovation and delivery issues across multiple teams or a department, providing guidance, and collaborating with other Agile Coaches, Engineering Managers, Product Managers and department leaders to enable the solution they choose.
• Experience working in education would be a bonus.

We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. To that end, we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool.
Amplify is an Equal Opportunity Employer of Minorities, Females, Protected Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities.
This position may be funded, in whole or in part, through American Recovery & Reinvestment Act funds.
Amplify Education, Inc. is an E-Verify participant.