Agile Business Capabilities (ABC) Coach

Agile Business Capabilities (ABC) Coach

Overview:

We are seeking an experienced Agile Business Capabilities (ABC) Coach to lead and support the organization’s enterprise-wide Agile Transformation journey. The ABC Coach will play a critical role in driving Agile maturity, fostering innovation, building high-performing teams, and aligning cross-functional stakeholders to deliver measurable business value. This position serves as a strategic thought partner and hands-on Agile expert across domains and digital delivery teams, globally and locally.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Agile Coaching & Enablement (70%)

• Provide end-to-end Agile coaching to teams, leaders, and stakeholders across the enterprise, helping instill Agile mindset, values, and practices.
• Design and deliver comprehensive Agile training programs, bootcamps, and workshops tailored to different maturity levels and roles.
• Work with newly formed and existing teams to establish Agile practices such as Product Visioning, Continuous Backlog Refinement, Sprint Planning, Product Experimentation, Definition of Ready/Done, etc.
• Promote DevOps practices and modern engineering excellence, including test automation, CI/CD, pair programming, and quality-first mindset.
• Coach Product Owners, Domain Owners, and teams in product discovery, user-centered design, experimentation, and outcome-based roadmapping.
• Partner with leadership to assess organizational agility, identify impediments, and drive continuous improvement.
• Facilitate Agile ceremonies, retrospectives, and planning events, and offer hands-on guidance to teams through agile transformations.
• Help identify and eliminate process waste while encouraging innovation and data-driven decision making.

2. Agile Strategy & Roadmap Development (20%)

• Collaborate with internal learning and development units to evolve the Agile learning curriculum and maintain a robust education pipeline.
• Contribute to the ongoing development of a scalable Agile operating model and transformation roadmap across domains.
• Leverage business metrics and Agile maturity data to advise leadership on trends, bottlenecks, and opportunities for improvement.
• Stay current on Agile trends, tools, and enterprise transformation models and bring best practices into the organization.

3. Organizational Development & Continuous Improvement (10%)

• Foster a culture of learning, transparency, and experimentation.
• Champion Agile principles through coaching, internal forums, speaking engagements, and community of practice participation.
• Identify and implement process improvements related to release planning, service delivery, and team dynamics.
• Support career growth of Agile practitioners through mentoring and feedback.

Day-to-Day Activities:

• Coach and mentor Agile teams and leaders on Agile execution, roles, responsibilities, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Facilitate workshops, training sessions, and Agile simulations.
• Assess Agile maturity at the team and organizational levels and define actionable growth plans.
• Monitor progress and report outcomes to leadership.
• Work directly with digital teams, product managers, domain owners, business stakeholders, and external partners.
• Influence enterprise-wide adoption of Lean, Agile, Systems Thinking, and Design Thinking approaches.

Required Qualifications:

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Business, Management Information Systems, Engineering, or related field.
• Master’s degree (MBA or relevant advanced degree) is a plus.

Experience:

• Minimum 7+ years of experience as an Agile Coach, Scrum Master, or Transformation Lead in enterprise environments.
• 15+ years of experience in software development, business analysis, or IT project management preferred.
• Demonstrated expertise in organizational change management and enterprise-level coaching.
• Experience leading Agile transformations in a complex, global, and matrixed organization.

Certifications (Required or Preferred):

• Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Professional Scrum Master (PSM), or equivalent.
• Agile Coaching certifications such as Certified Enterprise Coach (CEC), ICAgile Certified Professional in Agile Coaching (ICP-ACC), or similar are strongly preferred.

Skills & Competencies:

• Deep knowledge of Agile frameworks (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, LeSS, etc.).
• Strong facilitation, mediation, and conflict resolution skills.
• Expert-level understanding of Agile product development, DevOps practices, and software delivery lifecycle.
• Proficiency in Systems Thinking, Design Thinking, and Complexity Theory.
• Exceptional interpersonal and influencing skills across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong analytical, communication, and storytelling skills.
• Experience with Agile collaboration tools such as Jira, Confluence, Miro, etc.
• Proven ability to foster a growth mindset and coach teams toward self-organization and high performance.

Key Working Relationships:

• Collaborates closely with business and technology leaders, product owners, delivery teams, scrum masters, analysts, and architects.
• Interfaces with both local and global Agile teams.
• Partners with internal learning/development teams to evolve Agile learning curriculum.
• May participate in hiring and performance evaluations for Agile practitioners and team roles.

Work Environment:

• Ability to work flexible hours including occasional evenings or weekends depending on project needs.
• Hybrid or remote working arrangements depending on location.
• Occasional travel may be required to support global teams or participate in Agile events

Cognizant will only consider applicants for this position who are legally authorized to work in the United States without requiring company sponsorship now or at any time in the future.

The Cognizant community:
We are a high caliber team who appreciate and support one another. Our people uphold an energetic, collaborative and inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive.

• Cognizant is a global community with more than 300,000 associates around the world.
• We don’t just dream of a better way – we make it happen.
• We take care of our people, clients, company, communities and climate by doing what’s right.
• We foster an innovative environment where you can build the career path that’s right for you.

About us:
Cognizant is one of the world's leading professional services companies, transforming clients' business, operating, and technology models for the digital era. Our unique industry-based, consultative approach helps clients envision, build, and run more innovative and efficient businesses. Headquartered in the U.S., Cognizant (a member of the NASDAQ-100 and one of Forbes World’s Best Employers 2024) is consistently listed among the most admired companies in the world. Learn how Cognizant helps clients lead with digital at www.cognizant.com

Cognizant is an equal opportunity employer. Your application and candidacy will not be considered based on race, color, sex, religion, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

Disclaimer: 
Compensation information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.

Applicants may be required to attend interviews in person or by video conference. In addition, candidates may be required to present their current state or government issued ID during each interview.