Agile Practice Owner

Gore Mutual Insurance; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 118,000 - 169,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading mutual insurance company in Toronto is seeking an Agile Practice Owner to facilitate Agile transformations and improve collaboration between business and technology teams. The role involves defining an Agile roadmap, providing coaching, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in Agile roles, preferably in the insurance sector, and strong stakeholder management skills. Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits are offered.

Benefits

Extended health and dental benefits

Disability insurance

Retirement plan matching

Paid time off

Recognition and perk programs

Qualifications

• 5–10 years of experience in Agile practice roles.
• Proven track record of leading Agile transformations.
• Experience within the property and casualty insurance sector preferred.

Responsibilities

• Define the roadmap to achieve Agile maturity.
• Support teams in understanding Agile responsibilities and practices.
• Provide coaching for key Agile roles such as Scrum Master and Product Owner.

Skills

Agile methodology

Stakeholder management

Communication skills

Data-driven decision making

Education

Undergraduate degree in Information Technology or Project Management

Tools

Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)

Job description

Next Horizon is here. Fueled by investments in talent and technology, our bold strategy to transform is nearly complete.

At Gore Mutual, we’ve always set ourselves apart as a modern mutual that does good. Now, we’re proudly building on that legacy to transform our company—and our industry—for the better.

Our path forward sharpens our focus on business performance, driven by leading technology, innovation and an agile, high‑performing culture. With Gore Mutual and Beneva announcing their intent to merge in 2026, we’ll be uniting two well‑established, financially strong, and trusted brands to become the strongest mutual insurer in Canada, ensuring Canadians have purpose‑driven insurance options for generations to come. Come join us.

This role is intended to help evolve the way business and IT collaborate at Gore by supporting the adoption of a more Agile delivery model. It requires someone who can first build a deep understanding of the team, the dynamics and constraints within which we operate, and the strengths we possess, and then lead the organization through a realignment toward a more responsive approach. This shift will emphasize more frequent releases, greater involvement of the business throughout the end‑to‑end delivery process, and higher quality outcomes with reduced waste. Serving as a catalyst for cultural and operational change, the role will guide Gore into the next phase of its evolution as a modern mutual powered by an industry‑leading technology stack, ensuring that business and technology move forward together to deliver sustainable value at speed and scale.

What will you do?

Owner of the Agile practice at Gore

• Define the roadmap to achieve Agile maturity that is agreed with IT SLT.
• Build support for each phase of the roadmap across business and technology teams so that there is buy‑in from the functions to advance the practice.
• Implement the roadmap in an agreed timeframe.
• Act as a change agent to foster a culture of continuous improvement, collaboration, and transparency.

Agile Education

• Work with teams across functions to articulate the vision for Agile at Gore, including responsibilities for individual roles and teams, clarity on time commitments from each member, and how agile ceremonies are run, what they achieve, and measures of their success.
• Create a curated training set of material to onboard individuals to the Gore version of Agile, or create and deliver a training course to achieve this objective.
• Support individuals in their pursuit of Agile training.

Maturity Assessment

• Clearly define each stage of maturity on the path to the target state.
• Support pods in completing the assessment.
• Identify actions for each pod based on the assessment to enable progression to the next level.

Escalate organizational impediments on progress to IT SLT based on data from the maturity assessment.

Mentorship

• Provide focused coaching for key roles in the Agile practice (e.g., Scrum Master, Product Owner).

Take on this day‑to‑day responsibility to try out work processes that can be refined and subsequently adopted by the larger pods, for example:

• Determine the optimal pod size for the level of business support available.
• Break user stories into sufficiently small pieces so they can be delivered as part of a two‑week sprint.
• Use this pod to demonstrate the impact of greater Agile maturity on delivery in a measurable way.
• Highlight any organizational impediments that block the advancement of Agile maturity within this pod.

What will you need to succeed?

• Undergraduate degree in Information Technology, Project Management or relevant field.
• 5–10 years of experience in Agile practice roles and a proven track record of leading a comparable Agile transformation to completion at an organization of similar or larger scale. Experience within the property and casualty insurance sector is preferred, though backgrounds in other areas of financial services will also be considered. The candidate must have remained with the organization for at least a year following the completion of the transformation to demonstrate commitment to embedding lasting change.
• Prior to serving as a SAFe Agile Practice Owner, the candidate would have worked as a Scrum Master for 2–4 years, building a strong foundation in Agile delivery.
• Additional experience in other Agile roles, such as Product Owner, is viewed as an advantage.
• Hands‑on experience as a developer, tester, or business analyst strengthens the candidate’s ability to bridge business and technology and drive meaningful outcomes.
• Deep expertise in enterprise Agile strategy and governance, with proven leadership in the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) supported by relevant certifications.
• Strong executive stakeholder management capabilities, coupled with exceptional communication and facilitation skills that enable alignment across business and technology.
• Experience in organizational change leadership is essential.
• Solid grounding in DevOps and Agile engineering practices, with industry knowledge—particularly within insurance or broader financial services—and a commitment to data‑driven decision making that ensures transparency, accountability, and measurable success.

The expected base salary range for this position is $118,500 - $168,500. Depending on your relevant experience, skills, qualifications, market conditions and business needs, base compensation may vary. You have the potential to earn more through Gore Mutual’s discretionary bonus program which gives you an opportunity to increase your total compensation, provided the business meets its performance targets and you meet your individual goals.

Please note: This range reflects the expected base salary for this role but may not represent the full compensation range for all experience and skill levels. During the recruitment process, we will discuss and consider how your unique qualifications align with the broader range for this position.

Gore Mutual is proud to offer a comprehensive total rewards package which includes extended health and dental benefits, disability insurance, retirement plan matching, paid time off, recognition and perk programs.

#LI-Hybrid

This posting pertains to an existing vacancy that is actively being filled.

Accessibility for applicants

Gore Mutual Insurance Company is committed to providing accommodations for people with disabilities during all phases of the recruiting process, including the application process. If you require accommodation because of a disability, we will work with you to meet your needs. Contact us and a human resources representative will consult with you to determine an appropriate accommodation. Should you request an accommodation during the interview process, please notify your Talent Acquisition Consultant.