Jira Configuration Expert & Agile Standards Lead

Optima Global Solutions Inc.; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Optima Global Solutions Inc. in Washington seeks a Jira Configuration Expert and Agile Standards Lead to enhance Agile practices and optimize Jira usage. The ideal candidate should have deep technical proficiency in Jira and experience using Generative AI for administration tasks. Responsibilities include defining Agile processes, owning Jira configurations, and supporting continuous improvement efforts across teams. A collaborative mindset and strong stakeholder engagement skills are essential for driving successful outcomes in a complex environment.

Qualifications

• Experience administering Jira at scale in complex environments.
• Strong experience in defining and operationalizing Agile practices.
• Ability to utilize Generative AI tools for Jira improvements.

Responsibilities

• Lead Agile best practices and ensure Jira is a high-functioning system.
• Define Agile standards and implement them across teams.
• Design and maintain Jira structures to support cross-functional delivery.

Skills

Jira configuration expertise

Agile practices

Generative AI

Stakeholder management

Tools

ScriptRunner

Jira Automation

Confluence

Job description

Founded in 2001, Optima Global Solutions Inc. brings over 2 decades of experience and expertise in facilitating IT transformation within industries ranging from higher education and government to manufacturing and financial services. Sporting scalable and diverse business solutions expertise along with deep-domain based resourcing capabilities, Optima has a specialization in Automation and AI, Strategic Staffing and Custom Solutions Development, focusing on the core pillars of process, people, strategy and transformation.

Jira Configuration Expert & Agile Standards Lead

Position Summary

The JOMIS team is seeking a highly capable Jira configuration expert and Agile Standards Lead to drive execution excellence across JOMIS modern products. This role is critical to establishing, scaling, and enforcing Agile best practices while ensuring Jira serves as a high-functioning, enterprise-grade system of record for delivery. This individual will not only optimize the Jira platform for JOMIS (Jira + Confluence), but will also define, standardize, and operationalize Agile processes across teams by writing and socializing Agile Plays. The ideal candidate is someone who can translate Agile principles into structured, repeatable practices within Jira—enabling visibility, consistency, and accountability across a complex program. The ideal candidate is not just a Jira configuration expert, but a builder of systems and standards, someone who can take loosely defined Agile practices and transform them into structured, repeatable, and scalable processes within Jira. They are equally comfortable configuring workflows, coaching teams, and engaging leadership to drive alignment and accountability. The ideal candidate will also have experience leveraging Generative AI (i.e., the DoW approved AI tool suite) to make their job and the job of others more efficient and effective for both Jira configuration and Agile process development. This individual thrives in complex environments and takes ownership of both the tooling and the processes that enable high-performing teams.

Agile Standards & Process Leadership

• Define and implement Agile standards, playbooks, and best practices across teams, ensuring consistency in execution.
• Translate Agile frameworks into Jira configurations, roadmaps, workflows, and governance models.
• Collaborate with JOMIS government leadership to drive the development of Agile artifacts (e.g., definitions of done, backlog standards, PI planning structures).
• Partner with government and program leadership to align on Agile expectations and continuously improve delivery practices.
• Proactively identify gaps in Agile adoption and drive corrective actions across teams.
• Support PI Planning, retrospectives, and continuous improvement efforts with structured, Jira-enabled processes.

Jira Configuration & Platform Ownership

• Serve as the primary Jira configuration expert for JTE Jira, owning workflows, roadmaps, dashboards, permissions, and governance.
• Design and maintain scalable Jira structures (JQL filters, projects, boards, roadmaps) to support cross-functional delivery.
• Work with teams to call out data integrity, board hygiene, and alignment to defined Agile processes.
• Create and manage Jira dashboards and Jira roadmaps that clearly communicate progress, risks, dependencies, and blockers to leadership per PI and capability block release.
• Ensure Jira data quality across program standards (e.g., all user stories must have acceptance criteria) to enable leadership decision-making through high-quality, reliable Jira data and insights.
• Leverage Confluence to track work efforts as needed and provide linkage to Jira ticketing.

BASIC JOB REQUIREMENTS

• Experience administering Jira at scale, including permission schemes, issue security, and multi-project configurations in complex environments.
• Strong experience defining and operationalizing Agile practices (PI planning, roadmap configurations, advising teams on best practices for Jira project management) across multi-disciplinary teams within Jira.
• Ability to use Generative AI tools (e.g., Gemini) to improve efficiency and quality of Jira administration tasks, including drafting workflows, generating JQL queries, and automating routine configurations.
• Hands-on expertise with Jira configuration, workflows, JQL, roadmaps automation tools (e.g., ScriptRunner, Jira Automation, bulk uploads, bulk updates), and APIs.
• Experience building dashboards and reporting frameworks for executive-level visibility.
• Experience designing and maintaining Jira data models (issue types, fields, taxonomies) to ensure consistency and reporting integrity.
• Ability to manage and prioritize multiple workstreams, balancing support, enhancement, and strategic initiatives.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with experience working across leadership, engineering, and government teams.

Prior experience with DHMS, DHA, or similar federal programs is preferred but not required.

KEY COMPETENCIES

• Agile Leadership: Ability to create, standardize, and drive adoption of Agile practices across teams.
• Jira Expertise: Deep technical proficiency in Jira roadmaps, bulk updates, bulk uploads, JQL, dashboards, widgets, plugin requests, troubleshooting.
• Systems Thinking: Ability to design scalable processes and tooling that enable consistent execution.
• Execution Focus: Strong attention to detail with a focus on outcomes, data accuracy, and delivery transparency.
• Proactive Ownership: Identifies gaps, drives solutions, and ensures follow-through without requiring direction.
• Communication: Clearly translate complex execution data into actionable insights for leadership.
• Governance Mindset: Ensures compliance with standards while enabling team agility.
• Stakeholder Enablement & Training: Enables teams through onboarding, training, and best practice guidance to drive effective Jira adoption.

Continuous Improvement Mindset

Regularly evaluates Jira usage, identifies inefficiencies, and iterates on configurations to improve team performance.