Lead Agilist

OpTech; Cincinnati (OH); On-site; USD 82,000 - 117,000; Full time

Job summary

OpTech is seeking an experienced Lead Agilist to support Agile delivery teams in Cincinnati, OH on a 12+ month W2 contract. This role acts as a servant leader, coach, and Agile champion who helps teams embrace value-driven delivery and continuous improvement.

You will partner with Product Owners, developers, stakeholders, and leadership to remove impediments, foster collaboration, and nurture high-performing teams that deliver meaningful business outcomes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, CS, Engineering, or equivalent professional experience.
• 5+ years of professional business experience.
• 3+ years of Scrum Master, Agile Coach, or Agile delivery experience.
• Strong knowledge of Scrum principles, Agile methodologies, and servant leadership practices.
• Experience facilitating Agile ceremonies and coaching cross-functional teams.
• Strong communication, presentation, mentoring, and facilitation skills.
• Proven ability to resolve team and organizational impediments.
• Experience influencing stakeholders across multiple levels of an organization.
• Strong problem-solving, critical-thinking, and conflict-resolution skills.
• Ability to build trust and foster highly collaborative working relationships.

Responsibilities

• Coach Agile teams on Scrum values, principles, and Agile best practices.
• Sprint Planning
• Daily Standups
• Sprint Reviews
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement.
• Help teams become increasingly self-organized and high-performing.
• Support effective decision-making through facilitation and coaching techniques.
• Partner with Product Owners on backlog management, prioritization, and value delivery.
• Ensure teams have a clear understanding of objectives, priorities, and success criteria.
• Coach teams on estimation, planning, forecasting, and delivery practices.
• Facilitate alignment across cross-functional teams and stakeholders.
• Lead through servant leadership principles.
• Mentor team members and support their professional growth.
• Create an environment where individuals feel safe raising concerns and discussing challenges.
• Encourage innovative thinking, accountability, and continuous learning.
• Promote strong team dynamics and healthy conflict resolution.
• Help teams adopt Agile and DevOps practices that improve speed, quality, and reliability.
• Identify and remove team impediments whenever possible.
• Escalate organizational barriers and dependencies when appropriate.
• Facilitate collaboration across teams to resolve challenges and dependencies.
• Support risk identification, transparency, and mitigation activities.

Skills

Agile coaching

Leadership

Facilitation

Communication

Mentoring

Conflict resolution

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

CSM/PSM/SAFe Scrum Master

Job description

THIS IS A 12+MO W2 CONTRACT OPPORTUNITY (NO C2C OR FEE BASED REFERRALS)

APPLICANTS MUST BE LOCAL TO THE CINCINATTI, OH AREA AT TIME OF APPLICATION

MAX RATE: UP TO $72HR BOE

We are seeking an experienced Lead Agilist to support high-performing Agile delivery teams in a fast-paced technology environment. This role serves as a servant leader, coach, facilitator, and Agile champion responsible for helping teams embrace Agile values, continuously improve, and deliver meaningful business outcomes.

The ideal candidate is passionate about Agile practices, team development, continuous improvement, and organizational agility. You will partner with Product Owners, Developers, stakeholders, and leadership to cultivate high-performing teams, remove impediments, and foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and innovation.

Position Summary

As a Lead Agilist, you will guide one or more Agile teams in the effective adoption and execution of Scrum and Agile principles. You will coach teams in self-organization, continuous improvement, backlog management, dependency resolution, and delivery excellence while creating an environment where team members can openly collaborate, innovate, and thrive.

You will facilitate key Agile ceremonies, help teams identify and remove obstacles, promote value-driven delivery, and leverage Agile metrics and feedback loops to support continuous learning and operational excellence.

This role requires strong leadership, coaching, facilitation, and communication skills, along with a deep understanding of Agile methodologies, software delivery practices, and team dynamics.

Key Responsibilities

Agile Team Coaching & Facilitation

• Coach Agile teams on Scrum values, principles, and Agile best practices.
• Sprint Planning
• Daily Standups
• Sprint Reviews
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement.
• Help teams become increasingly self-organized and high-performing.
• Support effective decision-making through facilitation and coaching techniques.

Product & Delivery Support

• Partner with Product Owners on backlog management, prioritization, and value delivery.
• Ensure teams have a clear understanding of objectives, priorities, and success criteria.
• Coach teams on estimation, planning, forecasting, and delivery practices.
• Facilitate alignment across cross-functional teams and stakeholders.

Continuous Improvement & Organizational Agility

• Leverage Agile metrics, feedback loops, and retrospectives to identify improvement opportunities.
• Promote a culture of experimentation, learning, and adaptation.
• Introduce practices that improve team effectiveness, development quality, and delivery performance.
• Help teams adopt Agile and DevOps practices that improve speed, quality, and reliability.
• Identify and remove team impediments whenever possible.
• Escalate organizational barriers and dependencies when appropriate.
• Facilitate collaboration across teams to resolve challenges and dependencies.
• Support risk identification, transparency, and mitigation activities.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead through servant leadership principles.
• Mentor team members and support their professional growth.
• Create an environment where individuals feel safe raising concerns and discussing challenges.
• Encourage innovative thinking, accountability, and continuous learning.
• Promote strong team dynamics and healthy conflict resolution.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• 5+ years of professional business experience.
• 3+ years of Scrum Master, Agile Coach, or Agile delivery experience.
• Strong knowledge of Scrum principles, Agile methodologies, and servant leadership practices.
• Experience facilitating Agile ceremonies and coaching cross-functional teams.
• Strong communication, presentation, mentoring, and facilitation skills.
• Proven ability to resolve team and organizational impediments.
• Experience influencing stakeholders across multiple levels of an organization.
• Strong problem-solving, critical-thinking, and conflict-resolution skills.
• Ability to build trust and foster highly collaborative working relationships.

Preferred Qualifications

• Scrum Master certification (CSM, PSM, SAFe Scrum Master, or equivalent).
• Experience working within complex enterprise technology environments.
• Experience supporting software development teams and Agile product organizations.
• Understanding of DevOps practices and modern software delivery methodologies.
• Familiarity with:
• Test-Driven Development (TDD)
• Automated Testing
• Experience with additional Agile frameworks such as:
• Scrumban
• Extreme Programming (XP)
• Lean Practices
• Mob Programming
• Agile Coaching
• Team Facilitation
• Stakeholder Management
• Organizational Change Management
• Team Development
• Communication & Influence
• Problem Solving
• Agile Metrics & Reporting
• Cross-Functional Collaboration

Why Join Us?

This is an opportunity to play a key role in shaping Agile culture, empowering teams, and driving meaningful business outcomes. You'll work alongside talented professionals, influence organizational effectiveness, and help teams continuously improve while delivering high-impact technology solutions.