Strategic Overview
Agile Program Manager at Toptal is defined by the responsibilities and candidate requirements in the employer's listing.
The published role emphasizes work such as Lead end-to-end delivery of a multi-team program, coordinating three or more Agile teams (Scrum, Kanban, or hybrid) toward shared quarterly objectives.
The role is listed for Anywhere in the World with a remote working arrangement, giving candidates the practical context needed to assess fit before applying.
Key information at a glance
About This Role
We're looking for an experienced Agile Program Manager to lead delivery across multiple cross-functional teams working toward a shared set of business outcomes. You'll sit at the intersection of strategy and execution: translating roadmap priorities into coordinated, predictable delivery, keeping dependencies visible, and making sure the right people are making the right decisions at the right time.
This is a hands-on program role, not a status-reporting one. You'll own the cadence, the plan, and the risks across several Agile teams, and you'll be the person stakeholders trust to tell them where things really stand.
Key Responsibilities & Objectives
- Lead end-to-end delivery of a multi-team program, coordinating three or more Agile teams (Scrum, Kanban, or hybrid) toward shared quarterly objectives.
- Run program-level planning, including quarterly/PI planning, roadmap alignment, capacity planning, and release planning.
- Identify, map, and actively manage cross-team dependencies, risks, and blockers, escalating early and with clear options.
- Facilitate program ceremonies such as Scrum of Scrums, program syncs, system demos, and retrospectives, and make sure they produce decisions, not just updates.
- Partner with Product Owners and Product Managers to keep backlogs prioritized, refined, and aligned to business value.
- Build and maintain program-level reporting: delivery health, burn-up/velocity trends, OKR or objective progress, and RAID logs, tailored for both team-level and executive audiences.
- Drive continuous improvement in delivery practices, tooling, and team workflows, coaching teams and leaders on Agile principles where needed.
- Manage stakeholder communication across engineering, product, design, business, and leadership, keeping expectations aligned as scope and priorities shift.
- Track program budget, resourcing, and vendor or third-party deliverables where applicable.
Required Qualifications & Candidate Blueprint
- 8+ years of experience in program or project management, with at least 5 years leading delivery in Agile environments.
- Proven track record managing multi-team programs (not just single-team Scrum) from planning through release.
- Deep, practical knowledge of Scrum and Kanban, plus experience with at least one scaling framework (SAFe, LeSS, Scrum@Scale, or similar).
- Clear, concise written and verbal communication in English, with the ability to tailor the message for engineers and executives alike.
- Experience with Agile transformations or introducing scaled frameworks into an organization.
- Background in software, SaaS, data, or digital product delivery.
- Familiarity with OKRs and value-stream or portfolio management.
- Experience in regulated industries (financial services, healthcare, insurance, public sector) where Agile delivery coexists with compliance requirements.
Preferred Qualifications
- Agile or program management certifications such as SAFe RTE, SAFe SPC, PMI-ACP, PgMP, PMP, CSM/CSP, or ICAgile.
- Experience with Agile transformations or introducing scaled frameworks into an organization.
- Background in software, SaaS, data, or digital product delivery.
- Familiarity with OKRs and value-stream or portfolio management.
- Experience in regulated industries (financial services, healthcare, insurance, public sector) where Agile delivery coexists with compliance requirements.
- Budget and vendor management experience on programs with multiple delivery partners.
Salary & Benefits
The available source data does not publish a numerical salary range for this opening. We do not estimate or substitute third-party figures.
Full Job Description
The following is the complete job description supplied by the source. We sanitize unsafe markup and remove external links, but do not shorten or rewrite the employer's source content.
We're looking for an experienced Agile Program Manager to lead delivery across multiple cross-functional teams working toward a shared set of business outcomes. You'll sit at the intersection of strategy and execution: translating roadmap priorities into coordinated, predictable delivery, keeping dependencies visible, and making sure the right people are making the right decisions at the right time.
This is a hands-on program role, not a status-reporting one. You'll own the cadence, the plan, and the risks across several Agile teams, and you'll be the person stakeholders trust to tell them where things really stand.
What You'll Do
- Lead end-to-end delivery of a multi-team program, coordinating three or more Agile teams (Scrum, Kanban, or hybrid) toward shared quarterly objectives.
- Run program-level planning, including quarterly/PI planning, roadmap alignment, capacity planning, and release planning.
- Identify, map, and actively manage cross-team dependencies, risks, and blockers, escalating early and with clear options.
- Facilitate program ceremonies such as Scrum of Scrums, program syncs, system demos, and retrospectives, and make sure they produce decisions, not just updates.
- Partner with Product Owners and Product Managers to keep backlogs prioritized, refined, and aligned to business value.
- Build and maintain program-level reporting: delivery health, burn-up/velocity trends, OKR or objective progress, and RAID logs, tailored for both team-level and executive audiences.
- Drive continuous improvement in delivery practices, tooling, and team workflows, coaching teams and leaders on Agile principles where needed.
- Manage stakeholder communication across engineering, product, design, business, and leadership, keeping expectations aligned as scope and priorities shift.
- Track program budget, resourcing, and vendor or third-party deliverables where applicable.
What You Bring
- 8+ years of experience in program or project management, with at least 5 years leading delivery in Agile environments.
- Proven track record managing multi-team programs (not just single-team Scrum) from planning through release.
- Deep, practical knowledge of Scrum and Kanban, plus experience with at least one scaling framework (SAFe, LeSS, Scrum@Scale, or similar).
- Strong command of Agile tooling such as Jira, Jira Align, Azure DevOps, Rally, or equivalent, including building dashboards and program-level reporting.
- Excellent facilitation skills: you can run a 50-person planning event as comfortably as a tense 1:1 escalation.
- Clear, concise written and verbal communication in English, with the ability to tailor the message for engineers and executives alike.
- Experience working with distributed or remote teams across time zones.
- Comfort operating with ambiguity: you can stand up structure where there is none and adapt it as the program evolves.
Nice to Have
- Agile or program management certifications such as SAFe RTE, SAFe SPC, PMI-ACP, PgMP, PMP, CSM/CSP, or ICAgile.
- Experience with Agile transformations or introducing scaled frameworks into an organization.
- Background in software, SaaS, data, or digital product delivery.
- Familiarity with OKRs and value-stream or portfolio management.
- Experience in regulated industries (financial services, healthcare, insurance, public sector) where Agile delivery coexists with compliance requirements.
- Budget and vendor management experience on programs with multiple delivery partners.
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Editor’s Market Perspective (Our Custom Analysis)
Why This Position Matters
This opening may suit candidates who can demonstrate experience relevant to the employer's published requirements. Its strongest career signal is the scope of the work itself — particularly Lead end-to-end delivery of a multi-team program, coordinating three or more Agile teams (Scrum, Kanban, or hybrid) toward shared quarterly objectives. — rather than a generic title alone.
Resume & Application Strategy
For the application, connect specific examples from your experience to the responsibilities and qualifications in the employer's description. Quantify outcomes from comparable work, and place the most relevant evidence near the top of the resume. When the employer explicitly names tools, platforms, leadership scope, or domain experience, use those source terms accurately and in context.
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