Vice President - Agile Program Manager

VP, Agile Program Manager (L12)

Job Description:

Role Title: VP, Agile Program Manager (L12)

Company Overview:

Synchrony (NYSE: SYF) is a premier consumer financial services company delivering one of the industry’s most complete digitally enabled product suites. Our experience, expertise and scale encompass a broad spectrum of industries including digital, health and wellness, retail, telecommunications, home, auto, outdoors, pet and more.

• We have recently been ranked #2 among India’s Best Companies to Work for by Great Place to Work. We were among the Top 50 India’s Best Workplaces in Building a Culture of Innovation by All by GPTW and Top 25 among Best Workplaces in BFSI by GPTW. We have also been recognized by AmbitionBox Employee Choice Awards among the Top 20 Mid-Sized Companies, ranked #3 among Top Rated Companies for Women, and Top-Rated Financial Services Companies.

• Synchrony celebrates ~51% women diversity, 105+ people with disabilities, and ~50 veterans and veteran family members.

• We offer Flexibility and Choice for all employees and provide best-in-class employee benefits and programs that cater to work-life integration and overall well-being.

• We provide career advancement and upskilling opportunities, focusing on Advancing Diverse Talent to take up leadership roles.

Organizational Overview :

In today's fast-paced business landscape, the ability to adapt quickly and deliver value is paramount. Agile project management has emerged as a transformative approach to project delivery, and behind every successful Agile project, there is a dedicated team that manages the Agile framework with precision and finesse. GOI&T team has a proven track record of success, and it empowers teams to embrace change and collaborate to achieve results in their projects. The key responsibilities of the team include daily stand ups, sprint planning, sprint review, sprint retrospective and backlog refinement. While they maintain a relentless focus on improving their Agile processes and strive for excellence in project delivery, the GOI&T team can pivot quickly, responding to changing customer needs – consistently delivering value to customers.

Role Summary/Purpose:

The Vice President, Agile Program Manager will lead strategic initiatives spanning across multiple agile release trains, cross functional teams, & external Vendor partners. 

This role ensures alignment across business & technology stakeholders, drives program level execution, fosters a culture of transparency, collaboration, & relentless improvement with a goal to increase speed to market of new capabilities for the Strategic Initiative with an MVP (Minimum viable product) mindset. 

 Agile Program Manager will partner with Agile Release Train (ART) leadership, Technology & Business stakeholders to develop a vision, execution strategy, prioritize initiatives basis the ROI and drive effective alignment of teams & resources for solution delivery. 

Essential Responsibilities:

• Lead large/enterprise agile initiatives, utilizing Scaled Agile Methodology 

• Lead, manage and direct cross functional resources (Technology and Business) as required throughout agile lifecycle. 

• Collaborate & manage dependencies across ARTs, teams, other SIs, external dependent teams, 3rd Parties and any other area that aligns with Strategic Initiatives commitments. 

• Plan and communicate with business, Technology leadership, and other key stakeholders regarding program status, milestones, issue resolution and escalation. 

• Create operating rhythm which ensures communication with key stake holders, business, leadership and other key stakeholders regarding the health of the program through metrics, dashboards & reports. 

• Track progress at program level, risks, & impediments, manage escalations & address them to keep the initiatives on track. 

• Drive adherence to standardizes practices & processes across ARTs & teams. 

• Coach leaders and teams in lean agile practices and mindset. 

• Keep everyone focused on concrete PI priorities while keeping outside influences from disrupting and actively identify and remove waste and distractions 

• Develop and Foster relationships with cross functional teams across the enterprise. 

• Advocate for autonomous, self-organizing, empowered, and continuously improving teams. 

• Perform other duties and/or special initiatives as assigned 

Qualifications/Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree with minimum 8 years of overall experience or in lieu of degree, minimum 10 years of overall experience. 

• Minimum of 5 years of technical or infrastructure support experience demonstrating increasing levels of responsibility in management experience in financial services or banking industry. 

• Minimum of 5 years of experience participating as a member in Agile methodology (SAFe/Non SAFe). 

• Experience in People & Vendor management 

• Proven leadership and effective decision-making capabilities 

• Ability to build & maintain relationships & partnerships with key stakeholders. 

• Excellent knowledge of Agile methodologies and practices 

• Flexible to work early eastern hours ~ 2 PM ET 

Desired Characteristics:

• Have strong knowledge of Scaled Agile Framework and have led complex initiatives. 

• Have strong servicing business acumen & application product knowledge of servicing technology & associated infrastructure. 

• Strong business acumen including a broad understanding of financial services business processes and practices 

• Have a proven track record of leading and executing critical business initiatives. 

• Passionate about working with cross geography and cross functional teams to deliver cutting edge features for both client partners and internal teams. 

• Have creativity, enthusiasm, and energy with a strong "can do" attitude and are result-oriented. 

• Have superior oral and written communication skills, as well as the ability to manage expectations of the business, clients, team members, management, and external groups. 

• Are a hands on, self-motivated professional with the ability to effectively prioritize multiple initiatives 

• Managing financials and utilizing spend management systems. 

• Proven ability to lead and motivate teams in a matrixed environment 

• Strong cross-functional team player with the ability to work seamlessly across a matrix organization. 

 

Eligibility Criteria:

Bachelor’s Degree with minimum 8 years of overall experience or in lieu of degree, minimum 10 years of overall experience. 

Work Timings :

This role qualifies for Enhanced Flexibility and Choice offered in Synchrony India and will require the incumbent to be available between 06:00 AM Eastern Time – 11:30 AM Eastern Time (timings are anchored to US Eastern hours and will adjust twice a year locally). This window is for meetings with India and US teams. The remaining hours will be flexible for the employee to choose. Exceptions may apply periodically due to business needs. Please discuss this with the hiring manager for more details.

For Internal Applicants:

• Understand the criteria or mandatory skills required for the role, before applying

• Inform your manager and HRM before applying for any role on Workday

• Ensure that your professional profile is updated (fields such as education, prior experience, other skills) and it is mandatory to upload your updated resume (Word or PDF format)

• Must not be any corrective action plan (First Formal/Final Formal, LPP)

• L10+ Employees who have completed 18 months in the organization and 12 months in current role and level are only eligible.

• L10+ Employees can apply

Grade/Level: 12

Job Family Group:

Information Technology

Experience Level

Executive Level