How Is This Role Important to Our Work?

Blue Cross Blue Shield of MN is hiring a Principal Product Team Consultant in Eagan, MN. The Principal Product Team Consultant will help push for continuous improvement focusing in on four key areas: Organizational Effectiveness (Engaged Teams), Customer Value (Building the right things), Quality (Working Product) and Team Effectiveness (Deliver Predictably). The Principal SM will resolve and escalate impediments; helps assure value delivery at a portfolio level utilizing continuous improvement. The Principal SM is accountable for the overall coordination, execution, and delivery of value through the product portfolios while ensuring utilizing Agile @ Scale Techniques. You will be a cohesive link between multiple product teams, operations teams and Vendor teams, facilitating communications, opening the flow of information, and sharing important progression updates.

This role is hybrid, 2 days a week in office, out of Eagan, MN.

A Day in the Life:

• Uses Agile methodology values, principles, and practices to plan, manage, and deliver solutions.
• Incorporates tasks, issues, risks, and action items within Agile process and product portfolio backlog.
• Assess team skills composition, product teams and recommend staffing changes.
• Facilitate complicated product releases and ongoing delivery of value to customers where multiple product teams, vendors teams, or operations groups are involved.
• Optimizes the flow of value through the product portfolio, facilitating Agile @ Scale events such as Big Room Planning (BRP), Scrum of Scrums, product portfolio Demos, hackathons, bring cake, and product synchs.
• Facilitates the creation of BRP Objectives leveraging Quarterly Business Reviews for input; works with Product Owners, Architects, Managers, and Stakeholders to ensure alignment to Product Portfolio(s) OKRs and Big Room Planning execution.
• Facilitate BRP including estimation and creation of sprint (iteration) schedule; Facilitate PI Planning readiness via fostering the preparation of Backlogs via Pre- and Post-BRPs Planning meetings. Works in conjunction with Product Owners, Architects, Managers, Stakeholders and Security.
• Identifies product portfolio(s) opportunities to work with the team and measure data-based improvements.
• Enables teams to follow Agile @ Scale and/or scaled lean practices.
• Enables the proper use of collaborative processes and removes impediments for multiple teams.
• Enables initiative processes, deliverables, and financials are tracked.
• Prepares and presents value and Improvement reports for the executive owner of the product portfolios.
• Provides coaching to leaders, teams, Scrum Masters, and product portfolios on all aspects of Lean Agile. Works with the teams to mature their product led mindset, practices, ceremonies, and coaches the key roles to achieve business results.
• Remains current with industry trends to identify characteristics of high performing teams/organizations and to help improve business agility within the Product Portfolio.
• Able to tackle special assignments around building Agile competency through data or other small consulting assignments.
• Work with peers to present key impediments impeding progress towards adopting a Product Model.
• Responsible for supporting and developing Agile teams, as needed.
• Generally, Principal Product Team Consultant will have accountability of Several products or Product Portfolios. Number of products, product size, revenue impacts and/or complexity are all considerations in performance.

Nice to Have:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, business, technical degree or a relevant field
• 7 years of Agile Team experience or in role experience
• Excellent problem solving and analytical skills, including experience leveraging data to inform decision making and independently solving problems
• Leadership and management experience a plus

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• 7 years of related (Scrum or Agile) professional experience. All relevant experience including work, education, transferable skills, and military experience will be considered.
• One of the following certifications: Certified scrum master (CSM), Professional Scrum Master (PSM), SAFe or LeSS
• Working knowledge of agile methodology, techniques, and frameworks, such as Scrum or Kanban, to deliver solutions
• Able to build highly engaged teams
• Exceptional people and portfolio management skills
• Excellent communication (verbal and written) and interpersonal abilities with the ability to coach and advise organizational leadership
• Analytical mindset with a data-driven approach to decision-making
• Adaptability and a willingness to learn new skills
• Expertise in relating strategy to tactics
• Strategic thinker with strong business acumen
• Adept at working effectively with all functions of an organization in a highly matrixed environment
• Experience with agile planning tools such as Jira and/or Mural