Agile Coach - Azure DevOps

Location: Drivable to Lansing, MI (onsite 2 days)

Job Type: Contract W2 – 6 months+

About the Role

As a DevOps Coach, you will work closely with various teams to establish and enhance their DevOps practices, ensuring continuous delivery and integration through automation, collaboration, and process improvement. Your expertise in Azure DevOps (ADO) and Azure Boards will be instrumental in transforming client workflows, particularly within State and Local Government (SLED) environments. You'll help teams adopt best practices and optimize their use of DevOps tools to improve productivity, reduce time to market, and create high-performing development environments.

Responsibilities

• Mentor and guide cross-functional teams in adopting and maturing DevOps practices, focusing on automation, CI/CD pipelines, and collaborative development.
• Lead efforts in designing, implementing, and optimizing workflows using Azure DevOps, with a strong emphasis on Azure Boards for work tracking and project management.
• Provide expertise in the setup, configuration, and management of Azure Boards, including the creation and management of work items, sprints, epics, user stories, and tasks.
• Utilize your deep understanding of State and Local Government (SLED) environments to ensure the development and delivery pipelines align with regulatory and compliance standards.
• Assess and recommend improvements to existing DevOps processes, focusing on increasing efficiency and ensuring successful releases and deployments.
• Drive automation efforts for testing, building, and deployment pipelines to improve software delivery lifecycle (SDLC) and reduce manual intervention.
• Foster strong collaboration between development, operations, and other business teams to ensure alignment on goals, timelines, and execution.
• Provide training sessions and workshops on DevOps tools, practices, and methodologies to internal teams and clients.
• Stay up to date with industry trends, best practices, and emerging technologies to provide forward-looking guidance and strategic advice.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in a DevOps role, with a proven track record of coaching and guiding teams in best practices.
• Strong experience with Azure DevOps (ADO) and Azure Boards; deep knowledge of Azure Boards features and functionalities.
• Experience working in SLED environments with an understanding of the unique requirements, security protocols, and regulatory compliance aspects.

Skills

• Proficiency in managing and configuring Azure DevOps pipelines, including continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD).
• Familiarity with DevOps tools and technologies such as Git, Jenkins, Terraform, Kubernetes, Docker, and cloud infrastructure (Azure, AWS, etc.).
• Strong background in work item tracking, backlog management, and sprint planning using Azure Boards.
• Strong mentoring and coaching skills with the ability to effectively communicate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience facilitating DevOps workshops and training sessions.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with a collaborative approach to problem-solving.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with minimal supervision.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to think strategically.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Azure DevOps certifications (AZ-400 or similar).
• Other DevOps certifications (e.g., Certified Kubernetes Administrator, AWS DevOps Engineer).
• Experience working in public sector, government, or SLED-related industries.
• Experience with regulatory compliance and security requirements in government and public sector environments.