Lean Portfolio Manager

A career at CoBank can offer you the opportunity to make a personal impact on the people and communities where we do business. In order to be the best, we hire the best Benefits Offered by CoBank:

• Careers with a purpose
• Time-Off Packages, 20 days of vacation, 10 paid sick days and 11 paid holidays
• Competitive Compensation & Incentive
• Hybrid work model: flexible arrangements for most positions
• Benefits Packages, including Medical, Dental and Vision coverage, Disability, AD&D, and Life Insurance
• Robust associate training and development with CoBank University
• Tuition reimbursement for higher education up to $10k per year
• Outstanding 401k: up to 6% matching and additional 3% non-elective contribution & Student Loan Match
• Community Impact: United Way Angel Day, Volunteer Day and Associate Directed Contribution
• Associate Resource Groups: creating a culture of respect and inclusion
• Recognize a fellow associate through our GEM awards

The Lean Portfolio Manager (LPM) role, is pivotal in driving the efficient and strategic execution of the enterprise portfolio management practices. The Lean Portfolio Manager is responsible for ensuring that Lean Portfolio Management processes are implemented effectively, navigating impediments, managing risks, and fostering continuous improvement within the portfolio. The Lean Portfolio Manager is expected to build strong relationships with executives, product leaders, and delivery teams. This position is critical to the success of the Lean Agile Center of Excellence (LACE), where the Lean Portfolio Manager oversees the enterprise portfolio roadmap, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities and overseeing all portfolio-related events and operations. The Lean Portfolio Manager will actively manage enterprise portfolio communications, reporting, and governance processes, ensuring that portfolio activities adhere to and deliver measurable outcomes based on investment decisions. The role demands a strong focus on organizing LPM events, facilitating LPM meetings, and maintaining the enterprise portfolio kanban to ensure workflows remain streamlined and optimized. In addition, this role is responsible for reporting progress toward strategic objectives, managing performance targets at the portfolio level, and proactively addressing enterprise-level risks, challenges, impediments, and dependencies across multiple teams. This is accomplished through facilitation and utilization of "S3" (Scrum of Scrum of Scrums), "S4" (Senior Leadership Scrum), or LPM as applicable. Success in this position is evidenced by effective leadership in developing, implementing, and communicating metrics, ensuring the enterprise portfolio meets its goals and supports the wider organizational strategy.

• Refines and operates LPM practices, including portfolio kanban, funding models, and reporting.
• Accountable for governance, compliance, and outcome of work being performed in the enterprise portfolio; drives the alignment of Outcomes/Strategic Themes to the Epics and Feature sets within the enterprise portfolio.
• Leads portfolio ceremonies and decision-making forums, ensuring enterprise alignment and transparency.
• Responsible for enterprise portfolio operations and communications to diverse stakeholders and audiences.
• Creates, implements and socializes LPM/enterprise portfolio level metrics. Reports portfolio-level progress toward outcomes, investment decisions, and performance targets.
• Manages enterprise portfolio kanban.
• Proactively manages, escalates and resolves enterprise portfolio-level obstacles, risks, issues, impediments and dependencies impacting multiple teams/groups. Facilitates the identification of enterprise portfolio-level issues and risks through Scrum of Scrum of Scrums (S3) and ensures processes are effective.
• Builds and maintains rapport and strong relationships with Product, Business Owners, Executive Management team, team members and other Stakeholders using a variety of techniques.
• Partners with executives, business owners, and finance to prioritize investments and manage portfolio dependencies.
• Organizes and facilitates all LPM events and meetings.

• Bachelor's Degree required
• SAFe certified RTE, POPM, SPC or SPCP required

• 10 years of experience in Banking, Financial or other highly regulated industry required
• 8 years of experience serving as RTE or Lean Portfolio Manager, orchestrating work across a multi-team environments/portfolios required
• 6 years of experience working with medium to large complexity initiatives required
• 6 years of experience demonstrating proficiency with Agile Management tools (i.e. AHA, Jira, ADO), required
• Strong knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and implementations
• Experience operating within various Agile frameworks and implementation of Agile methodologies to multiple teams in large-scale enterprise change programs
• Experience in managing enterprise portfolios of work through Lean Portfolio Management practices
• Experience in managing Agile environments using Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
• Experience leading and/or partnering closely with distributed/virtual teams
• Experience with modern software engineering techniques such as Continuous Integration, Continuous Deployment, test-driven development and other automated acceptance testing techniques
• Ability to work effectively in a rapidly changing, fluid and dynamic environment
• Excellent communication, organizational change management and facilitation skills
• Demonstrates growth mindset, learning mindset, strategic thinking

The typical base pay range for this role is between $131,100 - $161,300. Compensation may vary based on individual job-related knowledge, skills, expertise, and experience. This position is eligible for a discretionary annual incentive program driven by organization and individual performance. The listed salary, other compensation and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. This job will be posted for a minimum of five (5) business days or until the position is filled. CoBank reserves the right to adjust compensation for all positions and to modify or discontinue benefits programs at any time in its sole discretion, subject to applicable law.

CoBank is a cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. The bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations serving more than 76,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country. CoBank is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U.S. agriculture, rural infrastructure and rural communities. Headquartered outside Denver, Colorado, CoBank serves customers from regional banking centers across the U.S. and also maintains an international representative office in Singapore.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

We are committed to ensuring that our online application process provides an equal employment opportunity to all applicants, including qualified individuals with disabilities. If you are an applicant with a disability, or are assisting an applicant with a disability, and require accessibility assistance or would like to request a reasonable accommodation for any aspect of the application process, including completing an application, interviewing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please submit a request by emailing Include your contact information and specific details about your requested accommodation.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.

CoBank is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.