Director, Agile Governance Leader

**About English Language Learning**

In the English Language Learning (ELL) business unit, we aspire to become the world's leading destination to learn and improve English language skills. Our main focus is on committed learners from around the world, who are motivated by outcomes because they want to reach their full potential through learning English.

**About the role**

We are seeking a seasoned and passionate Agile Governance Leader to lead the introduction of Agile practices and to establish a single platform for decision making, for all related initiatives in Product and Technology for the English Language Learning (ELL) division. You will lead the change management of our transformation, creating governance structures, practices and tools aligned with Agile values. You will help design, manage and improve value streams, workflows and clear metrics of efficiency and efficacy towards the continuous evolution of our ways of working.

**High level responsibilities**
- Drive the Agile transformation across the ELL division and lead the change management activities
- Support cells and leaders with the adoption of an agile mindset and the behavioural change required
- Provide strategic information that might impact on the cell prioritisation and plans
- Maintain a clear prioritised portfolio for the ELL division
- Connect to other ELL governance leaders to align dependencies
- Consolidate data from Agile Business cells for Executives review and progress tracking
- Continuously improve business cells delivery, reduce dependencies among cells and manages risks, deadlines and dependencies
- Provide inspirational, value driven leadership to the team such that they develop and are confident and capable in execution
- Promote a culture of partnership, teamwork, innovation and diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Promote a highly collaborative, customer-centric, data-driven culture that challenges norms with a bias to action; support diversity of thoughts, experiences, and approaches to solve issues
- Role model executive leadership characteristics as part of the ELL Product senior leadership team

**Key collaboration/interfaces**:

- Product teams
- Content Production
- Technology
- Operations and customer service teams
- UX
- Sales
- Marketing

**Expected results**:

- Successful introduction of Agile
- Optimised and increasingly efficient product and technology investment
- Emerging and Developed Talent Pipeline

**About your qualifications & skills**
- Strong experience in leading Agile and/or Digital transformations
- Large-scale Agile coaching experience with Scrum and leveraging Lean and/or Kanban methodologies
- Strong knowledge of Agile and team collaboration tools such as JIRA, VersionOne, or Rally
- Must have strong Servant Leadership skills including be not limited to clearing blockers, establishing an environment where the team can be effective, addressing team dynamics, ensuring a good relationship between the team and others outside the team, protecting the teams from outside interruptions and distractions
- Must have proven experience in leading high performing teams in Agile/Scrum/Flight Levels Thinking Models
- One or more related agile practitioner certifications such as Certified Scrum Master (CSM, CSP, PSM, PMI-ACP
- Experience of large scale data transformation projects
- Demonstrated experience in planning, organising and managing multiple projects with diverse cross-functional stakeholders
- Interpersonal skills to work collaboratively with various stakeholders who may have competing interests
- First class leadership skills; able to inspire and motivate teams around a continuously evolving agenda designed to delight our customers
- Ability to balance strategic thinking/long term opportunities with operational focus
- Strong customer empathy and ability to translate customer insights into winning product management strategies
- Relationship management skills and the ability to use them to drive value
- Persuasive negotiator and influencer
- Robust decision making - based on evidence and data
- Strong commercial understanding: financially fluent and with a facility for data and its interpretation to commercial advantage
- Passion for education and learning
- Possesses a global outlook and approach
- Operates as a self-aware, effective team player
- Experience of working and thriving in a global matrix organisation
- Ability to synthesize complex data into actionable goals
- Critical thinking skills to recommend original and productive ideas
- Ability to work effectively with agility and resilience in a fast-paced environment

**Competencies**
- **Digital Transformer** : Continuously improving and learning, able to identify and create real-time, iterative solutions to external or internal obstacles.
- **Understand the Business** : Has/develops a knowledge of Pearson’s business and product strategies. Brings digital mindset and product management experience to bear in solving challenges and c