Overview
Nakupuna Consulting is seeking an Agile Delivery Liason to act as the friendly face of the program and provide delivery accountability for a hybrid technical team supporting our Department of Defense (DoD) customer, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). The On-Site Delivery Lead is responsible for facilitating the execution of multiple evolving initiatives spanning AWS operations and system administration, database administration, and the program’s journey to Zero Trust compliance.
This role serves as an on-site liaison at the customer’s Crystal City location, coordinating between contractor personnel, program leadership, and government stakeholders, combining Agile delivery leadership, technical fluency, and customer-facing execution. The Delivery Lead will work closely with the Program Operations and Applications Managers, collectively overseeing team performance, delivery outcomes, and reporting, while operating within DoD governance, security, and contractual requirements. Success in this role requires experience leading on-site and distributed teams in regulated environments, the ability to translate mission priorities into executable plans, and a leadership style that balances accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Responsibilities
The following reflects management’s definition of essential functions for this job but does not restrict the tasks that may be assigned.
Stakeholder Engagement & Reporting:
- Act as the friendly face of the program on-site in Crystal City, helping to maintain a smooth flow of information between our contract team, Program Leadership, and Government stakeholders including the CIO and COR.
- Coordinate closely with Program Leadership to ensure information symmetry across all program locations and functional areas.
- Conduct regular status meetings, sprint reviews, and coordination sessions with government and contractor leadership to align priorities, risks, and expectations.
- Prepare and deliver weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly status reports, metrics, and briefings that accurately reflect progress, issues, and mitigation strategies.
- Support contract execution by ensuring deliverables are submitted on time while meeting quality standards, and requiring minimal rework.
- Build and maintain strong working relationships with government counterparts to support mission success and positive past performance outcomes.
Agile Leadership & Delivery:
- Coordinate closely with Scrum Masters, Product Owners, Technical Team Leads, and program management to ensure Agile practices are applied consistently and effectively across teams, while maintaining flexibility to operate within DoD governance, security, and compliance constraints.
- Serve as the focal point for delivery coordination at the Crystal City site, ensuring planned work is progressing as expected, cross-team and cross-location dependencies are actively managed, and delivery risks or impediments are identified and addressed in a timely manner.
- Support and, when necessary, facilitate Agile ceremonies—including sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives—to maintain delivery momentum, alignment, and transparency.
- Monitor sprint commitments, delivery progress, velocity trends, and overall delivery health, providing program leadership with accurate insight into performance, risks, and forecasted outcomes.
- Promote a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, and collaboration, coaching teams and leaders on Agile principles and delivery best practices while tailoring execution approaches to meet mission, security, and operational requirements.
- Ensure Agile delivery activities remain aligned with program governance, reporting expectations, and quality standards, enabling reliable, predictable delivery of value to government stakeholders.
- Audit deliverable artifacts to ensure they are complete, accurate, and compliant with program standards, audit requirements, and security controls.
- Support release planning, deployment coordination, and transition activities across the full Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), including coordination with operations and security stakeholders.
Personnel & On-Site Team Management:
- Provide day-to-day oversight for approximately 15 on-site contractor personnel at the Crystal City location, ensuring clear expectations, accountability, and alignment with program objectives.
- Ensure staff compliance with company policies, DoD regulations, security procedures, and acceptable use requirements.
- Foster a professional, collaborative, and mission-focused team environment that promotes trust, transparency, and high performance.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field from an accredited institution, or equivalent years of related work or military experience.
- 5+ years of professional leadership experience
- Demonstrated experience managing or leading teams of 10+ personnel, preferably on-site
- Understanding of Agile/Scrum frameworks within DoD or Federal environments
- Experience working with Agile tools such as Jira and Confluence
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to operate effectively in a structured, high-accountability government setting
Certifications:
- Required:
- N/A: This position does not require any specific certifications.
- Nice to Have:
- Agile certification (e.g., Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Professional Scrum Master (PSM), SAFe Scrum Master (SSM), or equivalent Agile delivery certification)
- SAFe Agilist or Release Train Engineer (RTE)
- IAT II Certification which may include CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP+), CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), or CompTIA Security+.
Clearance & Security Requirements:
- Active Top Secret clearance is required (Secret clearance will be considered for the right candidate)
- Ability to comply with DoD security policies, access controls, and on-site operational requirements
Work Location:
- Position is based in Arlington, Virginia.
- Must be on-site five (5) days per week.
- Occasional travel (2–3 weeks per year) within the Continental U.S. or to Hawaii may be required.
- Core hours: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM local time, with a minimum 8-hour workday.
- Flexibility is expected to respond to after-hours emergencies and to support coordination across Hawaii and Virginia time zones.
Physical Requirements: The candidate must be able to perform the following with or without reasonable accommodation:
- Ability to perform repetitive motions with the hands, wrists, and fingers.
- Ability to engage in and follow audible communications in emergency situations.
- Ability to sit for prolonged periods at a desk and working on a computer.
