Kanban / Agentic AI Task Master

Description

Ben Fatto looking for a delivery leadership, AI-augmented workflow orchestration, and team development. The Kanban / Agentic AI Task Master is accountable for managing the end-to-end flow of engineering work—from intake to delivery—while leveraging agentic AI tooling to increase throughput, reduce friction, and surface blockers before they turn into delays.

Responsibilities

• Own and continuously optimize the Kanban system across workstreams: backlog health, WIP limits, queue management, cycle time, and throughput.
• Proactively identify and remove blockers; escalate impediments with urgency and drive resolution.
• Maintain a healthy, prioritized backlog in partnership with Product and key stakeholders.
• Drive on-time delivery against committed dates with zero tolerance for silent slippage.
• Define and enforce Definition of Ready (DoR) and Definition of Done (DoD) standards.
• Ensure consistent team usage of agentic AI workflows that automate task tracking, status updates, sprint hygiene, and reporting.
• Leverage agentic tooling to manage and communicate the Azure DevOps (ADO) backlog and delivery schedule to internal and external stakeholders.
• Identify high-friction manual processes and build agent-driven solutions to replace them.
• Deliver measurable automation outcomes (e.g., reduced time spent on reporting and follow-ups).
• Hold the team accountable to delivery commitments— dates set by the team are firm.
• Manage individual performance through clear objectives, regular 1:1s, and ongoing feedback cycles.
• Partner with Engineering leadership on headcount planning, hiring, and team structure.
• Remove organizational obstacles that negatively impact team velocity and quality.
• Own team-level OKRs and report progress transparently to leadership.
• Facilitate daily standups, planning sessions, and retrospectives with active engagement—ensuring each team member leaves with next steps, expected outcomes, and blockers clearly stated (not passive status reporting).
• Coach team members on Kanban principles, flow efficiency, and continuous improvement.
• Shield the team from unplanned interruptions while maintaining stakeholder alignment.
• Challenge the team to maintain the quality, delivery dates, and velocity they committed to.
• Require active participation from all team members in sprint/flow activities.
• Champion process improvements raised in retros and drive them through completion.

Requirements

• 7+ years in engineering delivery roles (Scrum Master, Delivery Lead, Engineering Manager, or equivalent).
• Deep fluency in Kanban and flow metrics ( cycle time, lead time, CFDs).
• Hands-on experience with agentic AI tools, LLM-based automation, or prompt engineering in a delivery/scrum context—with a proven track record of driving team-wide adoption, not just personal use.
• Strong proficiency with delivery/project tooling— Azure DevOps (ADO).
• Demonstrated ability to lead without direct authority and influence cross-functional teams (including Tech Leads and QA), ensuring accountability is shared—not absorbed.
• Direct, proactive communicator who escalates early, surfaces risks without spin, and informs leadership before issues become surprises—always with a mitigation plan in motion.
• Strong ownership mindset across time zones/off-hours; does not allow a Friday blocker on a Monday deadline to go unaddressed over the weekend.
• Treats Definition of Done as a true gate—enforces pre-delivery verification rather than discovering gaps in production or during war rooms.
• Comfortable operating at the intersection of process discipline and people coaching—knows when to tighten the system and when to develop the person.