A Belgian public-sector organisation responsible for administering unemployment benefits is organising an Automation release train to digitise and automate the backend services supporting its core operations. This Agile Programme Manager for Automation role coordinates backend automation initiatives across process analysis, development, production release and maintenance, while aligning delivery with enterprise architecture and security standards.
The mission
The Automation release train owns initiatives end to end, from process design and analysis through development, production release and maintenance. Its multidisciplinary team includes process managers, business analysts and developers whose work must be sequenced to improve the efficiency, interoperability, security, modularity and automation of services. The existing portfolio contains several projects and initiatives that need prioritisation based on strategic objectives, dependencies and expected benefits. The work supports the public sector in Belgium and is aligned with the enterprise architect, DPO, CISO, PMO and the Automation and Architecture steering committee.
Your day-to-day scope is to translate these priorities into an executable flow of work. You will allocate work across the train, capture unplanned and business-as-usual demand, resolve orchestration issues and support team members on content. You will represent the train in cross-team coordination and programme increments, and prepare the steering group. You will also establish lightweight governance, track risks and dependencies, produce progress reporting, coach less experienced colleagues and transfer knowledge so the organisation can operate more autonomously.
Your responsibilities
- Prioritise the Automation portfolio according to strategic objectives, expected benefits, capacity and dependencies.
- Sequence and allocate work across process managers, business analysts, developers and other contributors to maintain a clear delivery flow.
- Establish pragmatic governance for the Automation release train, including working rituals, reporting, risk tracking and dependency management.
- Align the roadmap with the organisation’s strategic plan, architecture standards, security requirements and programme priorities.
- Represent the train in cross-team coordination, programme increments and steering committee discussions, turning progress and risks into clear decisions.
- Coach team members, resolve coordination issues and support knowledge transfer that increases future autonomy.
Your profile
Essential skills
- Bring senior-level experience in public-sector program management and project management, including scoping, resource and budget planning, benefit tracking and delivery coordination.
- Apply Agile collaboration models in small and medium-sized organisations, coordinating several disciplines toward shared outcomes.
- Use people management effectively in non-hierarchical settings, with the ability to coach and develop junior profiles.
- Manage multi-project governance, reporting, risk management and interdependency management.
- Understand backend service landscapes quickly enough to coordinate technical and business contributors, architecture and security decisions.
- Communicate clearly with management and stakeholders in French and Dutch, including presenting progress, risks and recommendations.
- Move between conceptual program planning and hands-on delivery when practical intervention is needed.
- Set out a concise, practical approach to collaboration, priorities, governance, tools and knowledge transfer in this public-sector context.
Languages
- French: professional working proficiency required, exact CEFR level not specified.
- Dutch: professional working proficiency required, exact CEFR level not specified.