Senior Delivery Manager at Rainforest Alliance

The Senior Delivery Manager has the role of overseeing the effective execution of complex technological projects, from initial strategy and planning to completion and handoff. This position merges project and program management capabilities with a deep understanding of Agile delivery methodologies to ensure high-quality, timely, and efficient outcomes. The Senior Delivery Manager collaborates closely with senior customers, cross-functional delivery teams, and external participants to manage project scope, resources, risks, and interdependencies throughout the entire delivery process.
Key Responsibilities:
The duties and outcomes listed are not exhaustive. The Senior Delivery Manager may need to take on more tasks to support project success.
Planning and Roadmaps

• Coordinated Delivery Planning – Develop and maintain consolidated delivery plans showing timelines, achievements, dependencies, and critical paths across Common Components, Agile squads, and Waterfall programmes.
• Quarterly & Annual Roadmaps – Provide forward-looking views of priorities, releases, and portfolio alignment, linking delivery commitments to organisational objectives and strategic outcomes.
• Dependency & Risk Mapping – Document and manage inter-team, inter-system, and vendor dependencies, ensuring proactive identification of delivery risks and mitigation strategies across all methodologies.

Governance and Reporting:

• Portfolio-Level Dashboards – Keep transparent delivery dashboards tracking velocity, achievements, risks, and overall progress across squads, programmes, and portfolios.
• Standards & Compliance – Ensure practices adhere to internal policies, regulations, and industry benchmarks in both Agile and Waterfall domains.
• Tooling & Data Integrity – Promote disciplined use of Jira and Confluence for backlog management, sprint tracking, documentation, and reporting, ensuring data accuracy for executive review.
• Governance Leadership – Contribute to steering committees and portfolio boards, reporting delivery health, risks, and recovery strategies as needed.

Engaging with Stakeholders:

• Collaborator Identification & Engagement – Recognize and maintain maps of collaborators, their influence, and interests; ensure business and product representation is secured for decision-making and prioritization.
• Conflict Mediation – Serve as a senior mediator to resolve conflicts between teams, functions, and collaborators, ensuring alignment with overall goals, timelines, and realization of benefits.
• Executive Communication – Deliver clear, value-focused updates customized for senior collaborators (CIO, COO, Portfolio Sponsors), emphasizing delivery status, risks, and impacts on organizational objectives.

Portfolio & Cross-Stream Leadership:

• Strategic Alignment – Collaborate with Product, Technology, and Business Change leaders to guarantee that all delivery initiatives—Agile, Scaled Agile, and Waterfall—align with portfolio objectives, benefits, and budgets.
• Cross-Team Coordination – Coordinate across multiple delivery teams, programmes, and vendors to ensure dependencies are understood, risks are mitigated, and sequencing supports the wider roadmap.
• Senior Intervention – Step into in-flight projects and at-risk initiatives, applying senior delivery management expertise to troubleshoot, re-baseline, or accelerate progress without compromising quality.
• Governance & Reporting – Represent delivery health at Portfolio and Steering forums, providing a balanced view of progress, risks, financials, and resource utilisation across all delivery methodologies.

Knowledge:

• Delivery Models – Strong knowledge of Waterfall and hybrid methodologies; deep expertise in Agile and Scaled Agile practices (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe).
• SaaS & Technology Lifecycle – End-to-end understanding of SaaS delivery including CI/CD pipelines, .Net and API-based integration, cloud deployment, uptime SLAs, and subscription operating models.
• Engineering & Best Practice – Familiarity with modern engineering practices, system integration patterns, and quality assurance approaches.
• Governance & Change – Strong grasp of delivery governance, risk management frameworks, benefits realization, and business change procedures.

Desired Role-Specific Qualifications:

• Degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field.
• Agile delivery certification(s) (e.g. Certified Scrum Master, PMI-ACP).
• Project management certifications such as PRINCE2 Practitioner or PMP.
• Cloud/DevOps awareness (e.g. AWS Cloud Practitioner, Azure Fundamentals).