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issue #9 | date: 06/25/2025

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Editors Note

Scaling delivery in startups and raising a toddler at the same time taught me two truths: (1) systems matter, and (2) empathy matters more. One day, while juggling sprint planning with a relentless amount of calls pertaining to critical care for my dad, I realized solid process = fewer surprises, but people-first = enduring trust.

Today’s issue includes:

  • 🔍 Real roles in scaling teams hiring now

  • 🤖 Ticket triage automations you can implement today

  • 🎤 A real delivery leader’s POV at one of the best companies in the world

  • 📲 Fresh influencers, gear, podcasts, blogs for working parents

  • 🚀 Data-backed strategies on scaling delivery without burnout

A million thanks for your support,

Phedra Arthur Iruke

Editor in Chief

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Featured Job Listings

🏆 Top Picks of the Week (Hand-Picked, High-Impact Roles)

Role: Director, Project Delivery
Company: Avalere Health
Location: Remote – USA | Leadership
Why it’s great: Own delivery operations at a health analytics firm—align stakeholders and influence outcomes at scale.
Apply here: Job Link
Recruiter Contact: Anne Reese-Ternay

Role: VP of Field Service & Implementation
Company: Daniels Health
Location: Remote – USA | Leadership
Why it’s great: Oversee field service delivery in healthcare with strategic and high-impact work.
Apply here: Job Link
Recruiter Contact: Sydnee Hogan

Role: Director, Implementation
Company: Olo
Location: Remote – USA | Leadership
Why it's great: Lead complex SaaS and MarTech integrations—build change-management processes, drive implementation centers of excellence, and partner with Product and Engineering.
Apply here: Job Link
Recruiter Contact: Hannah Lawrence

Role: Chief Program Officer
Company: Climate Power
Location: Remote – USA | Leadership
Why it's great: Shape and oversee national climate-advocacy programs—strategic leadership, multi-team coordination, and high-impact execution at scale.
Apply here: Job Link

📌 IC & Manager Roles

Role

Company

Location

Type

Apply

Technical Program Manager (Data & AI)

Aledade

Bethesda, MD

Remote

Apply

Senior Technical Program Manager (DevOps)

Aledade

Bethesda, MD

Remote

Apply

Technical Program Manager

Solar Landscape

Ashbury Park, NJ

Remote

Apply

Project Implementation Manager

CDC Foundation

Washington, DC

Remote

Apply

Senior Implementation Manager

Ethena

New York, NY

Remote

Apply

Product Operations Coordinator

FiscalNote

Washington, DC

Remote

Apply

Service Delivery Manager

Avertium

Phoenix, AZ

Remote

Apply

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Bots Take the Wheel

🤖 Ticket Triage Automation for Busy PMs

1. Auto-Classification (Jira → Slack)

Automatically categorize new Jira issues and route them to the appropriate queue or Slack channel.

  • Trigger: Issue is created in Jira

  • Conditions:

    • If the issue summary contains keywords such as "error", "bug", or "crash" → classify as Bug

    • Else → classify as Feature Request

  • Actions:

    • If Bug →

      • Add label: Bug

      • Move to: Bug Triage queue (custom Jira board or swimlane)

      • Send summary + link to Slack channel #triage-bugs

    • If Feature Request →

      • Add label: Feature Request

      • Send summary + link to Slack channel #product-ops

  • Tools: Jira Automation → Slack Webhook integration

2. SLA Escalation Workflow (ServiceNow or Asana → Slack + Email)

Ensure no ticket remains unassigned beyond SLA timeframes.

  • Trigger: Ticket remains unassigned for more than 12 hours

  • Conditions:

    • Ticket Status = Open

    • Assignee = null or unassigned

  • Actions:

    • Add label/tag: Escalation

    • Send message to Slack channel #ops-leads with ticket link and escalation context

    • Email the relevant manager or team lead with ticket details

  • Tools:

    • ServiceNow: Flow Designer + Slack integration

    • Asana: Rule-based automations + Zapier or Make + Gmail/Outlook integration

3. Blocked Ticket Alert (Trello → Slack + Confluence)

Track and notify stakeholders when work is blocked.

  • Trigger: Trello card is moved to the “Blocked” column

  • Conditions: N/A

  • Actions:

    • Post to Slack channel #triage-notify with:

      • Card title

      • Link to card

      • Reason for block (pulled from custom field or comment)

    • Automatically create a Confluence stub page using the Trello card name as the page title. Include:

      • Card details

      • Block reason

      • Stakeholder fields (optional)

  • Tools:

    • Trello: Butler Automation

    • Slack: Incoming Webhook

    • Confluence: REST API via Zapier or custom script

🔄 Optional Enhancements:

  • Add sentiment analysis to classify tickets with emotional language (e.g. “frustrated” → escalate to CX lead).

  • Use OpenAI or Claude API to summarize lengthy tickets or Slack threads before posting to triage channels.

  • Create a weekly report summarizing:

    • Number of escalations

    • Average time to assignment

    • Most common block reasons

Visionary Voices

📝 Melanie Perkins, CEO of Canva

When we talk about scaling delivery, few leaders walk the walk like Melanie Perkins. As co-founder and CEO of Canva, she’s helped guide the company from a scrappy startup into a global design powerhouse—with thousands of employees, international reach, and a pace that rivals Big Tech.

Why she matters:

Perkins didn’t just scale teams—she scaled trust. While some organizations bog down in process, Canva has emphasized people-first systems and transparent operations. Teams are empowered with high autonomy and clear ownership of outcomes, fostering a delivery culture built on accountability and speed.

What she brings:

  • Distributed Delivery Teams: While Canva doesn’t publicly refer to "pods," their product and engineering teams operate in a distributed, cross-functional model with a strong emphasis on team autonomy and impact.

  • Transparent Capacity Practices: Canva shares engineering practices that prioritize visibility—such as open retros, clear velocity tracking, and organization-wide collaboration tools.

  • Wellbeing as a Delivery Enabler: From recharge days to flexible work hours, Canva makes mental health a priority, reinforcing that sustainable delivery starts with healthy, trusted teams.

❝

🗣️ “We didn’t want any arbitrary rules or autocratic powers. We especially didn’t want anyone waiting around for others to give ‘permission’ or to have to earn a promotion before they took on new responsibilities. We wanted everyone at Canva to be the master of their own destiny…”
— Melanie Perkins, CEO of Canva

Start here:
🎧 Listen: How I Built This – Melanie’s episode or The Secret Power of Onboarding.
📘 Read: Her take on scaling with global alignment in Fast Company

Your action:
This week, audit your visibility. What does your team see about delivery pace, blockers, and wins? Set up a simple dashboard—burn-down charts, workload distribution, capacity tags—and share it with the full team. More visibility = more ownership.

Gif by nickatnite on Giphy

✨ Weekly Recommendations

@thejessicablack on Tiktok – “Strategic Project Management Career Advice” – crisp career growth tips for PMs through bite-size videos

Portable whiteboard – plan sprints from kitchen tables 📌

Don’t be a bottleneck.

A real story and tactics from a PM family applying delivery frameworks to parenting.

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Professional Development

📚 Scaling Delivery in Start‑Ups

Scaling delivery isn’t wishful thinking. it’s disciplined engineering. The 2024 Atlassian State of DevOps report shows that startups growing from 10 to 50 engineers experience ~25% slower cycle times due to communication overhead. Here's how to scale smarter:

  1. Visualize Flow:
    Use Kanban boards + WIP limits—see bottlenecks as they appear.

  2. Standardize Handoffs:
    Implement templates for triage & review; reduce context-switching by 15%.

  3. Data-Led Velocity:
    Monitor cycle time and velocity together; hire when velocity dips >20%.

  4. Automate Triage:
    Save ~2 hrs/week by auto-assigning, tagging, and alerting on tickets.

  5. Team Size Thresholds:
    Around 25–30 people, velocity drops—start squad splits and PM hires proactively.

  6. OKR Alignment:
    Track deliverables alongside business outcomes; use dashboards for transparency.

  7. Embed Empathy:
    Build systems that respect life outside work—e.g., capacity swaps, flexible standups.

TL;DR:
Apply visible process, smart transitions, data-driven decisions, targeted automations, and empathy-first leadership to scale delivery without breaking the team.

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The Business of Delivery

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