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Pooja Arora

from Systems Officer to Manager, Agile Delivery
I empower leaders to build high-performing, customer-focused, and continuously improving teams
Industry
Mining and Resources
Company
Rio Tinto
Job Level
Mid

Ask me about

  • What skills are most valuable for advancing in agile delivery
  • How do you lead with empathy and lead teams in different time zones
  • How to you maintain work-life balance, with work, dance and family
  • How do you promote diversity and inclusion at work

About me

  • Regional Background

I’ve always believed that when you take care of people, success follows naturally. As a child, I dreamed of becoming a teacher, tutoring kids who couldn’t afford lessons. Science fascinated me, leading me to a master’s in software engineering while keeping my passion for dance alive. Excelling academically, I secured top placements. After moving to Australia post-marriage, my curiosity and empathy helped me navigate leadership roles, where guiding teams brought me joy. Seven years ago, I started a Bollywood dance school, blending my love for teaching and culture. Now, as a mother of two, I cherish how dance keeps us connected. My journey proves that growth happens outside your comfort zone, and empathy builds lifelong bonds.

About my role

  • Calm
  • Confident
  • Passionate
  • Reliable
  • Sociable

They lead a team of Agile practitioners, including Scrum Masters and Release Train Engineers, who advocate for Agile values and principles. They promote the adoption of Agile frameworks, tools, and standards within the organization. They provide coaching and mentorship to leaders, teams, and individuals to enhance their Agile maturity. This includes leading initiatives to foster an Agile culture, conducting Agile maturity assessments, and organizing training sessions globally. They support the business in determining the best delivery methods and Agile frameworks for strategic initiatives. They advance the Agile Delivery Chapter's expertise by mentoring team members, fostering career growth, and ensuring alignment with organizational goals. Additionally, they provide hands-on technical guidance to maintain high delivery standards. As a diversity and inclusion champion for the past 10 years, they promote gender and cultural diversity and organize large events like Harmony Day, International Women's Day, IDAHOBIT Day, Diwali, and Eid to embrace diversity.

Education

  • Master's in Software Engineering
  • Certified SAFe Practice Consultant (SPC)
  • Certified Lean Portfolio Manager (LPM)
  • Certified Mental Health First Aider

Subjects

  • Chemistry
  • Digital Design/Information Technology
  • English
  • General Mathematics (Maths A)
  • Industrial Technology
  • Physics
  • Science

Hobbies

  • Cooking
  • Dancing
  • Gym
  • Seeing family and friends
  • Travel

15 year old me!!

“Embrace your passions, step outside your comfort zone, nurture empathy, value people, stay connected to your culture, and trust that every experience shapes your future success”

My career journey

Curious to know how I got here? Here’s a snapshot of my career pathway.
  1. Started teaching at an early age
  2. Balanced studies and dance pursuits
  3. Scored top rank to get into masters in software engineering
  4. Moved to Australia, embraced leadership opportunities at work
  5. Opened dance school, continued passion for teaching and dance

My typical day

My employer

Rio Tinto operates in 35 countries where its 60,000 employees are working to find better ways to provide the materials the world needs. Rio’s portfolio includes iron ore, copper, aluminium and a range of other minerals and materials needed for people, communities and nations to grow and prosper, and for the world to cut carbon emissions to net zero. Continuously searching for new projects that can support the energy transition, Rio Tinto is currently exploring for 8 commodities in 17 countries. The organisation has more than 150 years of mining and processing experience guiding its work and, today, the business relies on technology such as automation and artificial intelligence to help it run more safely, more efficiently and leave a lighter footprint.