release train engineer

The release train engineer (RTE) coaches and supports an agile “team of teams” known as an agile release train (ART). The RTE facilitates ART activities and ceremonies, helps identify and resolve impediments and manages risks and dependencies. The RTE role is key to implementing the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)., Plan, organize and facilitate ART ceremonies (e.g. program increment (PI) planning, ART sync, product owner (PO) sync, scrum of scrums, system demos, and inspect & adapts).

Coach delivery teams and scrum masters on agile and scrum practices.

Foster communities of practice, and promote the use of software engineering and quality best practices.

Manage and optimize the flow of value through the ART by understanding workflows, identifying potential bottlenecks, and suggesting opportunities for improvement.

Assist in tracking and monitoring the execution of features and capabilities.

Work with delivery teams to identify and address risks or impediments to achieving their objectives.

Provide regular and open communication across delivery teams and stakeholders on team progress and challenges.

Manage and coordinate team dependencies.

Measure ART delivery, maturity, and performance and review metrics with the ART to identify improvement opportunities.

Champion the use of key performance indicators (KPIs), objectives and key results (OKRs) and other outcome metrics across teams.

Create timelines, milestones, and cadence of increments and releases for the ART, and oversee development of reports and analyses to track progress towards goals.

Work with product managers, product owners, and other stakeholders to ensure alignment between business needs and the development work being executed by agile teams.

Understand and operate within lean budgets and ensure adherence to guardrails such as allocating investments within approved budgets.

Provide input on resourcing needs to address critical bottlenecks.

Assist and facilitate feature and capability estimation by teams.

Contribute to the advancement and improvement of agile practices within the organization.

[Where applicable:] Assess and improve DevOps and Release on Demand practices to improve the flow of value.

• Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). Scrum or Kanban.
• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent years of experience).
• 7+ years of experience with agile development, ideally in a scrum master, product owner, or other leadership role.
• RTE experience required.
• Agile, Scrum, SAFe or project management certifications preferred (e.g. SA, SPC, RTE, CSM, CSP, PMI).
• Background in Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Health and Life Sciences is preferred.

Desired Skills & Experience - Understanding of and experience with SAFe. Experience with agile frameworks such as Scrum or Kanban. Strong interpersonal and communication skills (written, verbal, presentation). Experience in supervising or leading teams; demonstrated ability to drive and influence peers. Strong analytical and problem solving skills. Experience in coaching and mentoring teams in agile principles and practices. Experience in leading and facilitating agile ceremonies. Experience fostering team self-organization and continuous improvement. Experience using enterprise agile planning tools (e.g. Agility, Planview Leankit/EnterpriseOne, Atlassian Jira Align, Broadcom Rally, Apptio Targetprocess).