The Release Train Engineer (RTE) will guide Agile teams developing solutions, using Agile practices that include guiding, coaching, and training in scrum methodologies for software build activities. The RTE will ensure clear communication and guide the Release train to deliver the Program Increment commitment on time and drive the appropriate Agile methodology (Scrum/Kanban/etc.) focused on predictable, quality, business value delivery.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Assess and improve agility: Evaluate the agility level of the ART and implement strategies for continuous improvement
• Resolve impediments and manage risks: Identify and escalate impediments, manage risks, and drive program-level continuous improvement
• Coordinate with stakeholders: Collaborate with other release train engineers and stakeholders to manage dependencies between ARTs
• Foster collaboration: Promote synchronization and collaboration between teams within the ART
• Coach leaders and teams: Mentor leaders, teams, and Scrum Masters in Lean-Agile practices and mindsets
• Collect metrics and feedback: Gather and analyze metrics to foster improvement and ensure the delivery of high-quality solutions
• Create and maintain a calendar of events, e.g.  PI Planning and Sprint schedules that align to the RealPage standard cadence, etc., and ensure all Program level stakeholders have ready access to the calendar
• Organize all Planning events, ensuring that all stakeholders and teams are prepared in advance of the events
• Facilitate Planning, Retrospectives, Inspect & Adapt events, System Demos, and ART Syncs (Scrum of Scrums and PO Sync)
• Actively drive PI Planning, coordinating with all teams within the release train.
• Compile team objectives into PI Objectives and a Program delivery board that is published and shared for visibility
• Use Program level reporting tools to maintain high levels of visibility into the state of backlogs and work in progress
• Track and regularly communicate the status of Feature delivery and work in progress
• Assist in the management of risks and dependencies
• Communicate observed issues with capacity or bottlenecks
• Track impediments to progress, ensuring impediments are escalated on time
• Promote an agile mindset, coaching leaders, and team members in best practices
• Work with the Agile Program Management Office (APMO) to establish standards for effective Program execution
• Work within Communities of Practice and with the Lean Agile Center of Excellence (LACE) to resolve operational issues, drive efficiencies, and foster operational excellence
• Participate in release planning and coordinate activities to ensure a successful release
• Final sign-off on Production release tickets
• Need an end-to-end workflow diagram of how ideas get into production
• Coach, mentor and educate team members on Agile best practices and process improvements
• Ensure cross team/cross product coordination
• Work with teams to deliver value and coordinate within and outside of the team to facilitate the completion of the team’s backlog and guiding the team to adding stories to its backlog as appropriate
• Proactively identify and remove impediments and appropriately resolve using network of peers (Scrum of Scrums) and formal channels (including escalation if required)
• Manage the release plan, communication plan, risks, and issues management plan
• Assist Product Owner in managing scope of team(s) and facilitating changes

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS/ABILITIES

• Bachelor’s Degree in business, Computer Science/Information Technology, related field or equivalent
• Candidates will have 3+ years of Scrum Master experience, or
• 2+ years of Program Management experience with a working knowledge of SAFe
• Experience leading large-scale agile transformations and managing multi-team, multi-product programs following scaled-Agile approaches
• Recent experience working with agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban, XP) and cross-functional teams (Product Owners, BSA’s, Developers, etc.)
• Experience using Azure DevOps to manage multi-team, multi-product programs
• Advanced MS Office applications (Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Excel) skills
• Experience with Software as a Service products
• Software development or software product management experience is a plus
• Agile Certification from Scrum Alliance, ICAgile, SAFe or other Agile organization is strongly preferred
• Experience delivering agile training is a plus