Technical Program Manager / Agile Release Train Leader

Technical Program Manager (TPM) / Agile Release Train Leader

Job Description

The Technical Program Manager (TPM) is responsible for the leadership, governance, execution, and continuous improvement of one or more Agile Release Trains (ARTs) supporting strategic business and technology objectives. Acting as the chief Scrum Master and servant leader for the ART, the TPM drives alignment across teams, stakeholders, Product Management, and senior leadership while ensuring predictable delivery of business value.

This role combines Agile coaching, program execution, delivery governance, stakeholder management, and operational excellence. The TPM facilitates ART events, manages risks and dependencies, optimizes value delivery, drives Agile maturity, and ensures alignment between strategy and execution.

The successful candidate will foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, continuous learning, and relentless improvement while driving successful outcomes across multiple teams and initiatives.

Agile Release Train Leadership

Act as the primary leader, coach, and facilitator for the Agile Release Train (ART).

Establish and communicate annual Program Increment (PI) calendars and planning schedules.

Partner with the Agile Center of Excellence to ensure Agile standards, best practices, and governance are consistently applied.

Work with Product Managers, Product Owners, Architects, and business stakeholders to maintain alignment between strategy, priorities, and execution.

Facilitate ART-level ceremonies and events, including:

Pre-PI Planning

PI Planning

Scrum of Scrums (SoS)

Product Owner Syncs

System Demos

Inspect & Adapt Workshops

Consolidate Team PI Objectives into Program PI Objectives and publish them to drive transparency and alignment.

Foster collaboration and coordination across teams and stakeholders within the ART.

Program Delivery & Execution

Own and oversee execution of complex, cross-functional technology initiatives delivered through the ART.

Manage ART-level risks, dependencies, impediments, and escalations.

Partner with Program Management and leadership teams to drive successful execution and operational excellence.

Ensure delivery commitments are met through proactive planning, monitoring, and stakeholder engagement.

Drive achievement of business outcomes with a target of delivering more than 80% of planned business value.

Metrics, Reporting & Governance

Own ART-level metrics, reporting, and delivery performance tracking.

Utilize JIRA dashboards, program boards, and reporting tools to provide visibility into delivery progress and health.

Monitor and improve key performance indicators, including:

Delivery predictability

Velocity and throughput

Business value achievement

Flow efficiency

Quality and defect metrics

Dependency management

Operational stability

Provide regular updates, insights, and recommendations to stakeholders and leadership.

Continuous Improvement & Agile Coaching

Drive relentless improvement through Agile maturity assessments and actionable improvement plans.

Coach leaders, teams, Scrum Masters, and Product Owners in Lean-Agile principles, practices, and mindset.

Facilitate Scrum Master and Product Owner Communities of Practice to encourage knowledge sharing and continuous learning.

Identify opportunities to improve delivery effectiveness, team performance, quality, and predictability.

Promote a culture of continuous improvement, learning, and innovation across the ART.

Value Stream & DevOps Optimization

Manage and optimize the flow of value through the ART using value stream management principles.

Improve delivery effectiveness through enhanced DevOps practices and Release-on-Demand capabilities.

Identify bottlenecks and implement improvements within the Continuous Delivery Pipeline.

Support teams in tracking and delivering Epics, Features, and User Stories.

Partner with engineering teams to improve automation, efficiency, quality, and deployment processes.

Financial Management

Manage Program Tracking System (PTS) updates and financial governance for ART-related initiatives.

Support budget planning, forecasting, resource management, and investment tracking.

Ensure effective utilization of resources across programs and teams.

Risk & Control Management

Proactively identify, assess, manage, and escalate delivery and operational risks.

Ensure adherence to organizational policies, governance standards, and regulatory requirements.

Promote a culture of accountability, transparency, and effective risk management.

Required Qualifications

10+ years of experience in technology delivery, program management, Agile leadership, or software engineering environments.

Proven experience leading large-scale Agile programs, Agile Release Trains, or complex technology portfolios.

Strong expertise in Agile, Scrum, Lean, and SAFe frameworks.

Demonstrated experience facilitating PI Planning and ART-level events.

Strong understanding of dependency management, delivery governance, and value stream management.

Experience managing executive-level reporting, delivery metrics, and stakeholder communications.

Advanced proficiency with JIRA and Agile reporting tools.

Excellent leadership, coaching, facilitation, and influencing skills.

Strong analytical, problem-solving, and organizational capabilities.

Experience working within large, complex, global organizations.

Preferred Qualifications

SAFe Release Train Engineer (RTE), SAFe Program Consultant (SPC), Certified Scrum Master (CSM), PMP, or equivalent certification.

Experience in Financial Services, Investor Services, Securities Services, Custody, Fund Services, or Transfer Agency technology environments.

Experience with DevOps, Continuous Delivery, and modern software engineering practices.

Experience working with geographically distributed teams and stakeholders.

Success Measures

Performance in this role will be evaluated based on:

ART delivery predictability and PI objective achievement.

Business value delivered versus planned business value.

Effective management of risks, dependencies, and impediments.

Improvements in Agile maturity and team effectiveness.

Stakeholder satisfaction and engagement.

Operational excellence and delivery performance.

Continuous improvement outcomes across teams and value streams.