RELEASE TRAIN ENGINEER

Release Train Engineer

Compass Group NA is seeking an experienced Release Train Engineer to support an Agile Release Train (ART) within the Enterprise Technology organization, which connects business strategy with technology planning and delivery. The organization partners with business functions and sectors to align priorities around technology investments while utilizing cross-functional solution design and product delivery to accelerate adoption and deliver measurable business outcomes.

The Release Train Engineer (RTE) has a primary purpose of supporting an Agile Release Train (ART) by steering it to success and navigating the complexity of delivering software in large environments. The RTE communicates with stakeholders, escalates impediments, helps manage risk, and drives program-level continuous improvement. The RTE is accountable for the overall coordination, execution, and delivery of value through the program while ensuring alignment with company strategy, commitments, and goals.

*Please note, this is a hybrid position in Charlotte. The typical days in office are Tues-Thursday but can vary dependant on business need.

Job Responsibilities

Program Management

• Facilitate the coordinated preparation and execution of release planning for the ART. This includes working with the ART team who prioritizes the features to be considered in the next program increment (PI) planning cycle.
• Facilitate the ART teams' refinement of features to be considered in the next PI planning cycle to meet the Feature Definition of Ready.
• Assists the ART in communication and coordination with stakeholders and customers during feature definition and delivery.
• Ensures effective communication and coordination for and during quarterly planning.
• Manages change to the ARTs PI plan and the impacts of those changes.

Portfolio, Program, and Project Support

• Facilitates ART transparency with external parties, as well as with the teams on the release train. This includes backlog management and ALM tool data integrity for accurate reporting. May include the collection of metrics, KPIs, and other reporting as needed by the ART or organization.
• Facilitation and relentless improvement of periodic ART reviews with organizational leaders and stakeholders to provide clarity on the expected value delivery and to gain stakeholder feedback on changes to direction the release train may need to take.
• May include participation in and assisting in the improvement of the System Demo.Business Process Improvement
• Assists the ART to relentlessly improve through the facilitation of ART Retrospectives quarterly, or more often as needed, to improve backlog management, ART reviews, sprint reviews, or ART coordination and higher-level function.
• Active membership in the RTE Community of Practice helping the organization to maintain alignment, learn new techniques, and improve technical and quality practices. Work with RTE community to determine ways to help ARTs across the company improve cross-train and solution group coordination and collaboration.
• Assisting in the execution of product vision.
• Facilitate production support, and relentless improvement of operational workflows and communication, etc.
• Coaches the Agile release train to improve in the implementation of Agile processes, practices, and mindset.

Qualifications

Essential

• Must understand the difference between being Agile and doing Agile
• Can demonstrate the comprehension of a Lean-Agile mindset and practices with the ability to develop others in this area
• Servant leader and communicator with strong interpersonal skills who can facilitate effective discussions of any size across all levels of the organization
• Listen and support teams in problem-identification and decision making
• Communicate in an open, honest and direct manner
• Encourage an environment that values mutual respect, openness, and courage
• Persuade by influence rather than authority
• Understand and empathize with others
• Think beyond day-to-day activities
• Support teams' commitments and continuous growth
• Empower teams to be owners of their products and processes
• Strong technical aptitude and experience leading teams in delivering quality software
• Experience applying Lean Thinking and Systems Thinking in large organizations
• Experience working in an Agile organization using Scrum, XP, Kanban, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), or other scaling model
• Prior experience as a RTE, VSE, Scrum Master, Project or Program Manager
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent
• Proficiency in Microsoft Teams, Office, PowerPoint, and Excel programs

Desirable

• Advanced degree in industry related subject
• Agile Certification (CSM, PSM, or PMI-ACP)
• Project Management Professional (PMP)
• SAFe Agilist (SA) or other SAFe certifications preferred
• Experience managing technical implementations preferred
• Experience with Azure DevOps or Jira