IT Release Train Engineer

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan • Detroit, MI

2d

About The Position

The Release Train Engineer (RTE) is the servant leader and coach for an Agile Release Train (ART), enabling cross-functional teams to plan, execute, and continuously improve the delivery of business value. The RTE partners with Product Management, Product Owners, Scrum Masters, Business Owners, System Architects, Agile Teams, and Enterprise Agile leadership to foster alignment, remove impediments, improve flow, and advance Lean-Agile practices across the organization. The role champions Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) principles and values, promoting collaboration, transparency, continuous learning, and servant leadership. The RTE primarily focuses on the flow and effectiveness of the ART, using influence rather than authority to align stakeholders and teams around outcomes and foster relentless improvement. The position also requires adherence to applicable compliance mandates and regulations.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
• At least 7 years of experience leading Agile delivery or transformation initiatives.
• At least 5 years serving as a Release Train Engineer, Senior Scrum Master, Agile Coach, or in a comparable leadership role.
• Demonstrated experience facilitating delivery of value within Agile Release Trains in a large, complex organization.
• Strong facilitation, coaching, conflict-resolution, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Deep knowledge and experience with SAFe principles, practices, and events.
• Working knowledge of other Lean-Agile and product-focused frameworks and methodologies.
• Proven ability to improve ART predictability, flow, and delivery through Lean-Agile leadership and continuous improvement.
• Experience leveraging AI on an ART.
• Ability to communicate effectively with executives and team members in complex environments.
• SAFe Release Train Engineer (RTE) certification.
• Scrum Master certification.
• Demonstrable leadership navigating a highly matrixed organization.
• Strong active-listening, relationship-building, collaboration, mentoring, and coaching abilities.
• Ability to influence and manage up to senior leadership on Agile mindset and practices.
• Ability to use and present data to tell an accurate story; exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Strong oral and written communication skills for technical and non-technical audiences, including public speaking to large groups.
• Proficiency in Agile, DevOps, and program-management lifecycle methodologies and standards.
• Proficiency with PPM tools, Jira, Confluence, MS Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, and Visio.
• Ability to work with ambiguity and manage unexpected situations flexibly and patiently.
• Experience working in geographically distributed and culturally diverse workgroups.

Nice To Haves

• SAFe Program Consultant (SPC) certification.
• Experience within healthcare, health insurance, or another highly regulated industry.
• Experience working in a highly regulated industry.

Responsibilities

• Lead and facilitate ART events, including PI Planning, WSJF prioritization, ART Syncs, System Demos, and Inspect & Adapt workshops.
• Coach Scrum Masters, Product Owners, Business Owners, leaders, and other ART members in Lean-Agile and servant-leadership principles.
• Facilitate the removal of organizational impediments and improve the flow of value across teams.
• Foster collaboration, transparency, and psychological safety while aligning teams around shared business outcomes.
• Apply systems thinking to resolve cross-team dependencies and improve overall ART performance.
• Use data and objective metrics to drive continuous improvement of flow and predictable delivery, interpreting the story behind the data.
• Support collaboration and effective delivery across geographically distributed and culturally diverse workgroups.
• Adhere to applicable compliance mandates and regulations.
• Support multiple Agile Release Trains or contribute to enterprise-level Agile transformation initiatives.
• Manage effective governance within SAFe or other Agile frameworks and communicate Agile mindset and practices to senior leadership.
• Design and implement dashboards based on accurate data and metrics.
• Manage enterprise and large-budget initiatives.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior