Release Train Engineer

i4DM•Millersville, MD

About The Position

Our employees thrive in a culture that's fast-paced and ego-free, where innovation and collaboration are encouraged at every turn. We are an organization that provides federal agencies instant access to experienced and talented professionals who understand their unique challenges and know the most efficient ways to address them. We are continually investing in resources and talent, so we stay prepared with specialized teams in place who are experts in creating tailored technologies. Our solutions empower Federal organizations to grow, modernize, and succeed in a rapidly evolving landscape. We value all voices and want to attract talent from all backgrounds. We're on the lookout for individuals who are passionate about technology and thrive in environments where problem-solving is approached with creativity and enthusiasm. If you're someone who enjoys continuously expanding your skill set while tackling real-world business problems, you'll feel right at home with us. Veterans and military spouses are especially encouraged to bring your unique and valuable experience to our team. We are seeking an experienced Release Train Engineer (RTE) to serve as the servant leader, facilitator, and program-level execution lead for one or more Agile Release Trains (ARTs) operating within the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). The RTE will coordinate multiple Agile teams, manage cross-team dependencies, facilitate Program Increment (PI) Planning and key ART events, remove impediments, manage risks, and drive predictable delivery of program outcomes. This role will partner closely with Product Management, Product Owners, Scrum Masters, System Architects, technical leads, delivery leadership, and customer stakeholders to align projects within the program to a shared vision, roadmap, cadence, and delivery plan. The ideal candidate brings strong SAFe knowledge, exceptional facilitation skills, program/project management discipline, servant leadership, and the ability to create transparency, accountability, and relentless improvement across complex Federal delivery environments.

Requirements

8+ years of experience in Agile delivery, program management, project management, systems delivery, software delivery, IT modernization, or enterprise transformation environments.
3+ years of experience serving as a Release Train Engineer, Chief Scrum Master, Agile Coach, Senior Scrum Master, Program Manager, or equivalent program-level Agile leadership role.
Strong working knowledge of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Agile Release Trains, Program Increment Planning, ART execution, Inspect and Adapt, System Demos, ART Sync, Scrum of Scrums, and PO Sync.
Demonstrated ability to coordinate multiple Agile teams, manage complex dependencies, resolve impediments, escalate risks, and drive predictable delivery across a large program.
Experience preparing for and facilitating PI Planning events, including agenda development, readiness reviews, feature readiness, capacity planning, dependency mapping, ROAM risk management, and PI objective alignment.
Proven ability to develop and maintain program-level metrics, dashboards, risk registers, dependency boards, delivery forecasts, and executive/customer status reporting.
Experience coaching Scrum Masters, Product Owners, technical teams, and stakeholders in Agile practices, SAFe ceremonies, Lean-Agile mindset, and continuous improvement.
Strong facilitation, communication, conflict resolution, negotiation, organizational, and servant leadership skills.
Hands-on experience with Agile lifecycle management and collaboration tools such as Jira, Jira Align, Confluence, Rally, Azure DevOps, or similar platforms.
Ability to operate effectively in complex stakeholder environments with product, engineering, architecture, security, operations, business, and customer representatives.
Eligible to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance.

Nice To Haves

SAFe Release Train Engineer (RTE) certification strongly preferred; SAFe Program Consultant (SPC), SAFe Agilist (SA), SAFe Scrum Master (SSM), SAFe Advanced Scrum Master (SASM), Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), PMI-ACP, or PMP certification also valued.
Experience supporting Federal, VA, healthcare, public sector, or other regulated enterprise programs with formal governance, reporting, compliance, and stakeholder engagement expectations.
Experience leading or supporting Agile transformation, SAFe implementation, ART launch, value stream alignment, Lean portfolio coordination, or multi-team delivery improvement initiatives.
Experience with integrated master schedules, milestone tracking, release governance, change control, operational readiness, or project controls in addition to Agile delivery practices.
Familiarity with software development, cloud modernization, DevSecOps, cybersecurity, data integration, workflow platforms, or enterprise system modernization programs.
Experience facilitating distributed, hybrid, or remote PI Planning and ART synchronization events using digital collaboration and Agile planning tools.

Responsibilities

Serve as the Release Train Engineer and servant leader for the Agile Release Train, enabling multiple Agile teams to deliver value predictably using SAFe principles and practices.
Plan, coordinate, and facilitate Program Increment (PI) Planning, including readiness activities, logistics, agenda management, team breakouts, dependency identification, risk review, confidence voting, and post-PI follow-up.
Facilitate ART-level ceremonies and synchronization events, including ART Sync, Scrum of Scrums, PO Sync, System Demos, Inspect and Adapt workshops, PI retrospectives, and program-level backlog refinement activities.
Coordinate project execution across the program by maintaining alignment between program objectives, PI objectives, team commitments, roadmap milestones, release plans, and customer priorities.
Identify, track, and resolve cross-team dependencies, impediments, risks, and issues; escalate items appropriately to program leadership, product management, architecture, security, or customer stakeholders.
Support Product Management and Product Owners in maintaining a healthy program backlog, preparing features for PI Planning, clarifying priorities, and ensuring teams have the information needed for execution.
Partner with Scrum Masters to improve team-level execution, remove blockers, reinforce Agile practices, and ensure team delivery data rolls up accurately to program-level reporting.
Establish and maintain transparent program reporting, including PI progress, objectives, milestones, risks, dependencies, impediments, burn-up/burn-down trends, predictability, capacity, and delivery health metrics.
Drive relentless improvement by facilitating Inspect and Adapt events, analyzing ART metrics, identifying systemic improvement opportunities, and ensuring improvement items are captured, prioritized, and executed.
Promote Lean-Agile values, systems thinking, flow, transparency, collaboration, decentralized decision-making, and a continuous learning mindset across teams and stakeholders.
Coordinate release readiness, implementation planning, integrated schedules, milestone reviews, demos, and delivery communications across program workstreams.
Coach leaders, teams, Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and stakeholders on SAFe practices, Agile behaviors, facilitation techniques, and effective participation in ART events.
Use Agile lifecycle management tools such as Jira, Jira Align, Rally, Azure DevOps, or similar platforms to manage ART execution, dependencies, metrics, and reporting.
Support governance and customer reporting by providing clear status, decision points, delivery risks, mitigation plans, and program-level recommendations.
Foster a high-trust, collaborative ART culture that enables teams to coordinate effectively, deliver against commitments, and continuously improve program outcomes.