Release Train Engineer

Overview

In anticipation of an award, Tantus Technologies, Inc. (Tantus) - recognized by the Washington Post as a Top Workplace - is seeking a  Release Train Engineer (RTE) to work with our customer Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to support the Agile Release Trains (ART’s) by shepherding team members to success in delivering software in a large environment.  The RTE’s focus is to facilitate the ART events and processes and assist the teams in delivering value.  

What You'll Do

• Facilitates the coordinated preparation of release planning for the release train.  This includes: 
• Working with the Product architect and Product UX Architect to assist the Product Manager who prioritizes the features to be considered in the next program increment planning cycle. 
• Assisting the Product Architect, Product UX Architect and Product Manager in refining of features to be considered in the next program increment 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 program increment planning. 
• Manages changes to the ART’s program increment plan and the impacts of those changes. 
• Release Train Transparency 
• Assists the ART to remain transparent to itself, the teams on the train, and to the organization through: 
• Backlog management 
• Facilitation and continuous 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. 
• Delivery Coordination 
• Drives the ART in the coordination of major feature releases and ongoing delivery of value to customers where multiple teams, release trains or solution groups are involved in development and release by hosting RTC (Release Train Coordination) meetings as needed. 
• Drives the ART in resolving and reporting escalated issues involving risk, or dependency management that may be hindering the team’s ability to deliver features.  Scrum masters and teams facilitate the resolution of impediments, dependencies and risks within their span of influence. 
• Continuous Improvement 
• Drives the ART to continuously improve through the facilitation of ART Retrospectives after each program increment planning session, or more often as needed, to improve backlog management, release train reviews, sprint reviews, or release train coordination and higher-level function. 

Required Knowledge and Skills

• Overall 8 years of experience in the IT field 

• Of which 3 – 5 years’ experience as RTE, Scrum Master, Product Owner or Agile Project/Program Manager 
• Release Train Engineer (RTE) Certification or an (SPC) Safe Program Consultant certification required

Abilities

• Strong technical aptitude and experience leading teams in delivering quality software 
• Servant leader and strong communicator with strong interpersonal skills who can: 
  • Listen and support teams in problem-identification and decision making 
  • 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, personal development, and continuous growth 
  • Open and appreciates openness in others 
  • Empower teams to be owners of their products and processes 

Nice to Haves

• Experience applying Lean Thinking in large organizations 
• Experience working in an Agile organization using Scrum, XP, Kanban, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) or other scaling model is highly preferred