Lead the Agile Release Train and a DevOps Systems Team to manage CI/CD, build/release automation, and platform operations. Facilitate SAFe ceremonies, coordinate cross-team releases, track program metrics, manage risks/dependencies, and brief senior leadership to ensure predictable, high-quality delivery across multiple Agile teams.
VetsEZ is seeking a Release Train Engineer / DevOps Systems Lead to join a 100% remote team to support a large federal government project. In this role, you will lead the Agile Release Train and oversee a cross-functional DevOps Systems Team responsible for CI/CD pipelines, build and release automation, and platform operations for Java applications and InterSystems IRIS environments. You will work closely with Product Management, System Architects, and government stakeholders to enable predictable, high-quality delivery across multiple Agile teams.
The candidate must reside within the continental US.
Responsibilities:
- Lead the Agile Release Train, facilitating key SAFe ceremonies including PI Planning, ART Sync, System Demos, Inspect & Adapt, and backlog refinement.
- Coach Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and teams on SAFe principles, flow, and continuous improvement practices.
- Drive program-level execution, tracking progress toward PI objectives and managing risks, issues, and dependencies across teams.
- Collaborate with Product Management, System Architects, and stakeholders to ensure alignment of vision, roadmap, and program backlog.
- Lead and mentor the DevOps Systems Team responsible for CI/CD pipelines, build automation, and shared platform services.
- Prioritize and manage the team backlog to balance feature delivery, platform reliability, technical debt reduction, and automation initiatives.
- Coordinate cross-team release planning and execution, ensuring alignment of release schedules, feature readiness, and environment availability.
- Establish and monitor ART and DevOps flow metrics, including throughput, lead time, MTTR, deployment frequency, and change failure rate, to guide improvement efforts.
- Prepare and deliver clear, concise briefings and status reports to senior leadership, identifying key achievements, risks, and decision points.
- Align with other RTEs, program managers, and vendor partners to coordinate dependencies across trains, contracts, and external systems.
Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, Business, or a related discipline, or equivalent experience.
- A minimum of 7 years of experience in large-scale software delivery, with at least 3 years in an RTE, Program Manager, or similar leadership role in a SAFe environment.
- Demonstrated experience leading an Agile Release Train or equivalent multi-team program using the SAFe framework.
- Strong understanding of DevOps and DevSecOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, build and release management, and platform operations.
- Experience working with technologies such as Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or GitLab CI; artifact repositories; containerization including Docker and Kubernetes; and cloud platforms such as AWS.
- Familiarity with InterSystems IRIS or similar enterprise platforms, or experience coordinating closely with platform and infrastructure engineering teams.
- Proven ability to facilitate large-scale planning events, manage cross-team dependencies, and resolve impediments in complex environments.
- Excellent communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills, including experience briefing senior leadership.
- Experience supporting large-scale software development, data integration, or healthcare IT projects.
- Expertise with the SAFe framework; active RTE or SAFe Agilist certification is highly desirable.
- Ability to obtain a Government clearance.
Additional Qualifications:
- Experience with the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA tools, processes, and frameworks is a strong plus.
- Experience in federal contracting environments and familiarity with federal security and compliance requirements.
- Hands-on background in DevOps, systems engineering, or software development earlier in career.
- Experience with Jira, Confluence, and Git-based repositories for program and team-level tracking and collaboration.
- Relevant certifications such as SAFe RTE, SAFe SPC, AWS, or DevOps-related certifications are a plus.
Benefits:
- Medical/Dental/Vision
- 401k with Matching
- Corporate Laptop
- PTO + Federal Holidays
- Training opportunities
- Remote opportunity
Note: Selected candidates will be required to complete fingerprinting at a government facility and undergo a background check as part of the hiring process.
Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status.
Sorry, we are unable to offer sponsorship at this time.
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