Release Train Engineer

What will you do?

In order to meet business objectives and evolving client needs, it is necessary to ensure continuous business improvement through the introduction of new products, enhancement of existing products or changes to systems, processes or business capabilities that enable improved optimization and/or efficiency. This involves introducing some level of change into the business. 

The squads within an agile release train (ART) define, design, build, test and deliver these changes and ensure their integration into existing business processes. The Release Train Engineer (RTE) has a solid grasp of how to scale lead and agile practices and understands the unique opportunities and challenges associated with continuously aligning a large development program. 

The Release Train Engineer manages and optimizes the flow of value through the ART. The RTE facilitates the ART events & processes and assists teams in delivering value. The RTE communicates with a wide range of stakeholders, escalates impediments, helps manage risk and drives relentless improvement.

What will make you successful in this role?

• Manages and optimizes the flow of value through the ART using various tools such as the program kanban and other dashboards.
• Establishes and communicates the annual calendars for iterations and program increments (PIs). 
• Facilitates PI Planning readiness by fostering a continuous exploration process which drives the synthesis of a vision, roadmap and backlogs, and through pre and post PI Planning meetings. 
• Facilitates the PI Planning event (end state). 
• Summarizes squad PI objectives into program PI objectives and publishes them for visibility and transparency. 
• Assists in tracking the execution of features and capabilities. 
• Facilitates periodic synchronization meetings including the ART sync at the essential level. 
• Assists with economic decision making through facilitating feature and capability estimation by squads and the roll up to epics. 
• Assists in enabling leaders, teams and agile facilitators with lean agile practices and mindsets. 
• Helps manage risk and dependences across squads within the ART. 
• Escalates and tracks impediments. 
• Provides input on resourcing to address critical bottlenecks. 
• Encourages collaboration between squads. 
• Works with product management, product owners and other stakeholders to ensure strategy and execution alignment.
• Improves the flow of value streams by enhancing and assessing the practices associated with devops and release on demand in the continuous delivery pipeline. 
• Understands and operates with lean budgets and ensures adherence to guardrails. 
• Facilitates system demos. 
• Drives relentless improvement via inspect and adapt workshops; assesses the agility level of the ART on an ongoing basis. 
• Fosters communities of practice and the use of engineering and built-in quality practices.

Qualifications

Matric
Any relevant IT Qualification (IT Diploma or Degree) will be a strong recommendation
RTE certification recommended

Experience

Management of Release for

• At least 4 years of working in an agile environment
• At least 2 years of coordinating a sizeable release train

Knowledge/experience within the Life Assurance industry (or in broader Financial Services industry)

Knowledge & Skills

Thorough knowledge of agile practices, rituals and ceremonies
Good understanding of engineering practices
Thorough knowledge of Jira and Confluence 
Good understanding of how agile works at scale 
Thorough understanding of how to utilize dashboards, KPI/metrics & burn down charts 
Good understanding of Behavior Driven Development methodology practiced in Sanlam
Solid grasp of how to scale lean and agile practices 
Understanding of the unique opportunities and challenges associated with facilitating and continuously aligning a large development program 
Servant leadership 
Systems thinking 
Problem solving 
Influencing 
Strong facilitation skills 
Negotiation  

Personal Attributes

Build a successful career with us

We’re all about building strong, lasting relationships with our employees. We know that you have hopes for your future – your career, your personal development and of achieving great things. We pride ourselves in helping  our employees to realise their worth. Through its five business clusters – Sanlam Fintech, Sanlam Life and Savings, Sanlam Investment Group, Sanlam Allianz, Santam, as well as MiWay and the Group Office – the group provides many opportunities for growth and development.

Core Competencies

Turnaround time

The shortlisting process will only start once the application due date has been reached. The time taken to complete this process will depend on how far you progress and the availability of managers. 

Our commitment to transformation