Senior Principal - RTE

The Release Train Engineer is a servant leader and delivery coach for the Agile Release Train delivering GSK's network and connectivity platforms, applying SAFe practices within GSK's Technology operating model to coordinate the flow of value across the teams building and running those platforms. Operating consistently with the BCG platform operating model, the role treats the platform as a product delivered by a durable, cross-functional team, and is accountable for facilitating Programme Increment planning, coordinating dependencies and risks across teams, and driving predictable, high quality delivery through Agile ceremonies, flow metrics and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities:

• Facilitate Programme Increment planning and Agile Release Train execution.
• Plan, prepare and facilitate PI Planning, System Demos, Inspect and Adapt workshops and other Agile Release Train events for the platform's teams.
• Coordinate Scrum of Scrums, ART sync and cross-team ceremonies to maintain alignment on scope, sequencing and delivery against the Programme Increment.
• Build and maintain the ART's Programme Board, tracking major milestones, cross-team dependencies and feature delivery against the Programme Increment.
• Support Product Management and Product Owners in refining the Programme Backlog and preparing content for Planning Interval events.
• Manage dependencies, risks and impediments across the train.
• Identify, track and resolve cross-team and cross-platform dependencies and risks using ROAM (Resolved, Owned, Accepted, Mitigated).
• Escalate and remove impediments to flow that individual teams cannot resolve themselves, including supplier, platform or portfolio level blockers.
• Coordinate with other Release Train Engineers, Solution Train Engineers and Platform Managers to sequence work across dependent platforms and domains.
• Drive flow, predictability and continuous improvement.
• Track and report flow metrics including velocity, programme predictability, cycle time and quality trends, and use them to drive improvement actions.
• Coach teams, Scrum Masters and Product Owners in Lean-Agile and SAFe practices, building local capability rather than acting as a single point of control.
• Partner with Portfolio, Solution and Platform stakeholders to continuously improve the ART's ways of working, tooling and use of automation or AI-assisted delivery practices.

Key Relationships/Customers:

• Business Stakeholders.
• Product teams and business technology groups whose network or platform capability delivery depends on a predictable, well coordinated Agile Release Train.
• Business service owners and key users where delivery sequencing, dependencies or timelines affect service quality or adoption.
• Business service owners and key users where engineering quality, resilience or change risk directly affects business outcomes.
• Tech Stakeholders.
• Product Owners, Scrum Masters/Team Coaches, Principal Engineers and Platform Managers for the teams on the train.
• Solution Train Engineers, other Release Train Engineers, Domain Portfolio Managers and Platform Architects across dependent platforms.
• Enterprise Architecture, Cyber Security, Reliability Engineering and Operations Excellence where dependencies or risks touch their domains.
• Reliability Engineering, Operations Excellence, Enterprise Architecture, Cyber Security, Data Privacy, Quality and Compliance teams.
• Modern Engineering, DevSecOps, Observability, Automation Acceleration Hub, Automation Acceleration team and Agile/Delivery governance teams.
• Other.
• Strategic partners, managed service providers, system integrators and specialist suppliers whose teams participate in or are coordinated by the Agile Release Train.

Professional Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Business, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience delivering Agile technology programmes.
• SAFe Release Train Engineer (or Advanced RTE) certification, or a recognised equivalent, is expected.
• Additional Agile certifications such as SAFe Program Consultant, Certified ScrumMaster or PMI-ACP support the role but do not replace demonstrated RTE experience.
• Relevant examples may include SAFe, Scrum/Agile, ITIL, Lean Portfolio Management or programme and change management qualifications.
• For regulated or GxP-impacting platforms, awareness of applicable quality, validation and compliance expectations is desirable.

Area of Specialisation:

• Deep knowledge of SAFe practices, including Programme Increment planning, System Demos, Inspect and Adapt, ART sync and flow based metrics.
• Knowledge of AI-enabled delivery tooling, including responsible use for backlog analysis, reporting and dependency tracking.
• Understanding of platform operating models and product-aligned delivery across engineering teams.

Related Experience Required:

• Significant experience facilitating Agile Release Trains or large scale agile delivery using the SAFe framework.
• Proven experience coordinating dependencies, risks and impediments across multiple teams, suppliers or platforms.
• Experience facilitating Programme Increment planning, System Demos, Inspect and Adapt and other core Agile Release Train events.
• Experience using flow metrics such as velocity, predictability and cycle time to drive delivery improvement.
• Experience coaching teams, Scrum Masters and Product Owners in Lean-Agile practices without acting as a single point of control.
• Significant experience coordinating Agile delivery across multiple technology teams or a release train.
• Strong capability in Planning Interval facilitation, dependency and risk management, coaching, and flow metrics.
• Evidence of improving delivery predictability, cycle time, quality or stakeholder alignment.

Desirable Requirements:

• Release Train Engineer qualification, such as SAFe Release Train Engineer.
• Experience coordinating network or infrastructure transformation delivery.
• Experience with Jira, Azure DevOps, portfolio tools or AI assisted delivery practices.

Skills/Background:

• Strong facilitation and conflict-resolution skills, able to align teams and stakeholders without formal authority.
• Ability to interpret flow, quality and delivery metrics and convert insight into improvement actions.
• Skilled at managing risk and dependency logs (ROAM) and escalating effectively when blockers cannot be resolved at team level.
• Strong stakeholder management across business, technology and supplier organisations.
• Commitment to continuous learning, AI fluency and adoption of modern Agile and delivery tooling.