Release Train Engineer

When you join Verizon

Verizon is one of the world’s leading providers of technology and communications services, transforming the way we connect across the globe. We’re a diverse network of people driven by our shared ambition to shape a better future. Here, we have the ability to learn and grow at the speed of technology, and the space to create within every role. Together, we are moving the world forward – and you can too. Dream it. Build it. Do it here.

What you’ll be doing...

Verizon is looking for a Release Train Engineer (RTE) with primary purpose to support the iEN Agile Release Trains (ART) by steering them to success and navigating the complexity of delivering software consistently in large environments. The RTE’s focus is to deliver value by managing program level processes, execution, and continuous improvement. The work in iEN managed by the RTE delivers significant business value. For this year, the program will be responsible for multimillion dollars in CapEx savings and in Opex savings while generating significant revenue through inward circuit growth and customer/circuit migrations. The Release Train Engineer (RTE) is a servant leader and coach for the Agile Release Train (ART) with responsibilities to facilitate the ART events and processes and assist the teams in delivering value.

This is a Demand Management Office position. This team is responsible for managing the demand for every program in the network systems, help prioritize the projects based on discussions with business and IT teams, work closely with IT teams to implement the project, track the project till delivery, manage risks and escalations during implementation and handle all the project related communications all through the project journey.

Large/XLarge projects - Includes as many as twenty fiveinterfacing systems, fifeteen stakeholder teams and a round two hundredstakeholders. All SAFe Release trains qualify as X-Large projects.

This role is responsible for our engineering, service assurance or service related projects and platforms and they are the sole owner of the projects. This role will determine the status of deliverables and when escalations are required This position, will also have the ability to determine priorities when there are conflicts with deliverables. This role will make decisions around timelines for deliverables which will have impact on how and when deliverables hit production thus having impacts to potential savings, impacts to our competitive advantage or ability to create products (as in the case of all supporting business teams like VBG, 5G, iEN etc).

This role works with all up to fifteenteams on a day-to-day basis to understand the delivery status. Based on the delivery status, this role works with Sr Managers of different programs, Product Owners and the Product Manager to facilitate the discussions for decision-making as a group. This role has the ability to influence the Directors, EDs and VPs to make decisions based on the data that this role tracks for the programs.

• Managing and optimizingthe flow of value through the ART and Solution Train using various tools, such as the Program and Solution Kanbans and other information radiators.
• Establishing and communicating the annual calendars for Iterations and Program Increments (PIs).
• Facilitating PI Planning readiness by fostering a Continuous Exploration process which drives the synthesis of a Vision, a Roadmap, and Backlogs, and through Pre- and Post-PI Planning meetings.
• Facilitatingthe PI planning event.
• SummarizingTeam PI Objectives into Program PI Objectives (the RTE) and publish them for visibility and transparency.
• Summarizingprogram PI objectives into Solution PI Objectives (the STE). and publish them for visibility and transparency.
• Assisting tracking the execution of features and capabilities (see Metrics).
• Facilitatingperiodic synchronization meetings, including the ART sync at the Program Level and the value stream sync for Solution Trains.
• Assisting with economic decision-making by facilitating feature and capability estimation by teams and the roll-up to Epics, where necessary.
• Coaching leaders, teams, and Scrum Masters in Lean-Agile practices and mindsets.
• Helping manage risks and dependencies.
• Escalatingand tracking impediments.
• Providinginput on resourcing to address critical bottlenecks.
• Encouragingcollaboration between teams and System and Solution Architects/Engineering.
• Workingwith Product and Solution Management, Product Owners, and other stakeholders to help ensure strategy and execution alignment.
• Improvingthe flow of value through value streams by improving and assessing the DevOps and Release on Demand competency.
• Helping drive the Lean User Experience (UX) innovation cycle.
• Working with the Agile Program Management Office (APMO) on program execution and operational excellence (see Lean Portfolio Management).
• Understand and operate within Lean Budgets and ensure adherence to guardrails.
• Facilitating system demos and solution demos.
• Driving relentless improvement via inspect and adapt workshops; assessthe agility level of the ART and Solution Train and help them improve.
• Fostering communities of practice and the use of engineering and built-In quality practices.

What we’re looking for...

What you will need:

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology Network Systems (IT) or four or more years of work experience.
• Six or more years of relevant work experience.
• Six years experience in managing network systems (IT).
• Three years experience as Scrum Master, Product Owner, or Agile Project/Program Manager.
• Trained and certified with at least one of the following certifications; SAFe for Teams, SAFe Release Train Engineer, SAFe Scrum Master, SAFe Agilist Certification, SAFe Product Owner/ Product Manager.
• Three years experience in project management where organizational, time, budgeting, and scheduling management skills would have been honed.
• Experienced on which meaningful metrics to track, how to interpret them, and how to course correct when the numbers are telling you things are headed out of bounds.
• Experienced as a Servant leader.
• Experience with Microsoft Powerpoint, Excel, Outlook, Jira.

Even better if you have one or more of the following:

• Possess a deep understanding of Lean-Agile frameworks in general, but an especially deep grasp of the Scaled Agile Framework.
• Ability to manage and execute competing tasks and multiple projects simultaneously and work independently.
• Excellent communication and with interpersonal skills who can listen and support teams in problem-identification and decision making
• Strong technical/business aptitude and experience leading teams in delivering quality software.
• Excellent problem-solving ability.
• Experience applying Lean Thinking and Systems Thinking in large organizations.
• Experience with Lean Portfolio Management facilitation for program, portfolio, or executive-level.Experience working in an Agile organization using Scrum, XP, Kanban, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), or other scaling model is preferred.
• Experience with Google Sheets, Slides and Google drive, Google calendar and Google Mail.

Equal Employment Opportunity

We're proud to be an equal opportunity employer - and celebrate our employees' differences, including race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, and Veteran status. At Verizon, we know that diversity makes us stronger. We are committed to a collaborative, inclusive environment that encourages authenticity and fosters a sense of belonging. We strive for everyone to feel valued, connected, and empowered to reach their potential and contribute their best. Check out our diversity and inclusion page to learn more.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement

Verizon requires new hires to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Verizon provides reasonable accommodations consistent with legal requirements (e.g., for medical, religious, or state law recognized reasons).