Release Train Engineer Lead

Join us as a Release Train Engineer Lead at Barclays, where you will guide and enable the effective delivery of location‑strategy initiatives across multiple teams within the Agile Release Train. In this role, you will act as a servant leader and facilitator, ensuring Agile principles and ways of working are consistently embedded across both technical and functional teams.

You will provide leadership across the end‑to‑end delivery lifecycle—supporting planning, execution, risk management, and governance—to ensure outcomes are delivered to agreed scope, budget, quality, and regulatory standards. Strong technical awareness and a clear understanding of business priorities will be essential as you collaborate closely with Technical Delivery Managers and Product leadership to drive alignment and release readiness.

As a Release Train Engineer Lead, you will enable flow across teams, proactively remove cross‑team impediments, optimise delivery processes, and foster a culture of continuous improvement. Your focus facilitating PI Planning and other scaled Agile ceremonies, and supporting teams to deliver high‑quality, value‑driven outcomes.

To be successful in this role, you should have:

• Strong experience in roles such as Release Train Manager, Scrum Master, or Agile Program Manager.
• Proven experience leading delivery of Programs/Projects, preferably in banking or financial services.
• Strong understanding of Agile/SAFe methodologies and experience facilitating Agile ceremonies.

Some other highly valued skills may include:

• SAFe Release Train Engineer (RTE) certification or equivalent Agile certifications.
• Exposure to data governance, data privacy, and real-time analytics frameworks.
• Proficiency with Agile tools such as JIRA, Confluence, Sprint Insights, etc.

You may be assessed on key critical skills relevant for success in role, such as risk and controls, communication skills and interaction with a diverse range of stakeholders, as well as job-specific technical skills.

This role is based out of our Knutsford office.

Purpose

Facilitates and coordinates Agile Release Trains (ARTs) to ensure that multiple teams within a program are aligned and delivering value efficiently. To manage dependencies, remove impediments, and oversee the planning and execution of Program Increments. Foster collaboration across teams, ensures alignment with business objectives, and drives continuous improvement in large-scale Agile environments.

Accountabilities

• Facilitate Agile Planning and Events: Accountable to ensure readiness across scope, content and logistics to deliver value through facilitation of team of teams events.     
• Support Planning Execution: Monitor planning execution, facilitate periodic synchronization events, and support cross-team backlog refinement to ensure strategic alignment to business goals.     
• Coach Cross-Team Agile: Provide coaching to teams and Scrum Masters on cross-team agile principles, team events, and practices    
• Mitigate Risks: Identify and track cross-team dependencies and risks, ensuring mitigation to support delivery of outcomes. Accountable to remove blockers.    
• Stakeholder Management: Facilitate stakeholder collaboration (e.g., business stakeholders, product teams, vendors), build trust with stakeholders, and drive stakeholder alignment    
• Champion Ways of Working:  Champion Ways of Working and Agile culture, creating a safe and trusting environment for team members to share ideas and take appropriate risks    
• Coordinate Interlock and Dependency Management: Drive partnership and synchronization across teams to facilitate release management across stakeholder groups. Accountable for effective readiness and communication     
• Optimize Flow: Drive towards relentless improvement and ensure value delivery by monitoring delivery status, ensuring technology use and data quality, addressing bottlenecks, and serving as a point of escalation    
• Metrics and Reporting: Track and report key metrics to provide representation at required leadership and governance forums and to ensure continuous delivery improvement