BRIEF DESCRIPTION:-
The Release Train Engineer (Merchant Delivery) role at Optimal Growth Technologies involves overseeing the delivery of digital payment solutions and business services within the Business Payments Agile Release Train. The main responsibilities include translating product priorities into delivery plans, managing impediments, facilitating continuous improvement, and ensuring effective execution within the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). Key requirements include a STEM degree or equivalent experience, a proven track record in product delivery, and relevant Agile certifications such as SAFe Scrum Master.
Job Title: Agile Release Train Engineer (Merchant Delivery) Company: Optimal Growth Technologies
Description
This role is pivotal in the Business Payments Agile Release Train (ART) at Optimal Growth Technologies, focused on delivering digital payment solutions and value-added business services that empower merchants and businesses to facilitate payments across various channels.
The Agile Release Train Engineer (ARTE) is tasked with translating agreed product priorities into a comprehensive delivery plan, encompassing clear milestones, dependencies, resource requirements, and release commitments. This role oversees execution from the initial discovery and planning phase through development, integration, testing, market readiness, launch, and post-launch stabilization.
Working within the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), the ARTE facilitates ART processes and ensures effective execution across multiple teams. Responsibilities include managing impediments, escalating risks as needed, enabling value delivery, and driving continuous improvement within the ART and across its teams.
The ARTE also supports the Lean-Agile transformation towards the target operating model by coaching leaders, teams, and Scrum Masters and fostering an agile mindset. Success in this role entails delivering reliable, scalable payment and merchant capabilities rapidly, with the technical, operational, and market readiness necessary to support adoption and business value.
Key Accountabilities and Decision Ownership
Servant Leadership
Create a collaborative delivery environment among Product, Technology, Design, Operations, market teams, and vendors. Aid teams in identifying problems and making well-informed decisions. Foster an environment of mutual influence, trust, and open communication. Empathize with others while encouraging individual and team development. Coach individuals and teams through effective questioning rather than relying on authority. Apply systems thinking and consider the broader impact of delivery decisions. Support teams in meeting commitments and achieving agreed outcomes. Encourage collaboration between teams, Product Management, and System Architects. Maintain a strong customer focus throughout delivery. Help teams resolve impediments and escalate issues requiring leadership intervention.
Align Strategy with Execution
Drive the delivery of the strategic product roadmap. Collaborate with Lean Portfolio Management, Product Management, and System Architects to ensure alignment with strategic outcomes. Operate within Lean budgets, ensuring adherence to financial guardrails. Make dependencies, risks, and trade-offs visible, securing decisions when scope, timelines, capacity, or costs conflict. Manage delivery within agreed tolerances and escalate changes requiring product, budget, or governance approval.
Improve Flow
Optimize the flow of value through the ART by continuously evaluating delivery practices associated with DevSecOps and Release on Demand. Provide input on resource requirements to address critical bottlenecks. Identify and manage risks, remove impediments, and ensure mitigation plans are implemented. Improve delivery flow while accommodating software releases, hardware lead times, certification requirements, and market rollout considerations.
Prepare and Facilitate PI Planning
Facilitate PI Planning readiness by supporting the Continuous Exploration process. Support economic decision-making through feature and capability estimation and, where necessary, the consolidation of estimates into Epics. Prepare for and facilitate PI Planning events. Consolidate team-level PI Objectives into overall Program PI Objectives. Coordinate resource planning and recruitment requirements associated with the ART, including third-party resources.
Guide Program Execution
Track feature delivery against agreed objectives, milestones, and commitments. Manage risks, dependencies, and cross-team delivery challenges. Escalate and track impediments through to resolution. Facilitate ART synchronisation events, System Demos, and Inspect and Adapt workshops. Ensure effective vendor management and alignment with delivery commitments. Provide delivery analysis and progress updates to support informed decision-making and continuous improvement. Coordinate pilots, phased deployments, go-live decisions, and post-launch stabilization. Provide concise executive updates covering progress, forecast dates, risks, recovery actions, and decisions required.
Encourage Innovation
Establish delivery pathways for experiments, proofs of concept, and pilots alongside committed roadmap activities. Support the Lean User Experience (UX) innovation cycle. Encourage regular innovation and exploration cycles to improve return on investment and customer satisfaction in line with SAFe principles.
Drive Continuous Improvement
Drive continuous improvement through Inspect and Adapt workshops, assessing the ART's agility and identifying opportunities to improve. Foster Communities of Practice and encourage engineering excellence and Built-In Quality practices. Work with the Value Management Office to improve program execution and operational excellence. Incorporate lessons from incidents, customer feedback, and market launches into future planning and delivery practices.
Core Competencies, Knowledge and Experience
Essential Qualifications and Experience
Degree in a STEM-related field or equivalent practical experience. Proven track record of successful product delivery, working across business and IT functions. Strong understanding of digital payment capabilities, payment technologies, and payment platforms. Excellent problem analysis and resolution skills, with the ability to operate effectively in reactive and proactive environments. Ability to understand end-to-end solutions, system architecture at a high level, and relevant system use cases within the ART. Ability to present and explain systems and software solutions, identifying opportunities for optimization. Relevant certified Scrum Master qualification, such as SAFe Scrum Master or equivalent. Three to five years' experience as a Delivery Manager and/or Release Train Engineer. At least five years' Agile experience, including engagement with international suppliers and/or markets. Experience delivering mobile applications, platform integrations, and third-party technology solutions. Experience coordinating multiple delivery teams, external vendors, and stakeholders across markets. Experience within mobile payments, digital payments, or financial payment services.
Desirable Qualifications and Experience
SAFe 6.0 Certified Release Train Engineer. ITIL Service Management qualification or relevant experience. Working knowledge of Jira and Confluence. Experience designing and implementing Agile or DevOps processes using SAFe or other frameworks. Experience delivering SoftPOS, POS devices, or other solutions combining hardware and software. Experience with merchant platforms, business management tools, ERP systems, or inventory integrations. Experience managing vendor delivery, contractual milestones, and acceptance processes.
Skills and Competencies
Strong understanding of the software development lifecycle, particularly within complex, data-driven initiatives and Agile methodologies such as Scrum and SAFe. Experience leading Agile feature teams to deliver new products, capabilities, and continuous improvements. Strong analytical skills, including the ability to interpret data and resolve complex problems. Design thinking and a structured approach to problem-solving. Vendor management experience, particularly in managing scope, resources, timelines, and delivery commitments. Strong business and customer focus, with an appreciation for customer-led design and user experience principles. Ability to work proactively in a demanding, fast-paced product development environment. Excellent communication, influencing, and negotiation skills, with tact and diplomacy. Ability to understand and explain complex technical concepts to business stakeholders. Strong numerical, analytical, written, and verbal communication skills in English. Experience working within multinational teams and supporting customers across multiple countries would be advantageous.
