Senior SAFe Program Manager / Release Train Engineer

Role Description

The Senior SAFe Program Manager / Release Train Engineer is a strategic Lean-Agile leader responsible for enabling successful execution across one or more Agile Release Trains (ARTs). This role partners closely with Product Management, Engineering, Architecture, Business stakeholders, and leadership teams to deliver high-value digital solutions while fostering a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, and execution excellence.

As a servant leader, coach, and facilitator, the Senior RTE helps teams achieve higher levels of Agile maturity by facilitating Program Increment (PI) execution, managing cross-team dependencies, mitigating risks, and ensuring alignment between strategic priorities and delivery outcomes. The role also plays a key part in driving Lean-Agile transformation, coaching leaders and teams, and continuously improving delivery practices across the organization.

This position benefits from expertise in biopharma R&D domains and enterprise informatics solution delivery. Success in this role requires extensive collaboration with global teams, strong experience across the end-to-end software development lifecycle, and the ability to influence without authority within a highly matrixed organization.

Join Amgen's Mission of Serving Patients

At Amgen, if you feel like you're part of something bigger, it's because you are. Our shared mission—to serve patients living with serious illnesses—drives all that we do.

Since 1980, we've helped pioneer the world of biotech in our fight against the world's toughest diseases. With our focus on four therapeutic areas—Oncology, Inflammation, General Medicine, and Rare Disease—we reach millions of patients each year. As a member of the Amgen team, you'll help make a lasting impact on the lives of patients as we research, manufacture, and deliver innovative medicines that help people live longer, fuller, happier lives.

Our award-winning culture is collaborative, innovative, and science-based. If you have a passion for solving complex problems, enabling high-performing teams, and driving meaningful business outcomes, you'll thrive as part of the Amgen team.

Join us and transform the lives of patients while transforming your career.

Roles & Responsibilities

• Lead and facilitate Agile Release Train (ART) execution using SAFe principles and Lean-Agile practices.
• Drive successful planning and execution of Program Increment (PI) Planning, Scrum of Scrums, Inspect & Adapt workshops, Solution Demos, and other ART ceremonies.
• Partner with Product Management, Product Owners, Engineering, Architecture, and business stakeholders to ensure alignment between strategic priorities and execution.
• Enable predictable, high-quality delivery by improving flow, removing impediments, managing risks, and resolving cross-team dependencies.
• Coach Scrum Masters, Agile teams, Product Managers, and leaders to continuously improve Agile maturity and delivery effectiveness.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement through retrospectives, data-driven decision making, innovation, and Lean thinking.
• Monitor ART health using delivery metrics and Agile performance indicators, providing transparent reporting and actionable insights to leadership.
• Drive execution of strategic portfolio initiatives across multiple cross-functional teams while balancing business priorities and organizational objectives.
• Facilitate collaboration across globally distributed teams to ensure seamless delivery and operational excellence.
• Manage and optimize the flow of value through the Agile Release Train using tools such as Program Kanban, Jira, Jira Align, Confluence, and other Agile information radiators.
• Coordinate with support, operations, and service teams to ensure successful product releases and issue resolution.
• Lead organizational readiness activities for PI Planning, including stakeholder alignment, dependency management, communication, and planning logistics.
• Champion Lean-Agile transformation by coaching leaders and influencing organizational change that improves execution and business outcomes.
• Support continuous evolution of Agile delivery practices, governance models, and operational excellence across the organization.

What we expect of you

We are all different, yet we all use our unique contributions to serve patients.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Biotechnology, Information Technology, or a related discipline.
• 12–17 years of experience in software delivery, Agile program management, product delivery, or related technology leadership roles.

Must-Have Skills

• Strong expertise in Agile methodologies, particularly the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).
• Experience serving as a Release Train Engineer, Agile Program Manager, Scrum Master, or similar enterprise Agile leadership role.
• Proven experience facilitating PI Planning and other SAFe events across multiple Agile teams.
• Strong understanding of Agile software delivery and the end-to-end Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC).
• Hands-on experience with Jira, Jira Align, Confluence, and Agile planning/reporting tools.
• Experience identifying, managing, and resolving cross-team dependencies, risks, and impediments.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence leaders and teams across a global matrix organization.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, facilitation, and communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to coach teams and leaders while driving continuous improvement and organizational agility.
• Demonstrated experience managing data-focused projects, including initiatives involving data platforms, data integration, analytics, or data transformation.
• Provide people leadership by coaching, mentoring, and developing team members, fostering a high-performing, collaborative, and accountable culture while supporting individual growth and organizational objectives.

Good-to-Have Skills

• Experience within biotechnology, pharmaceutical, healthcare, or other regulated industries.
• Understanding of DevOps practices, CI/CD, and Test Automation.
• Experience supporting enterprise portfolio planning and Lean Portfolio Management.
• Workshop facilitation, organizational change management, and Agile transformation experience.

Soft Skills

• Strong servant leadership and coaching mindset.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to influence without authority across multiple stakeholder groups.
• Strong collaboration and relationship-building capabilities.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Strategic thinking with a strong focus on execution and business outcomes.
• Commitment to continuous learning and continuous improvement.

What you can expect of us

As we work to develop treatments that take care of others, we also work to care for your professional and personal growth and well-being. From our competitive benefits to our collaborative culture, we'll support your journey every step of the way.

In addition to the base salary, Amgen offers competitive and comprehensive Total Rewards Plans aligned with local market practices.

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Career Category

Information Systems

Professional Certifications

Preferred certifications include:

• Certified SAFe Release Train Engineer (RTE)
• SAFe Program Consultant (SPC)
• PMI Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) or equivalent Agile certification