Vice President, Release Train Engineer – Agile Coaches Delivery

MasterCard; London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

An innovative company is seeking a Vice President of Release Train Engineer to lead Agile Coaches in enhancing enterprise agility. This pivotal role requires a seasoned leader with deep experience in agile practices and a passion for fostering a culture of collaboration and excellence. You will drive strategic initiatives, mentor a talented team, and influence organizational change while ensuring compliance with governance standards. Join a forward-thinking organization that values creativity and empowers its leaders to make a significant impact in the realm of digital payments and agile transformation.

Qualifications

• Deep experience in agile roles, including as a senior Agile Coach.
• Proven experience leading diverse, distributed coaching teams.
• Exceptional leadership and interpersonal skills.

Responsibilities

• Manage and mentor a team of Agile Coaches, providing feedback and growth opportunities.
• Promote consistent coaching approaches while fostering innovation.
• Partner with senior leaders to drive agile adoption aligned with business goals.

Skills

Agile Coaching

Leadership

Communication

Systems Thinking

Change Management

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Business

Master's Degree in Technology

MBA or equivalent advanced degree

Tools

SAFe Framework

Scrum

Kanban

Job description

Our Purpose

Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re helping build a sustainable economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart, and accessible. Our technology, innovation, partnerships, and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses, and governments realize their greatest potential.

Title and Summary

Vice President, Release Train Engineer – Agile Coaches Delivery

Overview

Vocalink, a Mastercard company, powers the UK’s real-time payments, settlements, and direct debit systems, as well as a network of nearly 55,000 UK ATMs. We process over 90 percent of salaries, more than 70 percent of household bills, and almost all state benefits.

This is a senior leadership role for an experienced and inspiring People Leader to lead our team of Agile Coaches with a strong emphasis on the adoption of the Scaled Agile Framework for Enterprises (SAFe), specifically overseeing Release Train Engineers (RTEs) and Scrum Masters/Team Coaches across Vocalink Limited.

This pivotal role blends servant leadership with strategic foresight to grow a high-performing coaching team and accelerate enterprise agility across Vocalink Limited. The ideal candidate is a seasoned agile practitioner, skilled in cultivating talent, fostering agile mindsets, and delivering measurable impact through coaching excellence.

This leader will play a critical role in driving Agile maturity, optimizing program execution, and aligning ARTs and teams around the delivery of business value.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Leadership & Development
2. Manage and mentor a team of Agile Coaches (RTEs and Scrum Masters/Agile Coaches), providing continuous feedback, professional growth opportunities, and performance support.
3. Create a culture of excellence, collaboration, and psychological safety within the coaching practice.

1. Agile Practice Stewardship
2. As a change agent, foster a culture of trust, collaboration, innovation, and accountability.
3. Evolve and scale agile coaching standards, frameworks, and strategies across teams, portfolios, and the enterprise.
4. Promote consistent coaching approaches while honoring contextual needs and fostering innovation.

1. Strategic Influence
2. Partner with senior leaders to drive agile adoption and transformation strategies aligned with business goals.
3. Advocate for systems thinking and adaptive planning in complex, fast-changing environments.

1. Capability Building
2. Support the hiring, onboarding, and development of coaches at all levels.
3. Introduce best practices and process improvements within the team of agile coaches, whilst educating and increasing knowledge of peers and ExCo members across functions.
4. Facilitate communities of practice, coaching clinics, and learning opportunities to expand agile capabilities across the organization.

Metrics & Outcomes:

1. Ensure compliance with governance, security, audit, and quality standards across all Agile initiatives.
2. Establish, monitor, and measure key performance indicators (KPIs) and qualitative insights for agile delivery health, program predictability, and continuous improvement efforts.
3. Ensure that the impact of agile coaching initiatives are tracked and communicated via quantitative and qualitative feedback.

Experiences

• Deep experience in agile roles, including as a senior Agile Coach or coaching leader.
• Experience in a senior leadership role with executive-level stakeholder interaction.
• Proven experience leading diverse, distributed coaching teams.
• Deep understanding of Agile, Lean, and Systems Thinking frameworks (e.g., SAFe, Scrum, Kanban, LeSS).
• Exceptional leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence at all levels.
• Demonstrated ability to manage organizational change and drive cultural transformation.
• Experience working in complex, regulated, or hybrid organizations.

Preferred:

• SAFe certifications (e.g., SAFe RTE, SAFe SPC, LPM).
• Certifications such as ICP-ACC, ICP-ENT, or equivalent.
• Experience in product-centric operating models or digital transformations.
• Background in enterprise architecture, business strategy, or technology innovation.
• Bachelors or Masters Degree in Business, Technology, or related field.
• MBA or equivalent advanced degree.

Corporate Security Responsibility

All activities involving access to Mastercard assets, information, and networks come with an inherent risk to the organization. Therefore, it is expected that every person working for, or on behalf of, Mastercard is responsible for information security and must:

• Abide by Mastercard’s security policies and practices;
• Ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the information being accessed;
• Report any suspected information security violation or breach, and
• Complete all periodic mandatory security trainings in accordance with Mastercard’s guidelines.