Senior Principal - RTE

GSK; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 3,500,000 - 5,500,000; Full time

Job summary

GSK is seeking a Release Train Engineer to lead SAFe delivery across multiple platform teams in a complex, regulated environment. You will facilitate PI planning, align cross-team work, and coach Scrum Masters and Product Owners to improve flow metrics and predictability.

The role requires strong facilitation, risk management, and stakeholder collaboration to ensure on-time, high-quality delivery of platform capabilities and digital services.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in CS, engineering, business or equivalent practical experience.
• SAFe Release Train Engineer certification or equivalent expected.
• Additional agile certifications supported but not required.
• Familiarity with SAFe practices and governance in large-scale delivery.
• For regulated platforms, awareness of quality, validation and compliance is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Facilitate Programme Increment planning and Agile Release Train execution.
• Plan and facilitate PI planning, System Demos, Inspect & Adapt workshops.
• Coordinate Scrum of Scrums, ART sync and cross-team ceremonies.
• Maintain ART Programme Board and track milestones and dependencies.
• Support Product Management in refining the Programme Backlog.
• Manage dependencies, risks and impediments using ROAM method.
• Escalate blockers at cross-team or platform levels when needed.
• Coordinate with other RTEs, Solution Train Engineers and Platform Managers.
• Track flow metrics and drive improvement actions for predictability and quality.
• Coach teams, Scrum Masters and Product Owners in Lean-Agile practices.

Skills

Facilitation & conflict-resolution

Flow metrics interpretation

ROAM risk & dependency management

Stakeholder management

Continuous learning & AI fluency

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering/Business or related

SAFe Release Train Engineer certification

Additional Agile certs (SAFe SPC, CS M, PMI-ACP)

Experience with regulated platforms knowledge (GxP)

Tools

Jira

Azure DevOps

Portfolio tools

AI-assisted delivery tooling

Job description

Business Introduction

GSK remains committed to achieving bold commercial ambitions for the future. By 2031, we aim to deliver £40 billion in annual sales, leveraging our existing strong performance momentum to significantly increase our positive impact on the health of billions of patients globally. Our Ahead Together strategy is centred on early intervention to prevent and alter the course of disease, thereby protecting people and supporting healthcare systems. Our diverse portfolio consists of vaccines, specialty medicines, and general medicines. Through continuous innovation and a dedicated focus on scientific and technical excellence, we strive to develop and launch new, groundbreaking treatments that address critical health challenges.

Job Purpose

The Release Train Engineer is a servant leader and delivery coach for the Agile Release Train delivering GSK's network and connectivity platforms, applying SAFe practices within GSK's Technology operating model to coordinate the flow of value across the teams building and running those platforms. Operating consistently with the BCG platform operating model, the role treats the platform as a product delivered by a durable, cross-functional team, and is accountable for facilitating Programme Increment planning, coordinating dependencies and risks across teams, and driving predictable, high quality delivery through Agile ceremonies, flow metrics and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• Facilitate Programme Increment planning and Agile Release Train execution
• Plan, prepare and facilitate PI Planning, System Demos, Inspect and Adapt workshops and other Agile Release Train events for the platform's teams.
• Coordinate Scrum of Scrums, ART sync and cross-team ceremonies to maintain alignment on scope, sequencing and delivery against the Programme Increment.
• Build and maintain the ART's Programme Board, tracking major milestones, cross-team dependencies and feature delivery against the Programme Increment.
• Support Product Management and Product Owners in refining the Programme Backlog and preparing content for Planning Interval events.
• Manage dependencies, risks and impediments across the train Identify, track and resolve cross-team and cross-platform dependencies and risks using ROAM (Resolved, Owned, Accepted, Mitigated).
• Escalate and remove impediments to flow that individual teams cannot resolve themselves, including supplier, platform or portfolio level blockers.
• Coordinate with other Release Train Engineers, Solution Train Engineers and Platform Managers to sequence work across dependent platforms and domains.
• Drive flow, predictability and continuous improvement Track and report flow metrics including velocity, programme predictability, cycle time and quality trends, and use them to drive improvement actions.
• Coach teams, Scrum Masters and Product Owners in Lean-Agile and SAFe practices, building local capability rather than acting as a single point of control.
• Partner with Portfolio, Solution and Platform stakeholders to continuously improve the ART's ways of working, tooling and use of automation or AI-assisted delivery practices.

Key Relationships/Customers

• Business Stakeholders Product teams and business technology groups whose network or platform capability delivery depends on a predictable, well coordinated Agile Release Train.
• Business service owners and key users where delivery sequencing, dependencies or timelines affect service quality or adoption.
• Business service owners and key users where engineering quality, resilience or change risk directly affects business outcomes.
• Tech Stakeholders Product Owners, Scrum Masters/Team Coaches, Principal Engineers and Platform Managers for the teams on the train.
• Solution Train Engineers, other Release Train Engineers, Domain Portfolio Managers and Platform Architects across dependent platforms.
• Enterprise Architecture, Cyber Security, Reliability Engineering and Operations Excellence where dependencies or risks touch their domains.
• Reliability Engineering, Operations Excellence, Enterprise Architecture, Cyber Security, Data Privacy, Quality and Compliance teams.
• Modern Engineering, DevSecOps, Observability, Automation Acceleration Hub, Automation Acceleration team and Agile/Delivery governance teams.
• Other Strategic partners, managed service providers, system integrators and specialist suppliers whose teams participate in or are coordinated by the Agile Release Train.

Professional Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Business, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience delivering Agile technology programmes.
• SAFe Release Train Engineer (or Advanced RTE) certification, or a recognised equivalent, is expected.
• Additional Agile certifications such as SAFe Program Consultant, Certified ScrumMaster or PMI-ACP support the role but do not replace demonstrated RTE experience.
• Relevant examples may include SAFe, Scrum/Agile, ITIL, Lean Portfolio Management or programme and change management qualifications.
• For regulated or GxP-impacting platforms, awareness of applicable quality, validation and compliance expectations is desirable.

Area of Specialisation

• Deep knowledge of SAFe practices, including Programme Increment planning, System Demos, Inspect and Adapt, ART sync and flow based metrics.
• Knowledge of AI-enabled delivery tooling, including responsible use for backlog analysis, reporting and dependency tracking.
• Understanding of platform operating models and product-aligned delivery across engineering teams.

Related Experience Required

• Significant experience facilitating Agile Release Trains or large scale agile delivery using the SAFe framework.
• Proven experience coordinating dependencies, risks and impediments across multiple teams, suppliers or platforms.
• Experience facilitating Programme Increment planning, System Demos, Inspect and Adapt and other core Agile Release Train events.
• Experience using flow metrics such as velocity, predictability and cycle time to drive delivery improvement.
• Experience coaching teams, Scrum Masters and Product Owners in Lean-Agile practices without acting as a single point of control.
• Significant experience coordinating Agile delivery across multiple technology teams or a release train.
• Strong capability in Planning Interval facilitation, dependency and risk management, coaching, and flow metrics.
• Evidence of improving delivery predictability, cycle time, quality or stakeholder alignment.

Desirable Requirements

• Release Train Engineer qualification, such as SAFe Release Train Engineer.
• Experience coordinating network or infrastructure transformation delivery.
• Experience with Jira, Azure DevOps, portfolio tools or AI assisted delivery practices.

Skills/Background

• Strong facilitation and conflict-resolution skills, able to align teams and stakeholders without formal authority.
• Ability to interpret flow, quality and delivery metrics and convert insight into improvement actions.
• Skilled at managing risk and dependency logs (ROAM) and escalating effectively when blockers cannot be resolved at team level.
• Strong stakeholder management across business, technology and supplier organisations.
• Commitment to continuous learning, AI fluency and adoption of modern Agile and delivery tooling.

#AGTech Skills

• Agile Coaching, Arts Facilitation, Automation Technology, Cloud Based Services, Computer Programming, Configuration Management (CM), Defense Management, Flow Meter, IP Address Management (IPAM), Load Balancers, Network Design, Operational Technology (OT), Packet Switching, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Security Engineering, Software-Defined Networking Wide Area Network (SD-WAN), System Monitors, Wireless System Design, Zero Trust Architecture

Why GSK?

Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. We aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade, as a successful, growing company where people can thrive. We get ahead of disease by preventing and treating it with innovation in specialty medicines and vaccines. We focus on four therapeutic areas: respiratory, immunology and inflammation; oncology; HIV; and infectious diseases – to impact health at scale. People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we’re committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most. Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people.

Inclusion at GSK: As an employer committed to Inclusion, we encourage you to reach out if you need any adjustments during the recruitment process. Please contact our Recruitment Team at [e-mail] to discuss your needs.

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Getting ahead means preventing disease as well as treating it, and we aim to impact the health of 2.5 billion people around the world in the next 10 years. Our success absolutely depends on our people. While getting ahead of disease together is about our ambition for patients and shareholders, it’s also about making GSK a place where people can thrive. We want GSK to be a place where people feel inspired, encouraged and challenged to be the best they can be. A place where they can be themselves – feeling welcome, valued and included. Where they can keep growing and look after their wellbeing. So, if you share our ambition, join us at this exciting moment in our journey to get Ahead Together. Find out more on our career site.