Sr Principal Release Train Engineer

Sr. Principal Release Train Engineer (RTE)

As a Sr. Principal Release Train Engineer, you orchestrate complex, multi‑team Agile delivery at an enterprise scale. You connect strategy to execution—guiding up to 12 Scrum/Kanban teams through Planning Increments (PIs) while promoting continuous improvement, financial stewardship, and a culture of innovation.

Core Responsibilities:

• Facilitate PI Planning, system demos, release readiness activities, and retrospectives for Agile Release Trains.
• Own end‑to‑end release and deployment management, balancing velocity with quality and risk.
• Track, analyze, and report Agile Release Train health metrics and financials to senior leadership.
• Champion SAFe and complementary frameworks across the organization.
• Mentor Scrum Masters and Product Owners while modeling servant leadership and systems thinking.
• Lead continuous-improvement workshops and promote test‑driven development and automation.
• Drive enterprise process re-engineering to reduce waste and increase delivery speed.
• Align ART objectives with portfolio strategies, organizational mission, values, and goals.
• Build strong team dynamics and cross-functional collaboration.
• Remove impediments and escalate when necessary.
• Manage Agile Release Train budgets and forecast burn versus value.
• Ensure transparent cost reporting to stakeholders.

Behaviors:

• Make well-informed decisions and anticipate downstream impacts.
• Train, coach, and mentor individuals and teams.
• Build cohesive, high-performance, and high-trust teams.
• Adopt and integrate new tools and techniques quickly.
• Influence across the organization by aligning vision to execution.
• Innovate through experimentation, adaptation, and iteration.

Skills:

• Expert knowledge of SAFe and full product life‑cycle management.
• Expert proficiency in Scrum, Kanban, XP, and Lean principles.
• Expert understanding of Agile project and product management practices.
• Leading knowledge of test automation concepts and CI/CD methods.
• Leading ability to translate complex requirements into actionable backlog items.
• Expert business acumen to align delivery with organizational strategy.
• Expert in Lean‑Agile frameworks such as SAFe, LeSS, and DAD.
• Expert Scrum facilitator with deep Agile team experience.
• Expert in progress tracking and reporting with Jira, AgilePlace, and Power BI.
• Expert in Agile estimation and planning.
• Leading in release and deployment management.
• Leading in promoting test‑driven development practices.
• Leading in financial management and FinOps principles.

• Benefits, subject to election and eligibility: Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, Paid Time Off (including paid parental leave, vacation, and sick time), 401k with company match, Tuition Reimbursement, and Mileage Reimbursement
• Annual bonus based on performance and eligibility

Minimum Qualifications:

• Ten or more years of experience in Agile delivery.
• Four or more years as a Release Train Engineer or equivalent program-level leader.
• Proven leadership of an Agile Release Train of one hundred or more people.
• SAFe Program Consultant (SPC), RTE, or equivalent Agile certification.
• Hands-on experience with Jira and a reporting platform such as Power BI or Tableau.
• Demonstrated experience in budget and financial management.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree
• Experience driving test automation and DevOps adoption.
• Background in Lean Portfolio Management or FinOps.
• Exposure to multiple scaled frameworks such as SAFe with OKR alignment or LeSS.
• Strong facilitation skills with distributed and hybrid teams.

Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ: KDP) is a leading beverage company in North America, with a portfolio of more than 125 owned, licensed and partners brands and powerful distribution capabilities to provide a beverage for every need, anytime, anywhere. We operate with a differentiated business model and world-class brand portfolio, powered by a talented and engaged team that is anchored in our values. We work with big, exciting beverage brands and the #1 single-serve coffee brewing system in North America at KDP, and we have fun doing it!

Together, we have built a leading beverage company in North America offering hot and cold beverages together at scale. Whatever your area of expertise, at KDP you can be a part of a team that’s proud of its brands, partnerships, innovation, and growth. Will you join us?

We strive to be an employer of choice, providing a culture and opportunities that empower our team of ~29,000 employees to grow and develop. We offer robust benefits to support your health and wellness as well as your personal and financial well-being. We also provide employee programs designed to enhance your professional growth and development, while ensuring you feel valued, inspired and appreciated at work.

Keurig Dr Pepper is an equal opportunity employer and recruits qualified applicants and advances in employment its employees without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability or association with a person with a disability, medical condition, genetic information, ethnic or national origin, marital status, veteran status, or any other status protected by law.