Release Train Engineer III

Release Train Engineer III
Birmingham, AL | Atlanta, GA| Charlotte, NC (Hybrid- onsite 3 days per week)
5-month contract
Pay Rate: $65.00 - $80.00per hr.

Our client is seeking an experienced Release Train Engineer (RTE) 3/4 to take ownership of program-level execution for a large-scale Frontier AI initiative within Digital Banking. This is a highly visible, fast-moving role responsible for coordinating approximately 53 application/CI codes across 10 workstreams involving technology, engineering, architecture, security, and enterprise stakeholders.
This is not an administrative Scrum Master role. The ideal candidate will operate as a program-level leader and connector between engineering and the Transformation Office, driving execution, managing dependencies, providing accurate reporting, and ensuring teams remain aligned to delivery dates.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the Frontier AI initiative from a Release Train Engineer perspective, providing program-level visibility into progress, risks, dependencies, milestones, and delivery dates.
• Partner closely with Digital Banking engineering managers and the technical teams performing day-to-day engineering, solution architecture, and remediation work.
• Translate detailed technical work into clear program-level status and reporting.
• Serve as the bridge between technology/engineering teams and the Transformation Office/PMO.
• Track and communicate timelines, milestones, deliverables, risks, issues, and dependencies.
• Identify and drive resolution of dependencies that extend beyond Digital Banking and impact multiple platforms or verticals.
• Facilitate cross-functional meetings and bring the appropriate technical and business stakeholders together to drive decisions and solutions.
• Keep complex work moving forward without unnecessarily creating friction or damaging stakeholder relationships.
• Monitor program-level burn-downs, delivery progress, dependencies, and upcoming dates.
• Provide recurring data and status reporting to leadership and program stakeholders.
• Build and maintain Jira dashboards and reporting to provide reliable, easily accessible program information.
• Use Jira Plans as the primary source for organizing, tracking, updating, and communicating the work.
• Drill from program-level reporting into individual applications, workstreams, dependencies, and delivery issues when necessary.
• Advocate for engineering teams when project expectations or timelines do not align with technical realities.
• Help teams reach solutions while recognizing that the RTE is responsible for driving toward the solution, not architecting it. Enterprise Architecture will own the overarching technical solution.
• Operate effectively in a highly dynamic environment where priorities and requests can change with very little notice.

Required Skills:

• 6+ years of relevant experience with a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
• Strong experience as a Release Train Engineer, Senior Scrum Master, Program Manager, or similar enterprise technology delivery leader.
• Expert-level hands-on experience with Jira Plans this is the #1 requirement.
• Strong understanding of:
  • Jira Plans
  • Parent/child relationships
  • Application/CI codes
  • Large-scale Jira planning
  • Dependencies and relationships across large portfolios
• Strong experience creating Jira dashboards and program-level reporting.
• Hands-on experience with rich filters and other Jira reporting capabilities.
• Ability to quickly extract data from Jira and turn it into meaningful recurring reports.
• Strong technical fluency and the ability to communicate credibly with engineering and technology teams.
• Strong program/project communication skills and the ability to communicate effectively with PMO/Transformation Office stakeholders.
• Experience managing complex cross-team and enterprise-level dependencies.
• Strong Agile/RTE experience with the ability to balance Agile practices with real-world delivery commitments.
• Excellent facilitation, communication, influence, and relationship-management skills.
• Ability to operate independently and take ownership of a large, complex initiative.

Preferred Experience

• Experience supporting large-scale banking, financial services, or enterprise technology programs.
• Experience with cybersecurity, vulnerability remediation, application modernization, CI/CD, APIs, data, infrastructure, or cloud-related initiatives.
• Experience coordinating across multiple technology platforms and organizational teams.
• Experience working with large portfolios involving dozens of applications or CI codes.
• Experience working with Transformation Offices, PMOs, enterprise architecture, and engineering leadership.