Vice President, Release Train Engineer - Agile Coaches Delivery

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, optimising program execution, and aligning ARTs and teams around the delivery of business value.

Key Responsibilities:
Leadership & Development
oManage and mentor a team of Agile Coaches (RTEs and Scrum Masters/Agile Coaches), providing continuous feedback, professional growth opportunities, and performance support.
Create a culture of excellence, collaboration, and psychological safety within the coaching practice.
Agile Practice Stewardship
oAs a change agent, foster a culture of trust, collaboration, innovation, and accountability.
oEvolve and scale agile coaching standards, frameworks, and strategies across teams, portfolios, and the enterprise.
oPromote consistent coaching approaches while honouring contextual needs and fostering innovation.
Strategic Influence
oPartner with senior leaders to drive agile adoption and transformation strategies aligned with business goals.
oAdvocate for systems thinking and adaptive planning in complex, fast-changing environments.
Capability Building
oSupport the hiring, onboarding, and development of coaches at all levels.
oIntroduce best practices and process improvements within the team of agile coaches, whilst educating and increasing knowledge of peers and ExCo members across functions
oFacilitate communities of practice, coaching clinics, and learning opportunities to expand agile capabilities across the organization.
Metrics & Outcomes:
oEnsure compliance with governance, security, audit and quality standards across all Agile initiatives.
oEstablish, monitor and measure key performance indicators (KPIs) and qualitative insights for agile delivery health, program predictability, and continuous improvement efforts.
oEnsure that the impact of agile coaching initiatives are tracked and communicated via quantitative and qualitative feedback.

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

Preferred:
oSAFe certifications (e.g., SAFe® RTE, SAFe® SPC, LPM).
oCertifications such as ICP-ACC, ICP-ENT, or equivalent.
oExperience in product-centric operating models or digital transformations.
oBackground in enterprise architecture, business strategy, or technology innovation.
oBachelors or Masters Degree in Business, Technology, or related field.
oMBA or equivalent advanced degree.

Corporate Security Responsibility

All activities involving access to Mastercard assets, information, and networks comes with an inherent risk to the organization and, 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.