Sr Lead, Agile Coach

About Northern Trust
As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world’s most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions.
Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure: Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide.
With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.
We are seeking an experienced Agile Coach / Release Train Engineer (RTE) to lead Agile transformation initiatives and enable effective delivery across multiple Agile teams and value streams. The role combines enterprise Agile coaching with program-level execution leadership, including PI Planning, ART coordination, delivery governance, dependency and risk management, metrics, stakeholder alignment, and continuous improvement.
The successful candidate will influence without authority, coach leaders and teams, strengthen execution discipline, and create transparency from strategy through delivery outcomes.
Agile Leadership and Coaching
Coach leaders, Product Managers, Product Owners, Scrum Masters, and delivery teams on Lean-Agile, Scrum, Kanban, and SAFe practices.
Drive Agile maturity by establishing consistent ways of working, coaching teams through change, and reinforcing outcome-based delivery.
Mentor Scrum Masters and team coaches to strengthen facilitation, servant leadership, impediment resolution, and continuous improvement.
Partner with leadership to improve organizational agility, value flow, execution discipline, and cross-functional collaboration.
Release Train and Program Facilitation
Facilitate PI Planning, ART Syncs, Scrum of Scrums, System Demos, Inspect and Adapt sessions, and other program-level events.
Establish and communicate Program Increment calendars, planning milestones, readiness criteria, and operating cadences.
Coordinate multiple Agile teams to align objectives, commitments, dependencies, capacity, and delivery milestones.
Consolidate and communicate team PI objectives into program-level objectives with clear ownership and visibility.
Delivery Management and Execution
Manage and optimize the flow of value across the Agile Release Train using program backlogs, Kanban systems, and delivery dashboards.
Identify, track, and facilitate resolution of program risks, cross-team dependencies, impediments, and delivery bottlenecks.
Support release planning, release readiness, feature execution, and coordination with Product, Architecture, Engineering, Risk, and Operations.
Promote realistic planning, capacity-based commitments, predictable execution, and timely escalation of issues.
Key Responsibilities:
Metrics, Governance and Continuous Improvement
Define and monitor flow, predictability, quality, delivery, and Agile maturity measures.
Maintain dashboards and regular program reporting to provide fact-based visibility to teams and leadership.
Facilitate retrospectives, problem-solving workshops, and improvement planning at team and program levels.
Improve delivery practices, tooling discipline, backlog quality, and strategy-to-execution traceability.
Stakeholder and Change Management
Build alignment among Business Owners, Product Management, Architects, Technology Leaders, delivery teams, and governance partners.
Communicate delivery health, risks, dependencies, decisions, and improvement priorities clearly to senior stakeholders.
Facilitate conflict resolution and decision-making across teams while maintaining focus on business value and customer outcomes.
Support adoption of new practices through structured communications, training, workshops, and hands-on coaching.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in computer science, Engineering, Information Systems, Business, or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
12+ years of experience in technology, product development, program delivery, or transformation environments.
2+ years of experience in Agile Coaching, Release Train Engineering, Program Management, Senior Scrum Master, or a comparable role.
Demonstrated experience facilitating PI Planning and coordinating delivery across multiple Agile teams.
Strong working knowledge of SAFe, Scrum, Kanban, Lean principles, and scaled Agile delivery practices.
Proven ability to manage risks, dependencies, impediments, and stakeholder expectations in complex delivery environments.
Excellent facilitation, coaching, communication, conflict resolution, and executive stakeholder management skills.
Experience working with geographically distributed and cross-functional teams.
Preferred Qualifications
Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Advanced Certified ScrumMaster, or Certified Scrum Professional (CSP).
Experience leading enterprise Agile transformations, value stream enablement, or Agile maturity improvement programs.
Knowledge of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), Value Stream Management, Lean Portfolio Management, and product operating models
Working with Us
As a Northern Trust partner, you will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture, which has a strong history of financial strength and stability. Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to an inclusive workplace and assisting the communities we serve.
Philanthropy is deeply rooted in Northern Trust’s history and is an essential element of our culture. Employees around the world give their time and talent to work for the greater good of their communities.
Reasonable Accommodation
Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing adjustments to individuals with health conditions and disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at MyHRHelp@ntrs.com, or alternatively you can discuss your individual requirements with the recruiter you are working with.
About Our Pune Office
The Northern Trust Pune office, established in 2016, is now home to over 3,000 employees. The office handles various functions, including Operations for Asset Servicing and Wealth Management, as well as delivering critical technology solutions that support business operations across the globe.
Our Pune team takes our commitment to service to heart. In 2024, they volunteered more than 10,000+ hours into the communities where they live and work. Learn more.