Our Purpose

Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re helping build a sustainable economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential.

Title and Summary

Vice President, Release Train Engineer – Agile Coaches Delivery

Overview
Vocalink, a Mastercard company technologies power the UK’s real-time payments, settlements and direct debit systems, as well as a network of nearly 55,000 UK ATMs. We process over 90 percent of salaries, more than 70 percent of household bills and almost all state benefits.
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
o\tManage 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
o\tAs a change agent, foster a culture of trust, collaboration, innovation, and accountability.
o\tEvolve and scale agile coaching standards, frameworks, and strategies across teams, portfolios, and the enterprise.
o\tPromote consistent coaching approaches while honouring contextual needs and fostering innovation.
Strategic Influence
o\tPartner with senior leaders to drive agile adoption and transformation strategies aligned with business goals.
o\tAdvocate for systems thinking and adaptive planning in complex, fast-changing environments.
Capability Building
o\tSupport the hiring, onboarding, and development of coaches at all levels.
o\tIntroduce best practices and process improvements within the team of agile coaches, whilst educating and increasing knowledge of peers and ExCo members across functions
o\tFacilitate communities of practice, coaching clinics, and learning opportunities to expand agile capabilities across the organization.
Metrics & Outcomes:
o\tEnsure compliance with governance, security, audit and quality standards across all Agile initiatives.
o\tEstablish, monitor and measure key performance indicators (KPIs) and qualitative insights for agile delivery health, program predictability, and continuous improvement efforts.
o\tEnsure that the impact of agile coaching initiatives are tracked and communicated via quantitative and qualitative feedback.

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

Preferred:
o\tSAFe certifications (e.g., SAFe® RTE, SAFe® SPC, LPM).
o\tCertifications such as ICP-ACC, ICP-ENT, or equivalent.
o\tExperience in product-centric operating models or digital transformations.
o\tBackground in enterprise architecture, business strategy, or technology innovation.
o\tBachelors or Masters Degree in Business, Technology, or related field.
o\tMBA 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.