Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Certification
Timeline
Generic

SARAH HOSSAIN

Eden Prairie

Summary

Seasoned Release Train Engineer and Scrum Master with extensive 8+ years experience leading large, complex Agile initiatives in high‑visibility, blue‑chip programs. Proven leader for organizations of 100+ team members, providing steady guidance in high‑pressure environments while aligning stakeholders and delivery teams to realistic, outcome‑focused roadmaps. Highly skilled in end‑to‑end execution, early risk identification, dependency management, and MVP definition, resulting in reduced rework and improved delivery predictability. Demonstrated success in driving enterprise Agile transformations, coaching teams and Scrum Masters, and enabling adoption of SAFe, LeSS, and Scrum practices. Strong background in financial forecasting and budget management ($40M), resource planning, and data‑driven decision‑making. Adept at leveraging modern tools and AI solutions (Copilot 360) to improve transparency, efficiency, and delivery outcomes.

Overview

17
17
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification

Work History

Release Train Engineer / Program Manager

UnitedHealth Group / UnitedHealthcare
08.2020 - Current
  • Led Agile delivery for 100+ team members across multiple high-visibility (e.g., Prior Auth Modernization-OCM Integration), blue-chip initiatives (e.g., Gold Card-Project Promise), ensuring alignment to strategic roadmaps and business outcomes.
  • Provided steady leadership through high-pressure, complex programs, aligning executives, product owners, and delivery teams to realistic, outcome-driven plans.
  • Owned end-to-end execution and delivery of the roadmap, proactively identifying risks, dependencies, and delivery impacts.
  • Identified requirement gaps early and facilitated targeted working sessions with stakeholders and Product Owners to define and lock MVP scope, reducing rework and improving delivery clarity.
  • Facilitated cross-organizational collaboration with external teams, negotiating commitments and timelines that resolved dependencies and met delivery goals.
  • Successfully led all Agile cadences including PI Planning, Sprint Planning, System Demos, and Integration Sessions, surfacing risks early and implementing mitigation strategies without scope creep.
  • Forecasted and managed $40M budgets, maintaining monthly actuals within <20% variance through disciplined tracking and reporting.
  • Managed external demand estimation, impact tracking, and expense forecasting to ensure financial accuracy and transparency.
  • Enhanced delivery predictability through centralized resource and time-allocation tracking, which reduced manual follow-ups and increased visibility.
  • Partnered with IT and Business leaders on resource strategy decisions (retain vs hire) based on long-term budget projections.
  • Mentored Scrum Masters and delivery teams on Agile best practices, leading to sustained improvements in team maturity and performance.
  • Championed adoption of LeSS, standing up three feature teams to improve flow and scalability.
  • Integrated Copilot 360 and AI tools into day-to-day execution to enhance reporting efficiency, communication, and decision-making.
  • Technology: Copilot 360, Rally (CA Agile Central), AHA, PPMO, OT Labor Dashboard, Optum Reporting Hub, Flowdock, Figma, Visio, Microsoft Excel.

Scrum Master

OptumRx
03.2018 - 07.2020
  • Acted as Scrum Master for five cross-functional teams, guiding teams through continuous improvement and Agile maturity.
  • Facilitated all Scrum ceremonies including Sprint Planning, Reviews, Retrospectives, and Daily Scrums.
  • Removed impediments and protected sprint goals by proactively addressing risks and dependencies.
  • Partnered closely with Product Owners to create, refine, and prioritize healthy product backlogs.
  • Led enterprise-wide waterfall-to-Agile transformations, coaching teams and stakeholders on Scrum values, roles, and ceremonies.
  • Tracked and reported progress using Agile metrics (burn-down, velocity, cycle time) to provide transparency to stakeholders and leadership.
  • Delivered 20–40% improvements in feature cycle time, contributing to achievement of organizational performance metrics.
  • Actively contributed to Scrum of Scrums, internal Agile communities, and practice forums to improve enterprise Agile effectiveness.
  • Supported adoption of code quality tools and release compliance automation.
  • Technology: Rally (CA Agile Central), Optum Reporting Hub, Flowdock, Jira-Confluence, Visio, Microsoft Excel.

QE / QA Lead

OptumRx
07.2016 - 02.2018
  • Led quality engineering and testing strategy for large, multi-application programs supporting enterprise healthcare platforms.
  • Managed onshore and offshore QE teams, providing leadership, coaching, and workload prioritization across parallel initiatives.
  • Partnered with Product, Development, and Program leadership to align quality plans with release schedules and delivery milestones.
  • Supported mixed-methodology environments, coordinating testing activities for Agile teams while integrating with Waterfall-based dependency teams.
  • Established and standardized QA processes, defect management workflows, and reporting, improving transparency and predictability.
  • Owned end-to-end defect management, including triage, prioritization, escalation, and executive-level reporting.
  • Produced quality metrics and status reporting for leadership, enabling informed decisions on release readiness and risk.
  • Contributed to continuous improvement initiatives, reducing defect leakage and improving release confidence.
  • Tools & Environment: ALM 11, SQL, DB2, Oracle, Ab Initio, IBM Mainframe.

QA Lead

Merrill Corporation
09.2013 - 06.2016
  • Served as QA Lead in a hybrid Agile-Waterfall environment, supporting enterprise financial applications.
  • Developed and executed test strategies, plans, and metrics, providing leadership visibility into quality and delivery risk.
  • Led cross-functional QA teams and coordinated testing across multiple concurrent projects.
  • Worked closely with business stakeholders and SMEs to validate requirements and ensure end-to-end coverage.
  • Acted as a bridge between business, development, and testing teams, helping break down silos and improve collaboration.
  • Technology: QA Complete, JIRA, TFS, IBM Alliance, Microsoft office excel, python.

Senior Quality Analyst

Achieve Healthcare
06.2012 - 12.2012
  • Served as Manual Quality Analyst for in-house healthcare application supporting Appeals and Grievance workflows for M&R members, contributing to improved workflow efficiency and accuracy.
  • Developed and executed comprehensive test plans, test cases, and scenarios, monitoring and reporting test results to ensure compliance throughout SDLC.
  • Partnered with Business, Product, Application, and Environment teams to define testing scope, effort, release readiness, and delivery timelines.
  • Reviewed and provided feedback on business and functional requirements to ensure clarity, completeness, and testability.
  • Established quality goals and metrics to enhance deliverable quality and increase release confidence.
  • Tested web services using SOAP UI, validating request/response formats and database consistency.
  • Created flat files and SQL queries to validate data integrity and backend processing.
  • Built and validated rules engine data formats, ensuring accurate rule execution.
  • Executed QTP automation scripts using Quality Center.
  • Technology: SQL, SOAP UI, PL/SQL, XML, Oracle 9i, Quality Center 10.0, QTP 10.0.

Manual Quality Analyst

US Tech
09.2011 - 04.2012
  • Executed unit, integration, system, regression, and UAT testing to ensure quality and functionality of applications.
  • Manually tested a B2B Treasury system for a leading enterprise transaction solutions provider.
  • Collaborated with SMEs and business stakeholders to validate requirements and identify end-to-end business scenarios.
  • Created, executed, and maintained test cases in Quality Center 10.0.
  • Supported implementation of Test Director 8.0, streamlining test asset management and improving tracking processes.
  • Led defect triage meetings, tracked defects, and communicated quality status updates to leadership to facilitate timely decision-making.
  • Technology: XML, Oracle 9i, Quality Center 10.0.

QA Analyst

Software Solutions
02.2011 - 08.2011
  • Supported testing of I-VAULT, a secure, web-based document storage and retrieval platform.
  • Contributed to development of test strategies, test plans, and schedules to ensure comprehensive test coverage.
  • Identified integration and end-to-end scenarios and performed cross-browser compatibility testing (IE, Firefox).
  • Executed test cases to validate functionality, data integrity, security, and performance across all test phases, enhancing product reliability.
  • Developed modular, repeatable, data-driven test scripts and reported defects in Quality Center, improving defect tracking and resolution.
  • Utilized XML, Oracle 9.0, and Quality Center 9.0 for testing processes.

QA Analyst

PVX Tech
03.2010 - 11.2010
  • Led and coordinated a distributed manual testing team of four supporting in-house lending applications.
  • Partnered with leadership to define testing scope, effort, and release readiness.
  • Developed and executed test cases validating conformance to functional and technical specifications.
  • Defined and implemented QA standards, reviewed test results, and ensured adherence to quality benchmarks.
  • Led daily defect triage meetings and coordinated UAT activities, including test data preparation.
  • Created SQL queries for data validation and process evaluation.
  • Technology: Oracle 7i, Quality Center, SQL.

QA Analyst

Lance Soft, LLC
06.2009 - 01.2010
  • Supported testing of an ecommerce web-based customer order application.
  • Developed High-Level Test Plans (HLTP) and presented testing strategy to business and technical stakeholders.
  • Identified business scenarios from SSD and DDD documents and established QA standards in Quality Center.
  • Executed functional and system integration testing and supported end-to-end validation.
  • Tracked and reported daily and weekly testing progress to QA leadership.
  • Technology: Quality Center 9.0, PL/SQL Developer, SQL.

Education

Master of Public Health (MPH) -

Mahidol University
Bangkok

Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) -

Dhaka University
Dhaka, Bangladesh

Skills

  • Release train engineering (SAFe) and agile transformation
  • Program and portfolio delivery
  • PI planning and agile cadences
  • Dependency risk management
  • Scrum and Kanban methodologies
  • Financial management
  • Coaching and mentoring Scrum Masters and multiple teams
  • Executive stakeholder management
  • AI-enabled productivity (M365 Copilot)

Certification

  • Certified Release Train Engineer (RTE 6 and 5 – SAFe)
  • Certified Advanced Scrum Master (SASM 6 and 5 – SAFe)
  • Certified ScrumMaster (CSM – Scrum Alliance)
  • Scrum Master Maturity Program – Optum Rx
  • ISTQB Certified

Timeline

Release Train Engineer / Program Manager

UnitedHealth Group / UnitedHealthcare
08.2020 - Current

Scrum Master

OptumRx
03.2018 - 07.2020

QE / QA Lead

OptumRx
07.2016 - 02.2018

QA Lead

Merrill Corporation
09.2013 - 06.2016

Senior Quality Analyst

Achieve Healthcare
06.2012 - 12.2012

Manual Quality Analyst

US Tech
09.2011 - 04.2012

QA Analyst

Software Solutions
02.2011 - 08.2011

QA Analyst

PVX Tech
03.2010 - 11.2010

QA Analyst

Lance Soft, LLC
06.2009 - 01.2010

Master of Public Health (MPH) -

Mahidol University

Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) -

Dhaka University
SARAH HOSSAIN