Navigating the job market can be tricky. Roles are evolving, organizations are experimenting, and there's no easy handbook for navigating it all—because we're all figuring it out real time.
I've collected and analyzed nearly a thousand jobs that call for SAFe Certifications or experience. Here's what I've learned:
SAFe Scrum Master
If you have the SAFe Scrum Master certification, good news: SSM is mentioned more than any other certification in the SAFe suite. Average SSM salary is $135K, with most SSM holders earning between $116K-150K.
More than half of the SSM jobs we found are in the aerospace industry, and many of them require security clearances.
If you have SSM and are looking for a job, search for titles such as Agile Delivery Lead, Technical Program Manager, Systems Engineering Manager, Digital Transformation Lead, Agile Coach, Organizational Effectiveness, in addition to the standard Scrum Master titles.
SAFe Release Train Engineer
The second most frequently mentioned certification in job descriptions: RTE. RTE jobs command a higher salary than SSM jobs: $151K on average, with most jobs between $140K and $160K.
RTEs are also frequently sought by the aerospace industry, as well as by consulting firms and healthcare companies. Again, many of the aerospace & defense jobs require a security clearance as a prerequisite.
If you're an RTE looking for a new job, search for titles and keywords such as agile program manager, agile release manager, agile coach, agile delivery, solution delivery, IT management, agile LACE. You may also have some luck searching for lead scrum master or even technical project consultant.
SAFe Product Owner / Product Manager
SAFe POPM comes in #3 in terms of mentions in job descriptions. Salary data is similar to the RTE range, although POPM may be experiencing a current salary spike: looking back on all positions collected this year, median salary was $148K, but narrowing it down to currently open positions shows an average salary of $162K. Organizations may be willing to compensate product professionals more as they expect them to advise on AI product delivery. Only 7% of POPM positions mention AI in the job description, but that's twice as many as SSM position (and RTE positions almost never mention AI).
So—what titles should you look for if you hold a POPM certification? Product Owner and Product Manager are commonly used, in addition to Product Management, Agile Program Management, Systems Engineering, Agile Coach, Business Analyst, Capability Analyst.
I hope this helps!
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