Handbook
SAFe — roles
**Purpose:** Define SAFe role accountabilities at **team** and **program** levels, map them to blueprint [archetypes](../roles-archetypes.md), and clarify participation in SAFe events.
SAFe — roles
Purpose: Define SAFe role accountabilities at team and program levels, map them to blueprint archetypes, and clarify participation in SAFe events.
Normative source: Scaled Agile Framework — role definitions are SAFe's; this file maps them to the blueprint.
1. Team-level roles
These are identical to single-team Agile roles; SAFe does not redefine them.
| Role | Accountability | Archetype emphasis |
|---|---|---|
| Product Owner | Owns Team Backlog; defines, prioritizes, and accepts stories; collaborates with Product Management on feature decomposition. | Sponsor proxy + Orchestrator |
| Scrum Master / Team Coach | Facilitates team-level Agile practices; removes impediments; coaches on Scrum/Kanban/XP. | Orchestrator + Quality advocate |
| Developers | Cross-functional members who design, build, test, and deliver the iteration increment. | Implementer + Quality advocate |
2. Program-level roles (ART)
| Role | Accountability | Archetype emphasis |
|---|---|---|
| Release Train Engineer (RTE) | Servant leader for the ART. Facilitates PI Planning, I&A, ART Sync. Manages risks, escalates impediments, drives relentless improvement. | Orchestrator (program-level) + Quality advocate (flow) |
| Product Management | Owns the Program Backlog. Defines features, accepts features at System Demo, communicates vision and roadmap to teams. Works with Business Owners on priorities. | Sponsor proxy + Orchestrator |
| System Architect / Engineer | Defines and evolves architectural runway. Participates in PI Planning to guide enabler work. Reviews cross-team technical decisions. | Implementer (architectural) + Quality advocate (NFRs) |
| Business Owners | Key stakeholders accountable for business outcomes of the ART. Participate in PI Planning (assign business value to PI Objectives) and I&A. | Sponsor |
3. Large Solution and Portfolio roles (when applicable)
| Role | Accountability |
|---|---|
| Solution Train Engineer (STE) | Facilitates Solution-level events; coordinates multiple ARTs. |
| Solution Management | Owns the Solution Backlog; defines capabilities across ARTs. |
| Solution Architect | System-of-systems architecture; cross-ART technical alignment. |
| Epic Owners | Shepherd epics through the portfolio Kanban; develop Lean business cases. |
| Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) | Strategic themes, Lean budgets, portfolio governance, value stream funding. |
4. Event participation matrix
| Event | RTE | Product Mgmt | System Arch | PO | SM | Developers | Business Owners |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PI Planning | Facilitates | Presents vision, prioritizes features | Architecture briefing | Participates with team | Facilitates team breakout | Plan and commit | Assign business value |
| Iteration Planning | Optional | Optional | Optional | Facilitates | Facilitates | Plan and commit | — |
| Daily Stand-up | — | — | Optional | Participates | Facilitates | Drive | — |
| Iteration Review | Optional | Attends | Optional | Facilitates | Facilitates | Demo | Optional |
| System Demo | Facilitates | Accepts features | Reviews integration | Supports | — | Demo | Attends |
| I&A | Facilitates | Participates | Participates | Participates | Participates | Participates | Participates |
| ART Sync | Facilitates | Participates | Participates | SM or PO delegate | Participates | Delegate | — |
| Iteration Retro | Optional | — | — | Participates | Facilitates | Drive | — |
5. Role boundaries (prescriptive)
| Boundary | Guidance |
|---|---|
| PO ≠ Product Management | PO owns team-level stories; Product Management owns program-level features. PO does not independently define features. |
| RTE ≠ project manager | RTE facilitates and serves; does not assign work or dictate team plans. |
| System Architect ≠ ivory tower | Participates in team work, writes code, pairs — not just diagrams and reviews. |
| Business Owners ≠ passive sponsors | Active participants in PI Planning and I&A; not just quarterly status consumers. |
| SM ≠ RTE | SM serves one team; RTE serves the ART. SM escalates ART-level impediments to RTE. |
6. References
- Roles, archetypes & methodology titles — methodology-neutral archetypes
https://forgesdlc.com/methodology-safe.html— SAFe methodology summary- SAFe — connection to the SDLC foundation — SDLC phase and tracking mapping
Canonical source
Edit https://github.com/autowww/blueprints/blob/main/sdlc/methodologies/safe/roles.md first; regenerate with docs/build-handbook.py.