Hire proven SAFe Agilist (SA) experts in Germany matched in minutes from over 15,000 CVs with the power of AI.
SAFe Agilist (SA) professionals help teams work with the SAFe framework, align product and program planning, and support lean-agile delivery at scale. They are a fit for transformation work, PI planning, and cross-team coordination. Get fast, precise matching with vetted freelancers who hold this certification.
About the certification
What it means
A SAFe Agilist, often listed as SA or SAFe Agilist (SA), has practical knowledge of the Scaled Agile Framework and the role of an agile leader in a scaled environment. The certification signals that the person can support large teams, guide collaboration across functions, and help translate strategy into delivery.
Core focus
- Lean-agile thinking and shared team alignment
- Program Increment planning and coordination across teams
- Roles, events, and artifacts in SAFe
- Continuous improvement and flow of value
- Leadership support for agile change
Typical profiles
This certification is common among Scrum Masters, agile coaches, product owners, release train engineers, delivery managers, and transformation leads. It is also relevant for consultants who help organizations adopt SAFe in complex settings, especially where several teams must work toward one roadmap.
Skills behind it
A certified SAFe Agilist understands how to connect business goals with execution. That includes backlog alignment, dependency management, cadence, visibility, and the basics of lean portfolio thinking. The value is not only in knowing the framework, but in using it to reduce friction between teams and keep work focused.
When companies need it
For German organizations, SAFe Agilist freelancers are useful when an agile setup has grown beyond a single team and coordination starts to slow delivery. They can support on-site workshops, hybrid ceremonies, or remote transformation work, depending on language needs and team structure. In Germany, many clients look for professionals who can work confidently with both local stakeholders and international teams.
What it tells you
A freelancer with this certification is usually prepared for structured agile environments where planning, governance, and delivery must stay connected. It does not replace hands-on experience, but it does show a shared vocabulary and a clear understanding of scaled agile practices. For companies, that makes it easier to bring in help for SAFe adoption, coaching, or program-level delivery work.
Meet FRATCH SAFe Agilist (SA)
Marco Steidel
IT Interim Manager | Interim CIO | Transformation Lead | IT Project Manager & Program Manager | Digital Advisory Board Member
Last position:
IT Interim Manager & Digitalization Consultant at paarprojekt GmbH
- Project management and consulting services with a focus on IT interim management: digitalization of business management including processes and applications
- Assessment of the entire IT infrastructure including applications, core processes, and contracts, including cost optimization
- Evaluation and implementation of solutions to advance digitalization in the company in the areas of: property management, CRM, invoice review and approval processes, smart metering, DMS, time tracking
- Digitization of filing cabinets and introduction of SharePoint and Microsoft Teams as central document and communication platforms
- Design and delivery of an AI workshop including rollout of AI tools to increase efficiency and transparency in key business processes
- Creation of training materials and delivery of user training for newly introduced digital processes and solutions
Felix Bauchspiess
Program, Portfolio & Transformation Management
Last position:
Digital Consultant and Solution Manager at Vorwerk SE & Co. KG
Introduction of a new digital product in the Chinese market as part of a global growth strategy.
Point of contact and coordinating interface between central product management, local Chinese teams, and international stakeholders.
Management of the full program management effort to coordinate complex digital projects.
Successful launch of a digital product in China (including successful certification for the Chinese market).
Balancing local requirements with global priorities while taking tax and regulatory conditions into account.
Introduction of a new way of working to improve cross-site collaboration and steering.
Development and implementation of a scaling strategy for the digital business model in China.
Used Jira, Confluence, Miro, Scrum, Agile work, SAFe.
Project language: English.
Matthias Schneider
Senior Project Manager
Last position:
Overall Project Coordinator at Bundeswehr Informatik (BWI GmbH)
- PMO lead for Security Clearance 2 (SÜ2) cleared
- Reporting to sub-program management GMN
- System maintenance 25+
- Functional control and coordination of Jira setup
- Preparation of decision papers (e.g. project planning, steering model, communication plans, controlling models, role and responsibility matrices)
- Development of program-wide knowledge management using Confluence, creation of Jira concept
- Development of an access concept for all project tools
- Analyzing existing processes, identifying improvement potential, and designing solutions to increase efficiency and effectiveness
- Development of a concept for introducing automation approaches in existing tools
- Creating intranet articles as project marketing
- Responsible for project governance through reporting and resource planning in the sub-program
- Agile further development of the project method
- Gathering customer requirements (requirements engineering)
- Preparation and support of contract negotiations (7-year term, budget of over 500 million)
Julia Lach
AI Consultant
Last position:
AI Consultant at Premium & Luxury Retail / Regulated Sectors
- Strategic consulting on AI implementation and innovation for companies in high-end sectors such as fashion, beauty, retail, and hospitality.
- Developing strategic roadmaps and decision support for AI implementation in product-related and creative domains.
- Supporting internal storytelling to foster team and leadership buy-in.
- Structured evaluation of potential AI use cases based on maturity, impact, and technical feasibility.
- Simplifying complex AI concepts, LLM structures, and agentic workflows for decision-makers.
- Applying a clear evaluation model for rapid value realization (Build–Buy–Vibe decision framework).
- Identifying common pitfalls in AI implementation and deriving sustainable deployment patterns.
- Developing curated trend radars and positioning AI within high-end brands and regulated environments.
Doaa Abdelghafar
Technical Project/Program manager, Scrum Master& Agile Coach, Release Train Engineer
Last position:
Technical Program Manager/Agile Coach at Visa
- Drove two cross-functional engineering teams within the SAFe framework to deliver backend and integration solutions for Visa’s Terminal Management and Cybersource Onboarding platforms
- Served as Program Coach for ten teams within the Platform Services organization, advancing Agile maturity, delivery alignment, and a culture of continuous improvement
- Orchestrated Agile ceremonies including Product Manager syncs, metrics reviews, inspect-and-adapt sessions, system demos, and leadership workshops to strengthen transparency, collaboration, and delivery performance
- Championed the rollout of the Re-imagine Work@Visa scaled delivery framework within the Agile Transformation Team, improving collaboration and delivery predictability
- Increased release frequency 18× per quarter by synchronizing distributed teams and developing a comprehensive release guide
- Partnered with the Release Manager to standardize deployments across Visa Data Center, AWS, and Mobile platforms
- Led teams to close all security findings and embed remediation into BAU, achieving zero open issues by mid-2024
- Directed the Security Findings Program across the portfolio, ensuring visibility, accountability, and progress tracking
- Supported the roll out of the OKR framework and led quarterly reviews to align execution with business goals
- Strengthened communication across distributed teams, removed blockers, and advocated for continuous improvement and automation
- Delivered on demand workshops for teams with raising maturity and adoption of best practices
- Co-founded a Center of Excellence and Agile Community of Practice to promote continuous learning and alignment
- Partnered with SRE and InfoSec teams on multi-region rollout and security initiatives to enhance reliability and compliance
Ciro Manno
Enterprise Consultant
Last position:
Enterprise Consultant at Freelancing
Independent consulting engagements supporting technology organizations on governance, system integration, and delivery structure.
- Supported technology organizations in strengthening governance, system integration planning, and delivery structure.
- Reviewed BSS/OSS modernization and data migration programs, validating effort estimates and identifying delivery risks.
- Introduced simple reporting and tracking tools to improve coordination across distributed teams.
- Advised on integration planning and governance, helping teams improve delivery structure and stakeholder alignment.
Sebastian Pauer
Scrum Master & Agile Coach
Last position:
Scrum Master & Agile Coach at HUK-Coburg
Goal: Coach a new agile team to implement and deliver the MVP of an AI-powered digital insurance service.
- Kicked off and coached a new cross-functional agile team as Scrum Master.
- Introduced a new Product Owner to the role with coaching, close collaboration and support with daily operations and backlog management in Jira.
- Facilitated the ideation, design and backlog creation process for the MVP, applying the appropriate tools and techniques (user journey mapping, impact mapping, story mapping, AI prototyping).
- Managed dependencies and impediments across multiple teams, resolving challenges rising from the use of both agile frameworks and traditional project management methodologies.
- Facilitated and supported planning and decision-making activities regarding the MVP delivery (roadmap creation, release planning, test management, translation of user feedback into product decisions)
- Continuously improved processes across multiple agile teams, closely collaborating with other Scrum Masters and cross-team roles (leads, architect, test manager).
- Designed and facilitated in-person and remote workshops as needed across multiple teams (agile practices, problem solving, process improvement, AI powered product development).
Elena Klusmann
Agile Transformation Consultant | Agile Coach | Program Manager
Last position:
Project Management Consultant at Freelancer
- PMO setup and governance for complex development and transformation programs
- Program and project management in highly complex technical environments (hardware, software, and system integration)
- Agile coaching and scaling (SAFe, Scrum) – from framework introduction to operational rollout
- Scrum Master and Product Owner roles within cross-functional, international teams
- Risk, stakeholder, and backlog management using JIRA, Confluence, and MS Project Available for: PMO Lead, Program Manager, Project Manager, Agile Coach, Scrum Master, Product Owner, Technical Program Manager
Sunish Bharathan
Technical Program Manager . Engineering Delivery & AI Systems
Last position:
AtlasMind - Production AI assistant for Jira at Mercedes Benz Innovation Labs Gmbh
- Converts natural language into JQL using RAG and pgvector. Returns structured JSON with a query, chart spec, and plain-text answer. A two-stage router answers general questions without touching the JQL pipeline at all.
- Interchangeable LLM backends: Ollama, vLLM, Groq, Anthropic Claude, AWS Bedrock - switchable at runtime, no code changes. Self-healing JQL: on Jira validation failure, feeds error back to LLM, retries up to 4 times. OCI Vault for secrets. Deployed on Oracle Cloud A1 with GPU inference over Tailscale private network. Open source.
Rainer Schulz
Scrum Master
Last position:
Product Owner at BWI
- The goal of the "DigSÜ" project is to digitize paper-based processes in the security clearance process to ensure faster processing of the files
- Managing the product backlog and creating user stories in close collaboration with stakeholders
- Building Scrum structures and supporting the development team
- Regular presentation of progress
Falko Werner
Transformation Coach, AI Trainer, Author
Last position:
Institute for Business and Personal Development, South Harz
- Development of an AI-supported personality analysis based on the institute's SDWA4: online survey, AI-supported and automated evaluation, and email delivery
- Requirements analysis, prototype development, evaluation, derivation of a simplified SDWA4-light analysis, continuous improvement, design, Make automation, deployment
Alexander Königschulte
Subproject Manager IT Migration (Carve-out)
Last position:
Subproject Manager IT Migration (Carve-out) at EWE / WCG
- Carve-out of Wärme+ customers from EWE to the new company WCG with around 24,000 metering points.
- Development of a migration approach, data migration, process redesign and migration.
- Management of service providers, reporting to the steering committee and executive management.
- Tools: Jira, SharePoint, Draw.io, SAP S/4, SAP PM, WILKEN (ENER:GY, P5), carve-out.
Taner Pekdemir
Senior Management Consultant
Last position:
Senior Management Consultant at Freelancer
- Premium car manufacturer: rollout manager / project manager in charge of steering and coordinating several markets as part of a group-wide and brand-overarching program for the global Salesforce CRM implementation (Ingolstadt)
Silvia Forstner
Agile PM
Last position:
Agile PM at Puma SE
- Manage and oversee various software development projects between product management and agile dev teams of external service providers
- Communicate with all stakeholders
- Promote transparency and focus on project topics
- Facilitate alignments between business units and external partners
- Support product managers and product owners in preparing and managing requirements in workshops and tools
- Use short feedback loops to optimize agile collaboration
- Support hybrid and agile collaboration
Carina Huppertz
Product Lead | White-Label App
Last position:
Product Lead | White-Label App at Freelance
- Led the development and launch of multiple HEMS Apps for energy providers ensuring end-user value and product scalability as white-label solution
- Owned the full product lifecycle: created roadmaps, prioritized features, and managed the product backlog and development process
- Introduced and continuously refined agile methodologies to enhance team fulfillment and improve development efficiency
- Established scalable customer management systems including Help Center setup and implementation of a ticketing/support solution
- Contributed to investor pitches and strategic product positioning to align with market needs and drive business growth
Discover over 15,000 top freelancers
SAFe Agilist (SA) statistics
Typical experience
21 years
Average project duration
2.7 years
Certifications per freelancer
7
Top business areas
Project Management, Information Technology, Product Development
Top industries
Information Technology, Professional Services, Automotive
Most common languages
German, English, Spanish
Bachelor's degree or higher
92%
Master's degree or higher
70%
Doctorate
9%
Salary / Daily Rate Distribution
The chart shows how the daily rates of freelancers holding this certification are distributed, based on recent contracts on our platform. Each bar covers a rate range — its height shows how many freelancers charge within that range. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
Average rates for SAFe Agilist (SA) & Seniority distribution
Rates are based on recent contracts and do not include FRATCH margin.
The average daily rate is the mean of all daily rates from recent contracts of comparable freelancers on our platform.
The median daily rate is the middle value of all daily rates — half of comparable freelancers charge less, half charge more. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by outliers.
Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have questions? See our quick guide to FRATCH
The SAFe Agilist (SA) certification validates that a professional understands the Scaled Agile Framework and can work effectively in a scaled lean-agile setup. It shows familiarity with team alignment, program planning, and the leadership behaviors needed to support agile delivery across multiple teams.
People often use SAFe Agilist and Leading SAFe in the same context, because Leading SAFe is the well-known learning path and course tied to this certification. In practice, employers usually care that the freelancer understands SAFe principles, events, and coordination across teams.
The SA certification is a good fit for Scrum Masters, agile coaches, product owners, delivery leads, release train engineers, and transformation consultants. It is especially relevant for people who work where several teams need to plan and deliver together.
The SAFe Agilist (SA) focuses on scaled agile work, not only team-level agile practices. Compared with certifications centered on Scrum or Kanban, it is more about alignment across teams, shared cadence, and the operating model around the teams.
Preparation for the SAFe Agilist (SA) certification usually means learning the framework, the main SAFe events, and the roles involved in a scaled environment. Most candidates benefit from practical agile experience, because the material makes more sense when you have already worked with teams, planning, and change management.
For the SAFe Agilist path, the key prerequisite is usually understanding agile work in a professional context. A formal prior certification is not the main point; what matters is that the person can follow the framework and apply it in real delivery situations.
The SA certification is tied to the current Scaled Agile framework and its continuing education expectations. Professionals should expect to stay up to date with framework changes and renewal requirements as Scaled Agile updates them.
The SAFe Agilist (SA) certification matters most in large product development, digital transformation, and enterprise agile adoption. It is especially useful when several teams, business stakeholders, and technical leads must plan work together, including in German companies with mixed local and international collaboration.
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Philipp Thomaschewski
FRATCH CEO
