Job Description

The Release Manager will be responsible for owning the Release Management lifecycle which includes collaborating with cross functional teams to define / redefine internal release processes ensuring that best practices are appropriately coupled with the necessary controls and creating relevant documentation to support the processes. Will be responsible for managing and maintaining all release policies while holding teams accountable for on time delivery. The releases can be inclusive of application updates, operating system patches, security improvements, hardware upgrades, Projects and Programs. Where necessary, the Release manager will provide tools and services to help product management and project teams manage and deploy releases into production.  The Release Management responsibilities also include building the IT Release Calendar in working closely with the IT management from different portfolios across IT and centralizing view of all releases. 

 

Fundamental Components

• Plan and manage all aspects of the product release process
• Develop, publish, communicate and enforce release management policies and standards with Development teams
• Coordinate release strategies, trainings and release notes for all software releases, seeking input from cross-functional teams
• Ensure that the accountable parties implement and follow the established delivery processes and methodologies
• Ensure that all products are delivered through effective use of approved SDLC processes, methodologies and practices
• Measure and monitor progress to ensure application releases are delivered on time with quality
• Responsible for Patch management ensuring consistency and adherence to policies in relation to hot fixes
• Facilitate and drive Scrum of Scrums to understand the scope of upcoming releases, identify impediments and manage risk
• Monitor and provide visibility into release health and trends. Escalate to owners for resolution when issues arise
• Manage risks and resolves issues that affect release scope, schedule and quality
• Manage relationships and coordinate releases between product teams and the Business
• Participate in Release Readiness reviews, Milestone Reviews, and Business Go/No-Go reviews
• Communicate release details and schedules to the Business
• Work with release engineers to understand impacts of branches and code merges
• Continually work towards making improvements in the release process.
• Provides support for multiple systems environments required for proper change management compliance.
• Develop and maintain Deployment, Run Books and Implementation Plans
• Lead and co-ordinate the Go-Live activities including the execution of the deployment Plans and checklists.
• Maintains a release repository and manages key information such as build and release procedures, dependencies, and notification lists

Background Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field
• 2-6 years of previous release and/or project management experience, (Solid understanding of project management principles preferred)
• 8-10 years of experience in information systems operations environment in systems analysis or development
• Formal training in project management practices preferred
• Advanced knowledge of software development lifecycle
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate cross-functional work teams toward task completion
• Demonstrated effective leadership and analytical skills
• Advanced written and verbal communication skills are a must
• Proficient in TFS, JIRA and other project management software, as needed.
• Experience in managing scrum teams or similar agile methodology.
• Experience in Octopus is preferred