Release Management Manager

Key Responsibilities

· Manage the end-to-end release cycle, including planning, scheduling, coordination, and deployment across environments (Dev, UAT, Staging, Production).

· Establish and enforce release governance, including release calendar, approval gates, rollback plans, and compliance with CAB

processes.

· Coordinate with PMO, QA, DevOps, ITSM, and Business stakeholders to ensure successful delivery and post-release validation.

· Conduct Release Readiness Reviews and Post Implementation Reviews, ensuring all controls and risk assessments are completed.

· Monitor and report release metrics and KPIs, such as release success rate, deployment lead time, rollback frequency, and change failure rate.

· Support the automation and improvement of release pipelines in collaboration with DevOps teams.

· Oversee emergency and hotfix release procedures, ensuring traceability and business continuity.

· Ensure alignment of release processes with quality frameworks (ISO 9001, ITQMS, ITIL) and internal audit requirements.

· Maintain documentation related to release planning, sign-offs, impact analysis, and stakeholder communication.

QUALIFICATIONS

· Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field.

· Strong understanding of IT delivery, governance, quality assurance, and DevOps principles.

Experience

· 8–10 years of experience in IT or software delivery roles, with 3–5 years in release or deployment management.

· Experience in managing releases across multiple technologies, vendors, and cross-functional teams in enterprise environments.

Technical Skills

· Hands-on knowledge of release and deployment management tools (e.g., ServiceNow, JIRA, Jenkins,SonarQube, Git, Azure

DevOps).

· Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, test environments, version control, and automated release gates.

· Understanding of ITSM, SDLC, change management, and production readiness controls.

· Basic scripting or automation knowledge (e.g., PowerShell, YAML) is a plus.

Leadership Skills

· Strong planning, coordination, and risk management capabilities.

· Ability to lead cross-functional meetings, resolve conflicts, and facilitate release decisions.

· Skilled in communication with technical teams, business stakeholders, and leadership.

· Able to prioritize and manage multiple releases under tight deadlines.

Preferred Certifications

· ITIL® v4 Foundation or Managing Professional – preferred for alignment with ITSM governance

· SAFe Release Train Engineer (RTE) – optional but valuable in agile environments

· PMP® or PRINCE2® Practitioner – preferred for structured release coordination

· ISO 9001 Awareness or Lead Auditor – a plus for QMS-aligned release governance

Key Competencies

· Detail-Oriented: Ensures accuracy in deployment planning, risk documentation, and compliance.

· Analytical Thinking: Able to assess release impacts, dependencies, and rollback strategies.

· Process-Minded: Enforces structured release controls aligned with IT governance and QMS.

· Calm Under Pressure: Manages release windows confidently, including emergency and high-risk changes.

· Continuous Improvement Focus: Drives refinement of release processes, metrics, and reporting maturity