Release Manager

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Release Manager to orchestrate and streamline software releases across multiple applications and teams. This strategic role requires a skilled professional who can centrally plan release schedules, manage cross-functional dependencies, secure stakeholder approvals, and ensure successful deployment execution across the organization. You'll be the central authority driving release governance, coordination, and delivery excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Release Planning & Coordination:

• Develop and maintain comprehensive release schedules across all applications and development teams
• Coordinate release activities among multiple stakeholders, including development, QA, operations, and business teams
• Facilitate release planning meetings and establish clear timelines and milestones
• Create and communicate release calendars with visibility across the organization

Dependency & Risk Management:

• Identify, track, and resolve cross-team and cross-application dependencies
• Proactively assess and mitigate release risks and conflicts
• Manage resource allocation and capacity planning for releases
• Develop contingency and rollback plans for critical deployments

Approval & Governance:

• Establish and enforce release management policies, standards, and best practices
• Obtain necessary approvals from stakeholders, including CAB (Change Advisory Board) when applicable
• Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and organizational policies
• Maintain release documentation and audit trails

Deployment Execution:

• Oversee end-to-end deployment activities across development, staging, and production environments
• Coordinate deployment windows and communicate schedules to all affected parties
• Monitor deployment progress and resolve issues in real-time
• Conduct post-release reviews and document lessons learned

Stakeholder Management:

• Serve as primary point of contact for all release-related communications
• Provide regular status updates to leadership and stakeholders
• Facilitate resolution of conflicts and blockers across teams
• Build strong relationships with technical and business teams

Required Qualifications

Experience:

• 5+ years of experience in release management, deployment coordination, or similar roles
• Proven track record managing complex, multi-team releases in enterprise environments
• Experience with full software development lifecycle (SDLC) and release processes
• Demonstrated success coordinating releases across distributed teams

Technical Knowledge:

• Strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines and deployment automation tools (Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GitLab CI/CD, etc.)
• Familiarity with version control systems (Git, SVN)
• Knowledge of deployment strategies (blue-green, canary, rolling deployments)
• Understanding of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Experience with release management tools (Jira, ServiceNow, Rally, VersionOne)

Core Competencies:

• Exceptional organizational and project management skills
• Strong problem-solving abilities with focus on dependency resolution
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to work under pressure and manage multiple concurrent releases
• Strategic thinking with attention to detail
• Conflict resolution and negotiation skills

Preferred Skills

• Experience with Agile and DevOps methodologies
• Background in software development or infrastructure operations
• Experience implementing or improving release management processes
• Familiarity with incident management and change management practices
• Knowledge of infrastructure as code (Terraform, CloudFormation, Ansible)

Education:

• BE/BTECH in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field or equivalent (Master’s degree preferred).

Certifications:

• ITIL Foundation or ITIL Release Management certification
• PMP, Scrum Master (CSM), or SAFe certification

The position is expected to work in Eastern Hours