Release Manager

BC forward is currently seeking a highly motivated : : Release Manager – Virtual Care Platforms – Remote Job Title: Release Manager – Virtual Care Platforms Location: Remote Duration: Contract – 6+ months About the Role We are seeking a Release Manager to lead and evolve release management practices for a growing digital health ecosystem, with a strong focus on inpatient virtual care and video visit platforms. This role sits at the intersection of DevOps, IT service management, vendor coordination, and healthcare compliance. You will play a critical role in ensuring software releases are delivered reliably, securely, and with minimal disruption to clinical operations, directly impacting patient care and clinician experience. Key Responsibilities Release Governance and Process Improvement Design and implement a standardized release management framework aligned with ITIL and DevOps best practices Establish release calendars, deployment windows, and governance processes to minimize clinical disruption Lead release readiness reviews, go/no-go decisions, and post-release retrospectives Maintain documentation, policies, and audit-ready release artifacts Vendor and Telehealth Platform Coordination Act as the primary liaison for vendor-supported video visit and telehealth platforms Align vendor release schedules, patches, and upgrades with internal change management processes Validate compatibility with integrated systems such as EHRs, scheduling, and identity management Ensure vendor SLAs and communications meet operational and clinical expectations Environment and Deployment Management Oversee deployments across development, test, staging, and production environments Ensure environment consistency and configuration management across systems Partner with DevOps teams to enable CI/CD automation, rollback strategies, and release validation Risk, Compliance, and Patient Safety Ensure all releases comply with HIPAA, HITECH, and internal security policies Conduct risk assessments for changes impacting patient data and clinical workflows Implement controls to safeguard PHI during deployments and updates Support audits and compliance reporting Cross-Functional Collaboration Work closely with clinical teams, product teams, cybersecurity, infrastructure, and service desk Communicate release impacts to clinicians, support teams, and operational stakeholders Coordinate downtime planning and contingency strategies to maintain patient access Observability and Continuous Improvement Track KPIs such as deployment frequency, change failure rate, and MTTR Lead root cause analysis for release-related incidents Drive continuous improvement to increase release velocity without compromising reliability Required Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Healthcare Informatics, or related field 5+ years of experience in release management, DevOps, or IT service management in regulated environments Experience managing releases for vendor-supported SaaS platforms Strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines, environment promotion, and configuration management Experience working in HIPAA-compliant environments and handling PHI Familiarity with ITIL-based change and release management processes Preferred Qualifications Experience with telehealth or digital health platforms Knowledge of EHR integrations such as HL7 and FHIR APIs ITIL certification (Foundation or higher) Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP Background in incident management or site reliability engineering Core Competencies Strong systems thinking across clinical and technical ecosystems Ability to balance speed, risk, and patient safety Clear communication with both technical and non-technical stakeholders Process-driven mindset with focus on scalability and consistency Effective vendor coordination and accountability management Success Metrics Reduction in release-related incidents affecting patient care Improved deployment success rate and fewer rollbacks Better predictability of vendor releases and integrations Increased clinician and patient satisfaction with virtual care platforms Impact of the Role This role is critical in ensuring the reliability, security, and scalability of virtual care platforms. By strengthening release processes and vendor coordination, the Release Manager directly contributes to delivering seamless, high-quality telehealth experiences for patients and clinicians.