Senior Project Manager - Release Management

Job Summary:

The Senior Project Manager/Leader is responsible for developing and operationalizing a standardized Release Management framework within large, complex organizations. This role requires extensive experience in IT Service Management, Release Management, and Change Management to lead cross-functional teams, facilitate governance, and drive process improvements that align with enterprise objectives. The position demands strong stakeholder engagement, technical expertise in delivery lifecycles, and the ability to produce executive-level reporting to support continuous improvement. Responsibilities:

• Develop, implement, and maintain a standardized enterprise Release Management framework, including governance, processes, procedures, roles, and responsibilities.
• Assess current release and deployment practices across multiple business and technology teams and recommend improvements for consistency and compliance.
• Collaborate with project, product, operations, infrastructure, and vendor teams to coordinate release planning, scheduling, risk management, and deployment activities.
• Facilitate release governance activities such as release assessments, dependency management, risk reviews, approval processes, and deployment readiness reviews.
• Define and implement release metrics, dashboards, reporting, and performance measures to ensure operational transparency and continuous improvement.
• Develop and maintain release management artifacts, including intake forms, release plans, deployment checklists, governance documentation, and operating procedures.
• Provide guidance, coaching, and training to project and operational teams on Release Management processes, roles, responsibilities, and best practices.
• Work closely with Change Management, Project Management, Service Management, and technical teams to align release activities with organizational objectives and service delivery requirements.
• Produce executive-level reports, dashboards, presentations, and governance materials to support leadership decision-making.

Required Skills & Certifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in IT Service Management, Release Management, Change Management, Project Delivery, or related disciplines.
• Strong knowledge of ITIL principles and service management best practices, including Release, Change, Incident, Problem, Configuration, and Service Request Management.
• Proven experience establishing or maturing Release Management practices within large, complex public-sector or enterprise organizations.
• Experience developing enterprise-wide governance frameworks, operating models, standards, procedures, and service management processes.
• Strong understanding of technology delivery lifecycles including Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid, DevOps, and operational change practices.
• Experience with enterprise service management and project delivery tools such as ServiceNow, Jira, Azure DevOps, or equivalents.
• Excellent verbal and written communication, facilitation, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Ability to analyze existing processes, identify gaps, and develop practical recommendations for standardization and continuous improvement.

Preferred Skills & Certifications:

• Experience working across multiple business units and technology teams with varying delivery methodologies and governance models.
• Experience facilitating stakeholder workshops, process assessments, and consensus-building activities.
• Experience developing metrics and reporting frameworks to measure release performance, process compliance, and service quality.
• Public sector experience is preferred.

Special Considerations:

• Up to 3 days onsite work required, subject to hiring manager's discretion.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively within cross-functional teams.

Scheduling:

• Standard business hours with potential for flexible scheduling based on project needs.