Contractor- Release Manager

Role Description

The Release Manager owns the end-to-end planning, governance, and execution of production releases across a complex, multi-team, multi-vendor utility enterprise environment. This role coordinates Product, Engineering, QA, DevOps, Architecture, Cyber Security, Privacy, AMS/Operations, Service Desk, and Change Management (CAB) to ensure each release meets documented readiness gates, is compliant with required controls, and transitions smoothly into supported operations with structured hypercare and handoff.

Key Responsibilities

• Release planning and governance
• Build and manage an integrated release calendar across products and environments (e.g., Chat bi-monthly; Voice/Telephony scheduled windows).
• Define and drive readiness gates (intake → architecture/security/ops readiness → CAB → Go/No-Go).
• Maintain standardized templates and a release evidence repository (Confluence/SharePoint).
• Documentation, approvals, and audit evidence
• Ensure required artifacts are created, complete, approved, and version-controlled, including:
• RACI
• FMEA
• BUCLE (or equivalent risk/control assessments)
• Cutover plans (pre/deploy/post)
• Release notes and customer impact communications
• Knowledge Articles, runbooks, escalation paths
• Collect and track approvals from required governance bodies (Cyber, Privacy, ARB, CAB, AMS).
• Cutover and deployment execution
• Facilitate cutover plan authoring, peer reviews, and rehearsal where appropriate.
• Run Go/No-Go readiness meetings and deployment bridges/war rooms.
• Ensure post-deployment validation is executed and results documented.
• Ensure rollback plans exist, are executable, and have clear triggers/owners.
• ITSM / Change management
• Create/coordinate change requests for production deployments in the ITSM tool.
• Prepare CAB submissions, ensure required evidence is attached, and secure approvals.
• Ensure service documentation and (where applicable) CMDB/service records are updated.
• Operational readiness and support enablement
• Confirm monitoring, alerting, dashboards, and logging meet operational needs.
• Ensure on-call, escalation, and incident response paths are established and tested.
• Ensure Service Desk enablement: scripts, knowledge articles, and routing are ready.
• Validate access readiness for support and incident response across environments.
• Hypercare, incident triage, and transition to BAU
• Plan and manage hypercare, including triage cadence and reporting.
• Coordinate priority incident/ticket triage meetings and drive resolution ownership.
• Produce stakeholder reports on release health, incidents, trends, and follow-ups.
• Lead release retrospectives and ensure action items are owned and completed.
• Drive final handoff to AMS/support with clear acceptance criteria.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in release management, change management, IT operations, incident/program delivery, or technical delivery leadership in an Enterprise Delivery.
• Strong working knowledge of ITSM change governance (CAB), incident/problem processes, and operational readiness practices.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating cross-functional enterprise releases involving multiple teams and vendors.
• Proven ability to manage detailed cutover plans, readiness gates, risks/waivers, and evidence trails.
• Excellent facilitation and communication skills (Go/No-Go, war rooms, stakeholder reporting).
• Ability to understand technical architectures and ask the right questions about monitoring, rollback, dependencies, and risk.

Requirements

• Experience in regulated industries (utilities, financial services, healthcare) with audit and compliance expectations.
• Experience with contact center / telephony / digital customer platforms and vendor integrations.
• Expertise with cloud operations, CI/CD, environment management, and observability practices.
• Experience coordinating security/privacy reviews and approval evidence for production changes.

Benefits

• Remote & In-Person: Flexible work arrangements with a focus on team connectivity.
• Travel: Up to 25% travel commitment for certain roles.
• Flexibility: Culture of trust allowing for personal commitments during work hours.
• Collaboration: Open communication and feedback encouraged within teams.
• Celebrate Often: Regular team celebrations and fun activities.