Warning
This job advert has expired and applications have closed.
Head of Release Management
| Posting date: | 19 September 2024 |
|---|---|
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 19 October 2024 |
| Location: | Liverpool, L3 1DG |
| Company: | System C |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | REQ651 |
Summary
Description
The Head of Release Engineering oversees the entire release management function across the System C group, including leading a team of release train engineers.
This role focuses on managing the end-to-end release process, from development through to production, ensuring that releases are delivered on time, meet quality standards, and align with business goals.
The Head of Release plays a critical role in optimising processes, managing risks, and ensuring cross-functional alignment across product, engineering, and operations teams.
Key Responsibilities
Release Planning & Coordination
- Own the release management lifecycle, including scheduling, coordinating, and managing releases across multiple applications and projects.
- Collaborate with Product Management, Development, QA, and Operations teams to ensure releases are planned and delivered according to business priorities.
- Manage release schedules, ensuring dependencies are identified, risks are mitigated, and deliverables are aligned with business timelines.
- Coordinate pre- and post-release activities, ensuring all teams are prepared for go-live and that rollbacks or hotfixes are handled efficiently if needed.
Process Improvement & Governance
- Develop and maintain efficient release management processes, ensuring they are consistently followed across all R&D teams.
- Promote, implement and improve best practices for release automation, continuous integration, and continuous delivery pipelines.
- Ensure proper governance around release approvals, gatekeeping, and post-release reviews, ensuring lessons learned are applied to future releases.
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives to optimise release frequency and reduce risks associated with deployments.
Risk & Issue Management
- Identify, track, and manage risks related to release readiness, including potential delays, quality issues, or operational bottlenecks.
- Collaborate with stakeholders to proactively resolve conflicts in priorities, resources, or technical challenges that could impact release success.
- Ensure release-related issues are escalated and managed promptly, with clear communication to all stakeholders.
Cross-Functional Alignment & Communication
- Act as the primary point of contact for all release-related activities, providing regular updates on release status, risks, and mitigation strategies.
- Work closely with cross-functional teams (Product, Engineering, QA, Operations) to ensure alignment on release goals, timelines, and responsibilities.
- Ensure stakeholders are informed of release impacts, and that release schedules are communicated clearly across the organisation.
- Foster collaboration and coordination between teams to streamline release processes and resolve conflicts.
Education & Experience Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, Engineering, IT, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience in release or engineering management.
- Extensive experience in release management, with a strong understanding of software development lifecycle (SDLC) and Agile methodologies, such as SAFe, Kanban and Lean.
- Experience managing complex, multi-platform release processes in a fast-paced, high-availability environment.
- Strong organisational and leadership skills, with the ability to coordinate multiple teams and manage competing priorities.
- Proficient in release automation tools and CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab, etc.).
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence cross-functional teams and manage expectations.
- Strong problem-solving abilities and decision-making skills, with experience managing risks and resolving conflicts in a dynamic environment.