Cloud Release Manager

Responsibilities

Job Description:

What will you contribute?

Reporting to the [VP Cloud IT and Operations], the [Cloud Release Manager] will act as a senior member of the team accountable and responsible for defining, implementing and managing a release management and governance process for Core Applications in IT Enterprise, which work in harmony with the existing Salesforce and Mulesoft applications and processes.

Overview:

You will be responsible for planning, coordinating, and executing the release of software applications across different environments and platforms. You will work closely with the development, testing, and BAU support teams to ensure that the release process is smooth, efficient, and compliant with the quality standards and best practices. You will also monitor and report on the release performance and outcomes and provide feedback and recommendations for improvement.

• Develop a schedule of releases for Core applications that include vendor managed automatic patches and upgrades as well as Finastra scheduled sprint updates. These need to be inline with connected applications such as Salesforce and ServiceNow.
• Manage the releases using appropriate tooling such as release planning software like AHA! or Jira or Kanban Boards.
• Define and implement a cadence of review with all impacted teams who schedule and produce releases. The purpose of which is to review content, dates of release, alignment of release content and release dates. Audit trails of review and sign off should be kept. Post release reviews should be conducted to work to a continuous cycle of lessons learned and improvements.
• Define and implement a roadmap of releases/features that is externally publishable in advance to stakeholders via the team intranet page(s) and communicate via Insights when achieved denoting benefits and savings, or the "so what".
• Define and implement the playbook for release management and governance ensuring quality/fiscal compliance standards are adhered to

• Develop and implement Release Management strategy for Core banking solutions, including cadence, versioning, and scheduling - ensuring alignment with new regulatory requirements.
• Define and maintain the release strategy, roadmap, and schedule for the software applications in scope.
• Collaborate with the stakeholders and project managers to align the release deliverables and dependencies with the business objectives and priorities.
• Manage the release lifecycle, from planning and preparation to deployment and validation, across different environments and platforms.
• Coordinate the release activities and resources, such as code merges, builds, tests, deployments, configurations, and approvals, using appropriate tools and methodologies.
• Ensure that the release quality and compliance requirements are met, such as code reviews, testing coverage, security checks, documentation, and audits.
• Communicate the release status, progress, issues, and risks to the relevant parties, and escalate any problems or conflicts that may affect the release scope, schedule, or quality.
• Analyze the release metrics and feedback and identify and implement the lessons learned and best practices for continuous improvement.
• Provide support and guidance to the release team and other stakeholders and foster a culture of collaboration and excellence.
• Establish Release Management policies and standards to ensure successful deployments. Define pre-release testing requirements and sign-off governance to maintain high-quality releases.
• Maintain understanding of complexity of environments and instances (50+ instances across cloud environments)
• Plan, schedule and sequence releases and change requests balancing regulatory requirements, major releases, updates, and patches.
• Implement approaches to minimize customer impact and downtime during releases, ensuring a seamless customer experience.
• Provide training and guidance to teams and support the creation of comprehensive release notes and documentation to support each major release.
• Plan and supervise annual technology stack upgrades to ensure the system remains current and secure.
• Plan and supervise automation tools and techniques to enhance the efficiency and reliability of the release process

• People/Team management across local and global geographies/timezones
• Basic project / program management skills
• Business or functional knowledge from stakeholder communities
• Knowledge of tools like Service Now, JIRA, Aha and other Project management tools
• Service Desk, Ticket management applications
• Software release management and governance methodologies
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities simultaneously.
• Experience working with clients in a consulting or professional services environment is a plus.
• Language skills and ability to handle global teams

• Strong attention to detail for data hygiene and analysis purposes. Reviews & interprets data to inform
• Strong interpersonal skills to support effective team-work and drive results.