Release Manager

**Release Manager** Status**: Full Time

**Hours**: Monday - Friday, 35 hours/week

**Home Campus**: Fennell (hybrid work arrangements available)

**Rate of Pay**: Payband 10 ($87,239 - $109,049 per year)

**Posting Date**: May 20th, 2025

**Closing Date**: June 2nd, 2025 at 7:00 pm EST

We believe the rich diversity among our students and the communities we serve should be reflected within our workforce. As educators, we believe it is important to act and show leadership in advancing the principles of reconciliation, equity, diversity, and inclusion in our community.

**Job Summary**

Reporting to the Manager, IT Portfolio Management, the incumbent serves as the Release Manager who will be responsible for leading release activities, maintaining the health of test environments, designing and implementing a release calendar, and will partner closely with the business to provide IT support for business critical BAU (Business as Usual) processes.

The Release Manager forges strong partnerships with business leads, providing IT support for business-critical processes. By engaging and aligning technical resources with business timelines, they drive successful outcomes. Their strategic coordination of IT outage notices and commitment to the Change Management framework ensures the stability and reliability of our systems. Throughout deployments, their clear communication keeps relevant stakeholders updated and aligned.

The Release Manager takes ownership of the entire test environment framework, driving the review and coordination of environment requests to ensure seamless integration. They manage the submission and handling of Request for Changes (RFCs), while maintaining up-to-date reference documentation to ensure a smooth process.

Additionally, the incumbent will be responsible for creating and maintaining a comprehensive release calendar, ensuring that all releases are planned and scheduled effectively to avoid conflicts and ensure timely delivery.

**What you’ll be doing**:
**Leading IT Releases, Upgrades, and Deployments**
- Liaises with vendor(s) to determine upgrades/patches required and on what timelines.
- Engages with technical resources as required.
- Coordinates end user testing.
- Ensures test environments are ready as per the schedule.
- Coordinates IT outage notices.
- Submits Change Requests and adheres to Mohawk's Change Management framework.
- Communicates progress during deployments.
- Manage the entire release process/lifecycle from planning through deployment, ensuring each stage is well-executed and meets quality standards.
- Ensure that proper version control and documentation are maintained throughout the release lifecycle.
- Design and implement deployment strategies, including rollouts, patches, and system upgrades, to minimize disruptions and downtime.
- Implement failover and rollback procedures to ensure quick recovery in case of deployment failure.
- Serve as the primary point of contact between development, QA, business, and operations teams during the release process.
- Verify that all prerequisites (e.g., system configurations, software dependencies, security updates) are completed prior to release.
- Maintain comprehensive release documentation, including release notes, deployment instructions, and post-release validation reports.
- Document any issues encountered during the release process, along with their resolutions, for future reference.
- Conduct post-release monitoring and validation to confirm the successful deployment of upgrades or new software releases.
- Track and resolve any issues that arise during or after the deployment process, ensuring mínimal impact on users.
- Continuously review and optimize release processes and tools, implementing best practices for more efficient and reliable deployments.
- Gather feedback from stakeholders post-release to identify areas for process improvement and address recurring challenges.
- Identify, assess, and mitigate risks associated with releases, such as potential conflicts with existing systems or critical downtimes.
- Implement risk management strategies, such as staggered releases, staging environments, and backup systems.
- Ensure releases comply with internal and external standards, security requirements, and regulatory frameworks.
- Track key performance indicators (KPIs) related to release success (e.g., deployment success rate, number of incidents post-deployment).
- Prepare and present release metrics and performance reports to senior management and other stakeholders.

**Supporting Business-Driven Processes**
- Translate business requirements and objectives into actionable release plans that address both technical and business needs.
- Plan releases in a way that minimizes disruption to critical business processes, ensuring that essential business operations continue without interruption during deployment.
- Prioritize releases based on business impact, ensuring the most critical updates and fixes are delivered fir