Job description
About the Role
We are seeking an experienced Release Manager to oversee and manage the end‑to‑end release lifecycle across multiple applications and environments. The role involves planning, coordinating, tracking, and executing software releases while ensuring high-quality delivery, minimal downtime, and strong alignment with development, QA, security, and infrastructure teams.
You will work with cross-functional teams to implement release governance, improve deployment processes, and ensure smooth continuous integration and delivery in Azure DevOps.
Key Responsibilities
Release Planning & Coordination Own and manage the full release lifecycle—from planning to deployment and post-release validation. Create and maintain release plans, schedules, calendars, and documentation. Coordinate with development, QA, operations, product owners, and stakeholders to ensure release readiness. Identify release dependencies, risks, and blockers; drive resolution across teams.
Azure DevOps CI/CD Management Manage and optimize Azure DevOps pipelines (YAML / Classic) for build, release, and deployment. Implement and maintain automated deployment workflows for multi-environment setups (Dev, QA, UAT, Pre‑Prod, Prod). Ensure best practices in CI/CD, version control (Git), environment branching strategies, and infrastructure‑as‑code (IaC).
Deployment Execution Oversee and execute deployments across cloud and on‑prem environments. Ensure compliance with change management processes (CAB approvals, rollback plans, validation checks). Perform release validation, smoke testing, and post-deployment verifications. Governance & Process Improvement Establish release governance, checklists, templates, and communication processes.
Drive continuous improvement in release automation, environment stability, and deployment frequency. Monitor release KPIs and report insights (deployment success rate, change failure rate, MTTR, etc.) Stakeholder Communication Provide timely communication on release status, issues, timelines, and post-release summaries.
Facilitate release planning meetings, go/no‑go meetings, and retrospectives. Serve as the point of contact for all release-related queries.
Requirements
Required Skills & Qualifications 6–10 years of experience in Release Management, DevOps, or Build & Deployment roles. Strong hands-on experience with Azure DevOps pipelines, Releases, Boards, and Repos. Expertise in CI/CD automation and managing multi-stage pipelines. Strong understanding of: Git branching and versioning strategies YAML pipeline configuration Deployment automation Azure Cloud Services (App Services, Functions, AKS, Storage, etc.)
Experience working with Agile/Scrum teams. Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting skills. Excellent communication, coordination, and stakeholder management capability.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with IaC (ARM, Terraform, Bicep). Knowledge of containerization & orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes, AKS). Experience supporting .NET, Java, Node.js, or similar technology stacks. Familiarity with monitoring tools (App Insights, Grafana, Splunk). ITIL, Azure DevOps, or Azure Cloud certifications.