- Company Name
- COGNIZANT
- Job Title
- Release Manager
- Job Description
-
**Job Title:** Release Manager
**Role Summary:**
Coordinate end‑to‑end release planning and execution to deliver reliable IT services. Drive integration of release practices across agile, waterfall and hybrid delivery models, ensuring scalability, security, and operational efficiency. Serve as a technical owner, broker consensus, and champion continuous improvement.
**Expactations:**
- Own the full release life cycle, from planning and scheduling to deployment and post‑release validation.
- Translate technical insights into actionable recommendations for efficiency, reliability, and security.
- Lead risk identification, escalation, and mitigation to protect organizational interests.
- Provide clear, accurate communication and reporting to stakeholders and senior leadership.
**Key Responsibilities:**
- Develop and maintain detailed release plans, schedules, and runbooks.
- Integrate release management practices within delivery workflows, ensuring repeatable, robust processes.
- Monitor and track all updates and changes using ITSM tools; generate reports, recommendations, and actionable insights.
- Engage with cross‑functional teams to manage dependencies, resolve conflicts, and achieve consensus on release decisions.
- Deliver subject‑matter expertise on release and deployment, advising on remediation and collision avoidance strategies.
- Identify control and communication failures; lead post‑mortem reviews and preventive actions.
- Report on release metrics, organizational trends, and opportunities for improvement to senior leadership.
- Maintain and refine infrastructure for release tracking, validation, and reporting.
**Required Skills:**
- Proven experience in release management, including end‑to‑end planning and execution.
- Strong command of ITSM platforms (ServiceNow, JIRA, Confluence).
- Familiarity with Agile, Waterfall, and hybrid delivery models.
- Understanding of DevOps principles and continuous delivery pipelines.
- Excellent stakeholder management, negotiation, and consensus building.
- Risk assessment, dependency mapping, and escalation management.
- Effective written and verbal communication skills.
- Analytical mindset to translate technical data into actionable insights.
**Required Education & Certifications:**
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field.
- Professional certifications preferred: ITIL v4 Foundation, PMP, Scrum Master (CSM/PSM) or equivalent.