Assistant Director - IT Release Manager, Digital Delivery Branch

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet; Canberra; On-site; AUD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s Program Governance and Assurance Office (PGAO) delivers governance, assurance, procurement, contract management and workforce planning to enable a complex ICT Modernisation Project.

The IT Release Manager will plan, coordinate and govern technology releases across the agency, ensuring changes are controlled, low‑risk and secure while maintaining service availability and government compliance.

Qualifications

• ITIL 4 Foundations certification, or working knowledge of ITIL practices
• Extensive experience in planning, coordination and communication across technical and non-technical teams
• Experience with enterprise ITSM platforms such as ServiceNow, Cherwell or equivalent
• Experience with Agile or DevOps delivery environments
• Experience working within Australian Government ICT environments
• Understanding of Australian Government security, privacy, records management and information management requirements
• Experience in staff management and leading a high-performing corporate IT team

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the agency's ICT release management process and release calendar, coordinating planning, scheduling, assessment, testing, approval, communication and implementation of releases across multiple technology teams and environments
• Coordinate release readiness and implementation activities, ensuring dependencies, resources, risks, testing evidence, implementation and rollback plans, support arrangements and stakeholder approvals are in place
• Ensure releases comply with agency ICT policies, procedures, security requirements and governance frameworks, maintaining appropriate documentation, records and audit trails
• Monitor, analyse and report on release performance and outcomes, including failed and emergency releases, implementation success rates, recurring issues and lessons learned
• Build and maintain effective working relationships across ICT delivery teams, business stakeholders, project teams and external service providers
• Coordinate the transition of new or significantly changed ICT services into operational support, ensuring readiness, documentation, knowledge transfer, monitoring and acceptance criteria are addressed
• Provide specialist advice and guidance on release management practices
• Drive continuous improvement of release management and ITSM practices via data, lessons learned and stakeholder feedback

Job description

Who We Are

The Program Governance and Assurance Office (PGAO) is a multidisciplinary team that enables the successful delivery of a complex ICT Modernisation Project. Led by the Director, the team provides governance, assurance, procurement, contract management, workforce planning and project coordination services, ensuring the project remains well governed, compliant and positioned to deliver strategic outcomes.

Who We Are

The Program Governance and Assurance Office (PGAO) is a multidisciplinary team that enables the successful delivery of a complex ICT Modernisation Project. Led by the Director, the team provides governance, assurance, procurement, contract management, workforce planning and project coordination services, ensuring the project remains well governed, compliant and positioned to deliver strategic outcomes.

What You Will Do

The IT Release Manager is responsible for planning, coordinating and governing the successful delivery of technology releases across the agency. The role ensures that changes to applications, infrastructure, platforms and ICT services are introduced in a controlled, coordinated and low-risk manner while maintaining the availability, security and integrity of government services.

The position works closely with ICT delivery teams, project managers, business areas, vendors and senior stakeholders to coordinate releases from planning through to implementation and post-release review.

Operating within a multidisciplinary environment comprising APS employees, contractors and consultants, the successful candidate will leverage strong stakeholder engagement, negotiation and relationship management skills to influence outcomes across ICT and business areas. They will build trusted partnerships, foster collaboration across diverse stakeholder groups and navigate competing priorities to support the successful delivery of technology releases in a complex and fast-paced government environment.

The successful candidate will bring extensive release and change management experience, sound judgement, strong communication skills and the ability to operate effectively within a complex Australian Government ICT environment. They will be capable of providing strategic advice, driving continuous improvement and influencing stakeholders at all levels to achieve organisational outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the agency's ICT release management process and release calendar, coordinating the planning, scheduling, assessment, testing, approval, communication and implementation of releases across multiple technology teams and environments.
• Coordinate release readiness and implementation activities, ensuring dependencies, resources, risks, testing evidence, implementation and rollback plans, support arrangements and stakeholder approvals are in place. Facilitate go/no-go decisions and elevate issues and risks as required.
• Ensure releases comply with agency ICT policies, procedures, security requirements and governance frameworks, maintaining appropriate documentation, records and audit trails and supporting internal and external assurance activities.
• Monitor, analyse and report on release performance and outcomes, including failed and emergency releases, implementation success rates, recurring issues and lessons learned, providing insights and management information to relevant ICT governance forums.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships across ICT delivery teams, business stakeholders, project teams and external service providers. Influence outcomes, facilitate release planning activities, resolve scheduling conflicts and communicate release impacts, risks and service interruptions to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Coordinate the transition of new or significantly changed ICT services into operational support, ensuring operational readiness, documentation, knowledge transfer, monitoring, support procedures, training and acceptance criteria are addressed prior to handover to business-as-usual operations.
• Provide specialist advice and guidance on release management practices, supporting project and delivery teams to meet governance, assurance and operational requirements.
• Drive continuous improvement of release management and ITSM practices by leveraging performance data, lessons learned and stakeholder feedback to improve release quality, consistency and predictability, while contributing to process, tooling and automation enhancements across ICT.
• Contribute to ICT governance forums, risk management activities and strategic planning processes, providing advice on release impacts, dependencies, organisational readiness and delivery risks.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement across release, change and service management functions.

What You Will Bring

Our ideal candidate will perform at the Executive Level 1 level in accordance with the PM&C Performance model .

Our ideal candidate will have the following qualifications and experience:

• ITIL 4 Foundations certification, or a working knowledge of ITIL practices,
• Extensive experience in planning, coordination and communication across technical and non-technical teams.
• Experience with enterprise ITSM platforms such as ServiceNow, Cherwell or equivalent.
• Experience with Agile or DevOps delivery environments.
• Experience working within Australian Government ICT environments.
• Understanding of Australian Government security, privacy, records management and information management requirements.
• Experience in staff management and leading a high-performing corporate IT team.

Flexible Work

At PM&C we recognise the broad benefits of offering flexibility in how, when and where work is performed. We consider flexibility first from a starting position of 'how can we make this work?' and consider individual circumstances and operational requirements in making genuine attempts to establish mutually beneficial arrangements. Please reach out to the contact officer if you would like to explore what flexibility might look like for you, such as part time work, variable start and finish times or working from home.

Eligibility

• Under section 22(8) of the Public Service Act 1999 , employees must be Australian citizens to be employed in the APS unless the Agency Head has agreed otherwise, in writing. At PM&C to be eligible for this position you should be an Australian Citizen by the completion of the recruitment process , except under exceptional circumstances.
• The successful candidate must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance, or hold a current security clearance of an appropriate level.
• The successful candidate will be assessed through our pre-employment screening checks, such as an Australian Criminal History Check, and will normally be subject to a six-month probation period if new to the APS or has not yet completed their probation period elsewhere in the APS.

Security Clearance Required

Negative Vetting Level 1 (Secret)