Release Manager (12 Month MTC) at CHALLENGER

CHALLENGER; Sydney; On-site; AUD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work environment

Job summary

Challenger in Sydney, NSW, AU, seeks an experienced Release Manager to lead end-to-end release activities for the CTU transformation program. This 12-month MTC role is on-site and sits at the core of release governance, planning and production readiness.

You'll own the integrated release roadmap, coordinate planning across business and technology teams, and manage risks to ensure smooth deployments into production environments.

Qualifications

• Proven experience within a financial services environment.
• Experience supporting large transformation programs.
• Strong release planning and governance experience.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the integrated release roadmap across multiple program workstreams
• Coordinate release planning, sequencing, dependency management and scheduling across business and technology teams
• Establish and manage governance processes, including release readiness reviews, go/no-go assessments and release approvals
• Partner with Project Managers, Technical Delivery Leads, Test Managers, Business Change Leads, Business Owners, Product Owners, Delivery Leaders and technology teams to coordinate integrated program releases
• Identify and manage release risks, issues, dependencies, environment constraints and deployment conflicts that could impact release outcomes
• Coordinate technical, operational and business readiness activities, including cutover planning, deployment, rollback planning and transition into production
• Facilitate release governance forums and provide clear release status, risks and recommendations to program leadership
• Oversee production verification, post-release stabilisation and continuous improvement in release management practices, governance and delivery processes

Skills

Release management

Governance

Agile delivery

Stakeholder management

Multi-vendor coordination

Job description

Apply for Release Manager (12 Month MTC) at CHALLENGER in Sydney, NSW, AU

This Full time on site position offers great opportunities for career growth.

Challenger Limited is an ASX-listed investment management firm managing $128 billion in assets (as at 31 March 2026).

Life with us is fast moving and always exciting. Together we’re driving to deliver our vision to provide our customers with financial security for a better retirement. We achieve this goal by providing a work environment where people from diverse backgrounds, with a range of skills and experiences can contribute and succeed.

Release Manager - CTU Transformation Program - 12 Month MTC Challenger is delivering a significant transformation program that will introduce new customer, partner and operational capabilities across the business. With multiple workstreams converging into integrated releases, we're looking for a Release Manager who can bring structure to complexity and ensure change is delivered successfully into production and the business.

Working across technology delivery teams, business stakeholders, operational support teams and external delivery partners, you'll own the end-to-end release lifecycle for the CTU program. You’ll ensure integrated releases are planned, governed, coordinated and deployed successfully, balancing delivery objectives with operational stability and risk management.

About the role

As Release Manager, you'll sit at the centre of a series of interconnected releases, bringing together the people, plans and dependencies required to deliver change successfully. This role sits at the intersection of program delivery, technology and operational readiness. Success will come from your ability to manage complex delivery dependencies, uphold release governance and ensure changes are deployed safely and effectively into production environments. Your initial focus will be establishing and managing the release roadmap, coordinating upcoming program releases and helping shape the approach as the program evolves towards a more agile delivery model.

The Release Manager works closely with Project Managers, Technical Delivery Leads, Test Managers, Environment Managers, Business Change Leads and Delivery Partners to coordinate integrated releases across the CTU program.

What you'll be doing

• Own and maintain the integrated release roadmap across multiple program workstreams
• Coordinate release planning, sequencing, dependency management and scheduling across business and technology teams
• Establish and manage governance processes, including release readiness reviews, go/no-go assessments and release approvals
• Partner with Project Managers, Technical Delivery Leads, Test Managers, Business Change Leads, Business Owners, Product Owners, Delivery Leaders and technology teams to coordinate integrated program releases
• Identify and manage release risks, issues, dependencies, environment constraints and deployment conflicts that could impact release outcomes
• Coordinate technical, operational and business readiness activities, including cutover planning, deployment, rollback planning and transition into production
• Facilitate release governance forums and provide clear release status, risks and recommendations to program leadership
• Oversee production verification, post-release stabilisation and continuous improvement in release management practices, governance and delivery processes

What we're looking for

• You’ll be a highly organised Release Manager who enjoys bringing order to complexity and keeping multiple moving parts moving in the same direction.
• You’re comfortable operating across business, operational and technology stakeholders, know how to build alignment across diverse groups and can balance competing priorities without losing sight of the bigger picture.
• Proven experience within a financial services environment, ideally across wealth management, superannuation, insurance or banking
• Experience supporting large transformation, platform or change programs
• Strong release planning, governance, deployment coordination, dependency management and implementation readiness experience within large-scale transformation programs
• Exposure to Agile delivery environments and planning frameworks, including PI planning
• Experience managing enterprise releases spanning multiple applications, teams and delivery partners
• Experience coordinating production deployments, cutover activities and post-release stabilisation
• Understanding of environment management, release controls and operational risk management
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to influence, challenge and coordinate across a broad stakeholder landscape
• Experience working within multi-vendor or delivery partner environments, with the ability to coordinate across organisational boundaries
• A collaborative and pragmatic approach, with the ability to roll up your sleeves when required

Why Challenger?

This is an opportunity to join a major transformation program at a critical stage of delivery. You'll play a central role in shaping how releases are planned, coordinated and executed, working across business, operations and technology teams to ensure new capabilities are implemented successfully and deliver the intended outcomes. If you enjoy connecting the dots, creating structure and helping complex change land successfully, we'd love to hear from you.

At Challenger, we provide access to a range of exclusive employee benefits that will support you both personally and professionally and a hybrid work environment.

#LI-Challenger #LI-KM1 #LI-Hybrid

Challenger's employee value proposition guides how we work:

Grow and realise your potential, supporting each other, stronger together and making things happen. Our culture encourages curiosity, considered thinking and meaningful contribution, with opportunities to build a broad and rewarding career. We are committed to fostering a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace where people of all backgrounds, identities and ways of thinking can thrive, and promoting flexible working to support work-life balance. Challenger is proud to be a Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) Employer of Choice for Gender Equality, a Family Friendly Workplace and recognised as a Bronze Employer in the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI), the national benchmark for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion.

Job type: Max Term (Fixed Term)Posting Close Date : 04/10/2026

About Us

Life at Challenger is fast moving and always exciting. Together we’re driving to deliver our vision to provide our customers with financial security for retirement. Our people bring their diverse backgrounds and perspectives to a workplace which is inclusive, flexible, and driven by our values – act with integrity, aim high, collaborate and think customer. Our environment is one where our passionate teams can thrive. Our people quickly discover that a role at Challenger is much more than just a job. Our working environment is unique and encourages our employees to share their ideas and feel empowered to tackle new opportunities.