Release Manager

NZ Ministry of Justice; Wellington; On-site; NZD 119,000 - 163,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

4 weeks holiday leave

Flexible work hours

Inclusive networks

Job summary

NZ Ministry of Justice – Wellington Central, North Island is seeking a senior Release Manager on a fixed-term full-time basis until 31 August 2029. You will own release strategy, governance and delivery for complex technology programs impacting the courts and public.

This role requires 5+ years in release management, accountability for high‑risk deployments, and the ability to lead cross‑functional teams, vendors and environments while maintaining service stability.

Qualifications

• 5+ years' experience leading release management in large, complex technology environments.
• Accountability for high-risk releases with confidence making decisions under delivery pressure.
• Ownership of release and environment management across programmes including scheduling, dependency management, and readiness assurance.
• Strong experience designing, embedding, and enforcing release governance, standards, and quality controls across multiple teams and vendors.
• Advanced knowledge of release and deployment methodologies, including automated pipelines, auditability, and tested rollback strategies.
• Hands-on experience with release tooling and pipelines (e.g. Azure DevOps) and non-production/production environment management.
• Proven ability to influence, coach, and mentor others, building capability and bringing people together to achieve outcomes.
• Strong analytical capability, using data and insights to identify trends, risks, and opportunities and inform system-level decision making.
• ITIL qualification, with practical application across change, release, and environment governance.
• PRINCE2 or Agile qualification, with strong working knowledge of Agile delivery frameworks in complex delivery environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead release strategy, governance, and delivery for complex technology programs.
• Plan and lead high-risk releases that impact courts, judiciary, and the public.
• Set standards, manage go/no-go decisions, and ensure readiness across teams, vendors, and environments.
• Shape how releases are done, lift capability across the organisation, and protect service stability while enabling progress.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure robust governance, traceability, and quality controls.

Skills

Release management leadership

Decision making under pressure

Cross-team collaboration

Data-driven decision making

Education

ITIL qualification

PRINCE2 or Agile qualification

Tools

Azure DevOps

Release tooling

Job description

Jora New Zealand will close on 9th September 2026. Thank you for being with us, we are cheering you on as you continue your career journey.

NZ Ministry of Justice – Wellington Central, North Island

As Release Manager in this Fixed Term Full Time role until 31 August 2029, you'll be the authority that turns complex digital change into safe, confident go-lives. You'll own release strategy, governance, and delivery — planning and leading high-risk releases that matter to the courts, the judiciary, and the public.

This is a senior, influential role where you set standards, manage go/no-go decisions, resolve competing priorities, and ensure readiness across teams, vendors, and environments. You'll shape how releases are done, lift capability across the organisation, and be trusted to protect service stability while enabling progress.

If you thrive in complexity, like having real accountability, and want to be known as the person who makes change land safely — this is your role.

No candidate will meet every single desired qualification. If your experience looks a little different from what we have outlined and believe you can bring value to the role, we'd love to hear from you!

To be successful in this role you will have:

• 5+ years' experience leading release management in large, complex technology environments, ideally within the public sector or other regulated settings.
• Proven accountability for high-risk, high-impact releases, with confidence making decisions under delivery pressure.
• Demonstrated ownership of release and environment management across programmes, including scheduling, dependency management, and readiness assurance.
• Strong experience designing, embedding, and enforcing release governance, standards, and quality controls across multiple teams and vendors.
• Advanced knowledge of release and deployment methodologies, including automated pipelines, auditability, and tested rollback strategies.
• Hands-on experience with release tooling and pipelines (e.g. Azure DevOps) and non-production/production environment management.
• Proven ability to influence, coach, and mentor others, building capability and bringing people together to achieve outcomes.
• Strong analytical capability, using data and insights to identify trends, risks, and opportunities and inform system-level decision making.
• Relevant IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) qualification, with practical application across change, release, and environment governance.
• Relevant PRINCE2 or Agile qualification, with strong working knowledge of Agile delivery frameworks in complex delivery environments.

At Te Tāhū o te Ture - the Ministry of Justice, we're committed to strengthening people's trust in the law of Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Te Au Reka represents the opportunity of a lifetime, making a profound difference to those who work in and interact with our courts and tribunals. We are seeking to modernise the administration of justice by replacing highly manual, time-consuming, paper-based process with a new digital case management solution, transforming the way people access and experience justice in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Te Au Reka is a large, complex and unique programme spanning the courts and tribunals of New Zealand. In delivering Te Au Reka we are seeking to build the Ministry's capability to deliver complex programmes of change. Working on Te Au Reka will give you the opportunity to use your knowledge and experience, while developing new ways of working. We are building a team that is highly collaborative, inquisitive and adaptable. Te Au Reka is a game-changer, and we care deeply about making it a success.

Joining Te Tāhū o te Ture means you will become part of an organisation that welcomes and supports people of all gender identities, ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations, disabilities and religions.

We offer you a range of benefitstosupport your wellbeing and help make the Ministry a great place to be.These include:

• 4 weeks holiday leave
• flexible work hours where possible
• access to a variety of inclusive and proactive networks

See our full range of benefitshere.

With a wide range of jobs, you also get the chance to gain a variety of skills and experience while developing your career.

The remuneration band for this role is$118,904 - $163,344. The appointing salary for this role will be between$118,904-$140,134based on skills and experience.

Applications close on03 September 2026;however,we will be reviewing CVs as they come in and inviting successful candidates to interview before the close date.

If you have any questions, please contact***********@justice.govt.nz