Release Manager, Consulting

Cognizant; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 75,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

A global technology consultancy is seeking a Release Manager in Riyadh to oversee the end-to-end release process. The role involves coordinating with teams and vendors, ensuring quality standards, and identifying risks. A Bachelor's degree in a related field and experience with SDLC are essential. Familiarity with Jira and SAP systems is preferred. This position offers a chance to drive continuous improvement in release processes.

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of the software development lifecycle (SDLC) required.
• Experience with enterprise applications and system integrations desired.
• Scrum Master certification is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Manage the end-to-end release process from planning through deployment.
• Coordinate release plans with project teams and vendors.
• Identify potential risks associated with releases and develop mitigation plans.

Skills

Release management

Change management

Risk assessment

Collaboration with team

Continuous improvement

Education

Bachelor's degree in software engineering, IT, or related field

Tools

Jira

SAP systems

Job description

Responsibilities

• Manage the end-to-end release process from planning through deployment.
• Coordinate release plans with project teams, system owners, business units, and vendors.
• Ensure successful execution of release activities including pre-release reviews, go/no-go decisions, and post-release validation.
• Identify potential risks associated with releases and develop mitigation plans.
• Oversee deployment activities, including staging, testing, production rollout, and rollback plans when required.
• Act as the primary point of contact for release-related communications.
• Facilitate release meetings and communicate release status, risks, and impacts to stakeholders.
• Coordinate with internal teams (IT operations, cybersecurity, vendors, business units) for smooth delivery of releases.
• Ensure releases meet quality standards and business requirements before deployment.
• Monitor the performance of release activities across the full release lifecycle (planning, development, testing, deployment).
• Conduct post-release reviews and implement lessons learned to improve future release processes.
• Develop and improve release policies, processes, and templates; continuously refine release policies, processes, templates, and automation tools to increase efficiency and reduce manual effort.
• Define, measure, and report key performance indicators (KPIs) for the release process, including but not limited to: number of releases per period, release success and failure rates, average lead time per release phase, percentage of delayed releases and reasons, rollback frequency and causes, and post-release incidents.
• Analyze release performance data to identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement across release phases.
• Drive continuous improvement by implementing corrective actions and process enhancements based on KPI results and feedback.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in software engineering, information technology, or a related field is required.
• Strong understanding of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), change management, and release processes.
• Experience with SAP systems, enterprise applications, and system integrations.
• Familiarity with release/change management systems such as Jira.
• Scrum Master certification is a plus.

Job ID 46365