Network Release Manager

TechDigital Group; Naperville (IL); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

TechDigital Group is seeking an experienced Network Release Project Manager to lead release planning, validation, rollout tracking, and production deployment for complex data and voice network infrastructure.

The role requires 5–10 years in network release project management, strong communication, and familiarity with Cisco/DNA Center and related tools. PM experience with ITIL processes is advantageous, and a PMP/PMI credential is preferred.

Qualifications

• University degree/college diploma or equivalent.
• 5-10 years of demonstrated Network Release Project Management experience delivering fault tolerant data and voice network infrastructure solutions.
• PM Certification is desired (but not required).
• Superior verbal and written communication skills are required.

Responsibilities

• Create release plans, test checklists or pre/post validation; rollout trackers/schedules; coordinate contents of the release package.
• Create roll-back and recovery plans.
• Evaluate and communicate impact to service levels due to release.
• Manage & Coordinate promotion/release into production.
• Track release progress and communicate success or rollback reasons.
• Coordinate go/no-go release decisions.

Skills

Network release management

Vendor coordination

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Cisco IOS

DNA Center

ServiceNow CHG MGT

Microsoft Project

Visio

SharePoint

Office 365

Job description

Key Activities:

• Create release plans, test checklists or pre /post validation (Network and business applications), rollout trackers/schedules, coordinate contents of the release package
• Create roll-back and recovery plans
• Create release packages and prepare for deployment
• Evaluate and communicate any expected impact to service levels due to release
• Manage & Coordinate promotion/release into production
• Communicate release progress through success (or reasons for rollback)
• Evaluate release management performance based on established criteria (e.g., elapsed time, level of automation, percentage of successful on-time releases, etc.)
• Manage & Coordinate 'go/no-go' release decision making
• Facilitate, request to raise, and record change requests; and submit standard intake for PM, Info Sec., partners; business testers, and/or additional resources when appropriate.
• Manage/Coordinate/Facilitate Network team members, 3rd party vendors for releases, and business testers (when no PM)
• Manage/Coordinate to the Project Assessment, network design, timelines, the budget, quotes execution, and change order requests
• Participation in the development of Project Plan in respect to Network solution delivery (with PMO when appropriate)
• Track NS financials through the life cycle of the project

Qualifications

• University degree/college diploma or equivalent
• Key products and services, processes and controls for the designated business
• 5 -10 years of demonstrated Network Release Project Management experience delivering fault tolerant data and voice network infrastructure solutions – Hardware, Software, Services, and Support.
• Project Management Professional Certification is desired (but not required).
• Superior verbal and written communication skills are required.

Working Knowledge, Skills, Experience – an understanding of the following is required:

• Cisco routers, Cisco switches, DNA Center, Cisco ICE /Aruba Clearpass, F5 Load Balancers, BT DNS/DHCP, Ixia (Anue), Ivanti (Pulse Secure VPN), Broadcom (BlueCoat) Proxy, Aruba Controllers CAPs, IAPs / WiFi, Checkpoint and Juniper Firewalls;
• Upgrading code and/or configuring 2960, 3650, 3750, 3800, 3900, 4500, C9300s, C9500s, C9600s, 5Ks, 77Ks, N9Ks, or similar model switches.
• Upgrading code and/or configuring 1800, 2800, 3800, and ASR1000, ASR1002 or similar model routers.
• Upgrading Checkpoint FWs, Junos OS code and/or configuring SRX 345, 650, 1400/1500, or current models
• Knowledge familiarity with BGP, OSPF, RIP, EIGRP, L3-7 switching, HSRP, VoIP and Multicast
• Carrier / Telco WAN technologies / MPLS, AVPN, SD-WAN, VPN, Broadband, 5G/LTE, Point-to-Point, SONET, OC3, DS3, T1, PRI, POTS (experience is required)
• Understanding of Network Tools (SPACE, STRM, Tufin, Lotus Notes (WorkTrack), ServiceNow CHG MGT, etc.) and
• ITIL standards as they relate to incident/problem/change management concepts are desired.
• Weekly timesheet/progress reports, project portfolio updates, and timely escalations on project obstacles to management
• Must have good working knowledge of Office (Word/Excel/PowerPoint), Microsoft Project, Visio, Outlook, SharePoint, Office 365, Skype for Business, and Network Tools.