Director, Technology Delivery and Release Management

Pacific Life • Newport Beach, NC

1d • Onsite

About The Position

The Director, Technology Delivery & Release Management is a leadership role within the Workforce Benefits Technology organization, accountable for delivery excellence, release governance, execution predictability, and operational readiness across the division’s technology portfolio. The role leads the evolution of delivery and release management capabilities and promotes quality, reliability, transparency, and alignment across product, platform, infrastructure, and vendor teams. It partners with technology leadership, product management, business stakeholders, enterprise platform teams, and strategic vendors to deliver business value while minimizing execution and operational risk. The position requires strong organizational leadership and the ability to influence outcomes in a highly matrixed environment. It is on-site four days per week in Newport Beach, California; Charlotte, North Carolina; or Omaha, Nebraska.

The Director leads and develops delivery managers and release managers, establishes delivery priorities with technology and business leadership, and serves as a trusted advisor on delivery strategy, operational readiness, and release governance. The role owns delivery governance and execution assurance across product, platform, data, and integration teams, including cross-functional planning, milestone and dependency monitoring, risk management, executive reviews, and escalation management.

The Director owns the division’s release management operating model, governance framework, and release calendar. Responsibilities include release planning, readiness reviews, go-live governance, post-release assessments, release quality gates, deployment standards, rollback procedures, production readiness, and operational support preparedness. The role coordinates releases across applications, platforms, and vendors, and maintains executive visibility into readiness, deployment risk, and operational impacts.

The position partners with Product Management and Technology Leadership on roadmaps, planning, prioritization, delivery capacity, and alignment of release schedules with business priorities, regulatory deadlines, and enterprise initiatives. It leads vendor and enterprise partnership governance, defines portfolio-level delivery and operational metrics, develops executive reporting, and works across business and technology functions to improve accountability, transparency, and execution outcomes.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience leading technology delivery, program management, PMO, or release management functions.
• 5+ years of leadership experience managing managers, delivery organizations, or enterprise-scale programs.
• Proven success leading complex technology portfolios within a matrixed organizational structure.
• Deep experience establishing delivery governance and release management frameworks.
• Demonstrated success managing strategic initiatives involving multiple products, platforms, and external partners.
• Strong executive communication and stakeholder management skills.

Nice To Haves

• Experience within insurance, financial services, or other highly regulated industries.
• Experience supporting Agile Product Operating Models.
• Experience with enterprise SaaS platforms and third-party delivery organizations.
• Experience managing enterprise release trains and complex dependency management processes.
• PMP, SAFe, ITIL, Agile, or related leadership certifications.
• Demonstrated ability to apply AI-enabled tools and automation solutions to improve technology delivery, release management processes, performance reporting, and operational efficiency.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a high-performing team of delivery managers and release managers.
• Establish a culture of accountability, execution excellence, operational discipline, and continuous improvement.
• Coach and mentor portfolio leaders to strengthen delivery capabilities and execution maturity.
• Partner with technology and business leadership to establish delivery priorities aligned with strategic objectives.
• Advise on delivery strategy, operational readiness, and release governance.
• Own delivery governance and execution assurance across product, platform, data, and integration teams.
• Establish delivery management processes that enable predictable outcomes while maintaining agility.
• Drive cross-functional planning and coordination for strategic initiatives.
• Monitor portfolio milestones, dependencies, and execution risks.
• Ensure initiatives are delivered on time, within scope, and aligned with agreed business outcomes.
• Facilitate executive delivery reviews and escalation management.
• Own the division’s release management operating model, governance framework, and release calendar.
• Lead release planning, readiness reviews, go-live governance, and post-release assessments.
• Coordinate releases across applications, platforms, and vendor partners.
• Establish release quality gates, deployment standards, rollback procedures, and risk management practices.
• Drive production readiness reviews and operational support preparedness before releases.
• Maintain executive visibility into release readiness, deployment risk, and operational impacts.
• Improve deployment quality, efficiency, and predictability.
• Partner with Product Management and Technology Leadership to establish and maintain delivery roadmaps.
• Align release schedules with business priorities, regulatory deadlines, and enterprise initiatives.
• Support annual planning, quarterly planning, and execution prioritization.
• Evaluate delivery capacity, execution constraints, and portfolio dependency risks.
• Coordinate execution of initiatives across enterprise technology organizations and vendor teams.
• Partner with strategic vendors and enterprise platform teams to achieve delivery commitments.
• Lead governance activities related to external delivery organizations and release dependencies.
• Facilitate issue resolution and escalation management across vendors and enterprise stakeholders.
• Influence vendor delivery practices, release schedules, and resource allocation to support business objectives.
• Define and maintain portfolio-level delivery, release, quality, and operational metrics.
• Develop executive-ready dashboards and reporting on delivery health and release performance.
• Provide actionable insights for data-driven decisions and proactive risk mitigation.
• Establish governance forums that improve accountability and execution transparency.
• Track trends and identify systemic issues requiring organizational attention.
• Partner with Product, Architecture, Infrastructure, Security, Finance, Procurement, Risk Management, and Enterprise Technology teams.
• Lead through influence across stakeholder groups and organizational boundaries.
• Support alignment between business priorities and technology execution strategies, including during organizational change, complex transformations, and critical escalations.
• Foster collaboration across internal and external teams to achieve shared outcomes.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Wellbeing Reimbursement Account for the employee or eligible dependents.
• Paid time off, holiday schedules, and Financial Planning Time Off.
• Paid parental leave.
• Adoption assistance program.
• 401(k) savings plan with company match and an additional contribution regardless of participation.
• Additional incentive pay eligibility for most employees.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director