Manager, Software Release Management

NRG • Lehi, UT

1d

About The Position

As Vivint Smart Home continues to scale across cloud, mobile, embedded, and firmware product lines, release operations have become a critical lever for delivery speed, platform reliability, and customer trust. We are seeking a Manager, Release Management, to lead the strategy, execution, and continuous evolution of release operations across this full portfolio.
This role operates at the intersection of technical delivery and organizational leadership. You will build and develop a high-performing Release Management function, drive alignment across Engineering, Quality Engineering (QE), Vertical Quality Leads (VQL), Product, Program, DevOps, and Operations, and ensure every release is governed, executed, and delivered with rigor and consistency.
You will balance process discipline with agility—leveraging CI/CD maturity, automation, and evidence-based decision making to improve release velocity, reduce risk, and strengthen operational confidence across all product domains.

Requirements

• 10+ years in Release Management, Technical Program Management, or Software Delivery, with 3+ years leading teams in a multi-product software organization
• Proven experience building or scaling a release management function across multiple technology domains (cloud, mobile, embedded, firmware)
• Track record managing and developing a team of 5–10 Release Managers, including coaching, performance management, and career development
• Strong expertise in release governance, readiness frameworks, Go/No-Go decision-making, and risk/escalation management across complex delivery environments
• Working knowledge of CI/CD pipelines, deployment orchestration, and modern release automation practices
• Experience defining release health metrics, KPIs, and dashboards that drive decision quality and operational visibility
• Proven ability to drive aligned execution across Engineering, QE, Product, Program, DevOps, and Operations boundaries
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field — or equivalent practical experience

Nice To Haves

• Experience supporting mixed release domains across SaaS/cloud, native mobile, connected devices, and firmware
• Track record improving CI/CD maturity, deployment automation, and release tooling at scale
• Proficiency with Jira, Confluence, Smartsheet, Tableau, or similar release planning and reporting platforms
• Experience in consumer technology, IoT, or device-cloud ecosystems
• Working knowledge of incident management, change control, and operational compliance in production environments
• Familiarity with AI-assisted release practices (automated change impact analysis, intelligent deployment gating, predictive risk scoring)
• Agile, SAFe, PMP, or Lean Six Sigma certifications are a plus

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Release Managers supporting multiple engineering groups
• Create role clarity, strong operating rhythms, and consistent execution standards across the team
• Build organizational capability through mentoring, performance management, and career development, while fostering a culture of accountability, urgency, collaboration, and continuous improvement
• Partner closely with Engineering, QE, VQL, Product, Program, DevOps, Operations, and Support to drive aligned, coordinated release execution
• Create a shared release operating cadence that brings clarity to priorities, risks, dependencies, and readiness across teams
• Ensure stakeholders are aligned early, escalations are surfaced quickly, and release decisions are made with the right level of visibility and accountability
• Establish and scale release governance, standards, policies, and best practices across product and engineering teams
• Define release readiness criteria, checkpoints, approval workflows, and standard artifacts that improve consistency and auditability
• Guide Go/No-Go decisions with clear, risk-based recommendations grounded in scope health, quality signals, dependency status, and operational readiness
• Oversee release calendars, milestone planning, dependency tracking, and integrated schedules across cloud, mobile, embedded, and firmware delivery streams
• Support release planning by aligning timing, sequencing, capacity, and organizational interdependencies
• Ensure release plans include quality validation, environment readiness, launch coordination, rollback strategies, and support preparedness — so releases are ready operationally, not just technically
• Identify, assess, and manage release risks, dependencies, and operational constraints across a complex portfolio
• Drive proactive mitigation planning throughout the release lifecycle, not just at the end
• Serve as a senior escalation point for critical blockers, quality concerns, timeline risks, and deployment issues — helping teams navigate trade-offs quickly while protecting customer experience, business commitments, and platform stability
• Define and operationalize release health metrics, KPIs, and dashboards that provide meaningful visibility into release performance
• Measure and report on outcomes such as on-time delivery, deployment failures, release confidence, change failure rate, rollback rates, production incidents, MTTR, and deployment automation coverage
• Improve executive reporting with clear status, actionable risk views, and trend-based insights that support better planning and decision-making
• Drive continuous improvement in release processes, tooling, and automation to improve speed, reliability, and efficiency
• Partner with engineering and platform teams to advance CI/CD maturity, reduce manual release overhead, and strengthen deployment practices
• Standardize release workflows across the portfolio — from frequent cloud deployments to coordinated mobile launches to controlled embedded/firmware releases — adapting where domain differences matter
• Automate where practical and eliminate recurring sources of friction that create delay, confusion, or release instability
• Lead post-release reviews, retrospectives, and root cause analysis; use data, trends, and team feedback to strengthen planning, governance, and execution every cycle

Benefits

• NRG Energy is committed to a drug and alcohol-free workplace. To the extent permitted by law and any applicable collective bargaining agreement, employees are subject to periodic random drug testing, and post-accident and reasonable suspicion drug and alcohol testing. EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability. Level, Title and/or Salary may be adjusted based on the applicant's experience or skills. Official description on file with Talent. We support the use of AI tools to help you prepare for your interview (e.g., practicing responses, researching the role, or refining your resume). However, during interviews and assessments, we expect responses to reflect your own thinking, experience, and communication. Use of AI to generate or read answers in real time, complete assessments, or misrepresent your qualifications is not permitted and may impact your candidacy.

What This Job Offers

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