Release & Cutover Manager

Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA)•Toronto, ON

8d•CA$88,496 - CA$128,625•Onsite

About The Position

At FSRA, our vision is to ensure financial safety, fairness, and choice for Ontarians. As a financial services regulator, we’re passionate about protecting consumers. Our principles-based approach means we can quickly and effectively respond to the changing needs of consumers and the industry. Our team combines industry expertise with commitment to public service. We attract individuals who are interested in meaningful work and who measure success through outcomes, not inputs. At FSRA, we invest in the personal and professional growth of our team. We offer a competitive compensation package that includes an employer-matched defined benefit pension plan, and a comprehensive and competitive benefits plan. We prioritize learning and development, wellbeing, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and community giving. Join FSRA and help us shape the future of regulation for generations to come! The Release & Cutover Manager ensures FSRA’s software releases are predictable, secure, auditable, and compliant with public sector requirements, while driving continuous improvement across the release and cutover lifecycle. The role leads cross functional coordination across engineering, infrastructure, security, and business operations to deliver repeatable, low risk release processes aligned with CI/CD and DevSecOps best practices.

Requirements

Postsecondary degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and professional experience.
5–10 years of experience in Release Management or Cutover Management, including direct experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365.
Proven experience working in public sector, regulated, or compliance-driven environments managing releases within various environments.
Demonstrated experience leading enterprise-scale Dynamics go-lives, data migrations, and complex cutovers.
Strong expertise in Dynamics solution deployment, best practice release governance, Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines, and complex cutover planning for mission critical systems.
Deep understanding of D365 solution architecture, environment strategy, and ALM principles.
Demonstrated hands-on experience with Azure DevOps, including YAML pipelines, build agents, release artifacts, and approver workflows.
Working knowledge of related Microsoft technologies: Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate, Dataverse), Azure Integration Services (APIM, Logic Apps, Service Bus), Reporting & analytics (Power BI)
Strong knowledge of ITIL, particularly Change/Release/Incident processes.
Experience with data migration strategies for Dynamics (KingswaySoft, Azure Data Factory, custom ETL).
Experience implementing blue/green or canary strategies for cloud-based Dynamics components.
Experience managing cutovers involving integrations with external registries, licensing systems, or financial systems.
Deep knowledge of IT change, incident, and problem management practices, specifically within a transitional enterprise environment.
Exceptional coordination and facilitation capabilities, including effective vendor management.
High attention to detail with a consistent focus on delivery.
Proven ability to work both independently and collaboratively in cross functional, transformational environments.
Clear, effective communication skills to develop and maintain release and cutover artefacts, including frameworks, RACI models, integrated cutover plans, readiness checklists, rollback plans, communications, operational handover documentation, and post-implementation reviews.
Excellent documentation and reporting skills.
Adaptable, with a proactive approach to learning new technologies.
Solid project management skills, with the ability to anticipate risks, identify bottlenecks, and develop contingency plans.
Strong relationship management skills to bridge technical teams and business stakeholders.
Familiarity with FSRA services, strategies, standards, and directives.
Demonstrated ability to influence stakeholders and manage competing priorities across the organization.

Nice To Haves

Microsoft certifications: PL-200, PL-400, MB-600, Azure DevOps (AZ-400), an asset

Responsibilities

Oversee end-to-end release processes for various environments, focus on Dynamics 365 CE/CRM, F&O, and Power Platform solutions.
Owns the end-to-end planning and execution of software releases and production cutovers across various, multi-vendor environments—ensuring predictable, secure, and low-risk deployments.
Manages solution packaging, deployment pipelines, unmanaged/managed solution strategies, and environment promotion.
Works with developers, solution architects, system integrators, and product owners to confirm readiness, dependencies, and alignment with FSRA’s D365 roadmap.
Builds the D365 environment strategy (Dev, SIT, UAT, Pre-Prod, Prod), ensuring consistency, data parity, and proper access controls.
Participates in the Incident Management remediations
Ensures documentation meets audit and CAB expectations
Leads all production cutovers, including configuration migration, data migration steps, interface cutover, and validation.
Develops and manages detailed cutover runbooks, identifying tasks, sequencing, dependencies, timings, and responsible owners.
Executes dry-runs in pre-production to validate timing, data scripts, plugins/workflows, Power Automate flows, and key integrations.
Directs cutover “command center” sessions during go-live, coordinating technical teams, business stakeholders, vendors, and IT operations.
Designs and governs DevOps CI/CD pipelines, including Dynamics 365, Solution builds and exports, Automated deployments to lower and upper environments, Automated testing (Selenium, EasyRepro), ALM best practices across D365 and Power Platform
Ensures pipelines include quality gates, code review standards, security scanning, and auditable approvals aligned with public-sector governance.
Ensures all D365 changes comply with public sector IT policies, audit requirements, records management, and change control standards.
Facilitates CAB reviews; prepares risk assessments, deployment packages, and rollback criteria for Dynamics releases.
Maintains comprehensive documentation and traceability of all D365 configuration and code changes.
Implements release metrics and KPIs specific to D365 delivery (deployment frequency, solution stability, regression defects, pipeline automation rate).
Standardizes Dynamics ALM processes and reduces manual deployment efforts through automation.
Conducts retrospectives to improve future releases and minimize production risk.