Release Manager

Hearst Communications•Tampa, FL

47d•Onsite

About The Position

The Software Release Manager at MHK plays a pivotal role in ensuring the seamless execution of the company's release cadence and governance framework. This position sits within the Growth team and serves as the central coordination point between Product Management, Development, DevOps, QA, the PMO, Compliance & Security, and Client Experience teams. The Release Manager is responsible for orchestrating the end-to-end release lifecycle, from planning and scheduling through deployment and post-release validation, across MHK's platform suite, including CareProminence, MarketProminence, Interop, DataVisor, and AI. This role blends operational precision with governance oversight, ensuring that all releases comply with MHK's Release Governance Team (RGT) standards, Change Advisory Board (CAB) approvals, Change Order (CO) protocols, and InfoSecurity vulnerability scan requirements. Core Scope of Responsibility Strategic Coordination - Own and maintain MHK's enterprise release calendar, aligning product release windows with maintenance/service packs/config deployment schedules and organizational readiness milestones. Governance & Compliance - Oversee the formal review and approval process for releases, ensuring adherence to CAB decisions, Restricted Change Period (RCP) rules, and RGT signoffs. Security Assurance - Partner with Security to ensure all vulnerability scans are executed, documented, and approved at least five business days prior to deployment. Technical Oversight - Collaborate with DevOps and Infrastructure teams to validate deployment scripts, monitor release health via tools and ensure successful CI/CD automation. Communication & Transparency - Lead release readiness reviews, Go/No-Go checkpoints, and stakeholder communications; provide timely status updates across Client Experience, Product, and Engineering teams. Client Focus - Build and grow client trust organically as a product advisor by proving an ongoing value through accountability, proactive communication and transparency, while providing tailored solutions aligned to each client's goals and use cases. Continuous Improvement - Conduct post-release retrospectives to identify improvement opportunities, enhance automation, and evolve MHK's release cadence framework. Integration of SDLC and Cadence Framework Structured release communications and checkpoints before QA turnover, test deployment, and production rollout. Enforced CAB and RGT approval protocols to ensure quality, compliance, and audit readiness. Defined Restricted Change Period (RCP) procedures to protect production stability. Integration of Change Order, Technical Knowledge Transfer (Tech KT), and Stage Production readiness activities as standard milestones.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field (or equivalent experience).
5+ years in software release management, DevOps coordination, or enterprise application delivery.
Experience with Agile, CI/CD, and cloud environments (AWS preferred).
Strong understanding of SDLC frameworks, change management, and audit readiness.
Excellent stakeholder management and cross-functional communication skills, including the ability to build rapport and offer a strong sense of accountability.
Local to Tampa area for onsite collaboration.
All prospective employees must be able to pass a background check and drug screening.

Nice To Haves

Healthcare technology or payer SaaS experience (UM/CM, Enrollment, Billing, Pharmacy) preferred.
Familiarity with middleware and monitoring tools preferred.
Certifications such as ITIL, PMP, or Agile/Scrum Master preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain an enterprise-wide release calendar across all MHK products.
Coordinate release planning sessions with Product Management, Engineering, QA, and Client Experience pods.
Oversee deployment validation and monitor post-release stability.
Implement and enforce MHK's release approval framework (CAB, RGT, CO).
Act as the liaison between client-facing teams and technical stakeholders.
Maintain release documentation, including runbooks, rollback plans, and readiness checklists.
Maintain a high level or professionalism, accountability, and responsiveness in all interactions.
Ensure transparency in communication and deliverables to reinforce trust and credibility.