Sr. Release Manager

TEKsystems•Charlotte, NC

3d•$70 - $70•Hybrid

About The Position

The Release Manager will lead the transformation of release management practices from legacy, fragmented processes to a modern, automated, scalable, and data-driven operating model. The role will design, implement, and drive adoption of enterprise-wide release capabilities across International Technology and Global Payments Solutions Technology, aligning diverse teams to a standardized, efficient, and risk-aware framework. The position requires expertise in global payments and experience modernizing complex technology environments. The Release Manager will establish enterprise release processes and governance, support automation and CI/CD integration, improve performance measurement, and lead communication, enablement, and adoption across global, matrixed teams. This is a contract position based in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a hybrid workplace arrangement.

Requirements

At least 8 years of experience in Release Management, IT Service Management, or related disciplines within large, complex organizations.
Proven experience designing and implementing enterprise release management frameworks.
Strong domain knowledge of Global Payments Solutions Technology, including systems integration, payment processing flows, integration patterns, and cross-border operational dependencies.
Experience leading enterprise transformation initiatives, particularly modernizing legacy release processes.
Demonstrated success implementing release automation strategies for tracking and reporting.
Experience leveraging automation and tooling to improve release efficiency and reduce operational risk.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, executive presence, and ability to convey complex concepts clearly at all organizational levels.
Demonstrated ability to influence without direct authority, drive organizational change, and align distributed teams.
Expertise in process documentation, stakeholder engagement, training delivery, governance, and change management.
Strong organizational skills, process discipline, and a disciplined approach to execution and follow-through.
Experience defining KPIs and metrics to measure release performance and continuous improvement.

Nice To Haves

Experience in global financial services or other highly regulated environments.
Experience with enterprise tooling such as ServiceNow, JIRA, or Cutover.
ITIL certification or equivalent experience in ITSM best practices.
Experience leading transformation from monolithic or legacy systems to modern, cloud-enabled architectures.

Responsibilities

Lead the evolution of release management from traditional and manual processes to a modern, automated, data-driven model.
Define and execute a roadmap to standardize release practices across legacy and modern technology stacks.
Drive adoption of automation capabilities to accelerate delivery and reduce risk.
Design, document, and implement scalable, line-of-business-wide release processes aligned to the target-state operating model.
Establish standards for release planning, readiness, deployment, and post-release validation, ensuring processes are sustainable, measurable, and consistently applied.
Apply global payments expertise to manage complex dependencies, integrations, release risk, cross-border systems, and critical payment flows.
Establish and enforce release governance, including milestone tracking, controls, and risk management.
Drive disciplined execution across large-scale, multi-application releases.
Implement metrics and reporting to provide transparency and insights for continuous improvement.
Identify and implement opportunities to automate release workflows and eliminate manual inefficiencies.
Partner with engineering teams to integrate release processes into CI/CD pipelines and tooling.
Lead adoption of change through clear, structured communication across the organization.
Translate technical and process changes into actionable insights for executives and delivery teams.
Promote accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement.
Develop playbooks, documentation, and training materials to support enterprise-wide adoption.
Mentor release managers and delivery teams to improve release management maturity.
Build partnerships across CIO organizations, engineering, operations, and business stakeholders.
Influence global, matrixed teams and drive alignment and adoption without direct authority.