Strategic Global Lead – Release Management

Daimler Truck•Portland, OR

3d•$114,000 - $150,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Inside the Role The Strategic Global Lead for Release Management serves as the global process owner and functional leader responsible for defining, governing, and advancing the software release lifecycle across the TT/S organization. This role oversees the planning, execution, and continuous improvement of release processes supporting Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) capabilities, over the air (OTA) functionality, and software only features deployed across all Daimler Truck business units worldwide. Acting as the central authority for the Global Software Release Management Framework, the Strategic Global Lead ensures cross functional alignment, organizational transparency, and operational excellence. This role drives global coordination, establishes standards, promotes SDV aligned methodologies, and ensures that release management activities meet quality, safety, compliance, and business objectives. Posting Information We provide a scheduled posting end date to assist our candidates with their application planning. While this date reflects our latest plans, it is subject to change, and postings may be extended or removed earlier than expected. We Take Care of Our Team Position offers a starting salary range of $114,000 – $150,000 USD Pay offered dependent on knowledge, skills, and experience. Benefits include annual bonus program; 401k company contribution with company match up to 6% as well as non-elective company contribution of 3 - 7% depending on age; starting at 4 weeks paid vacation; 13+ calendar holidays; 8 weeks paid parental leave; employee assistance program; comprehensive healthcare plans and wellness programs; onsite fitness (at some locations); tuition assistance and volunteer paid time off; short-term and long-term disability plans. What You Drive At DTNA Define, maintain, and continuously improve the global Software Release Management Process for SDV and software‑only functionality. Establish global standards, procedures, and documentation for release planning, validation, packaging, and approval workflows. Lead and facilitate global governance activities, including cross‑functional release board meetings and impact assessments. Ensure policy adherence, organizational alignment, and escalation management across regions and business units. Release Planning & Execution Develop and manage a unified global software release roadmap spanning testing sprints, SDV feature deliveries, OTA releases, and major program milestones. Consolidate inputs from Local and Regional Release Managers to maintain cross‑region alignment and readiness. Ensure end‑to-end traceability through well‑defined infrastructure including Release Tickets, Release Packages, and supporting tooling. Oversee release readiness assessments, risk identification, dependency management, and approval gates from a process and toolset perspective. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Communication Act as the primary interface between Engineering, Testing, Product Management, Quality, Operations, Cybersecurity, and other stakeholders for process and tool related questions. Drive transparent, timely communication of release schedules, readiness status, risks, and critical decisions. Support regional teams with guidance, alignment, and escalation pathways. Continuous Improvement & SDV Transformation Promote and lead process optimization initiatives, automation enhancements, and SDV‑oriented workflows. Support the transition toward CI/CD principles, iterative software delivery, and modern SDV operational models. Drive tools, metrics, and best practices that improve release velocity, quality, compliance, and global collaboration. Identify performance bottlenecks and lead cross‑functional initiatives to address systemic issues. Legacy‑to‑Future Strategy (SE / DTOS / SDV Migration) Develop and lead the strategic roadmap for evolving current, legacy release management processes into next‑generation SDV‑aligned methodologies. Define the migration approach for integrating traditional ECU‑based release workflows with emerging Systems Engineering (SE) processes, DTOS, and SDV frameworks. Ensure compatibility and coexistence of legacy and future‑state processes during the transition period, including hybrid release models. Partner with architecture, program leadership, and platform teams to align release management with the evolving technical foundations of SE/DTOS/SDV. Identify gaps, dependencies, and change‑management needs across tools, organizations, and processes to enable a smooth evolution toward the SDV paradigm. Communicate the long‑term roadmap, milestones, and expectations to leadership and global teams. Support BROP (Base Rollout Plan) rollout Support the development and maintenance of global tools and methodologies for tracking SEDP and CxF processes—including Cybersecurity, Functional Safety, Network Management, and Diagnostics—by helping define workflows, data structures, and documentation. Assist in establishing traceability and standardized reporting within the toolset, ensuring impacted components, CxF requirement status, milestones, and implementation timelines are consistently visible through governed dashboards and metrics. Help harmonize CxF rollout requirements across regions by contributing to process documentation, alignment activities, and integration of these requirements into release management workflows and the broader SDV/SE/DTOS tool ecosystem. Collaborate with Engineering, Cybersecurity, Functional Safety, Program Management, and Product teams to support the incorporation of CxF requirements into global processes and supporting toolchains.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, or related field
Deep understanding of software release management principles, frameworks, and lifecycle methodologies.
Expertise in large‑scale release planning, multi‑component release coordination, and distributed global execution.
Understanding of SDV architectures, embedded software, OTA update processes, and enterprise release practices.
Familiarity with modern tooling such as Jira, release orchestration platforms, build systems, and CI/CD pipelines.
Understanding of cybersecurity, functional safety, regulatory compliance, and quality management as they relate to software releases for commercial vehicles
Strong systems thinking and the ability to navigate complex technical and organizational landscapes.
Exceptional Candidates Might Have
Strong systems thinking and the ability to navigate complex technical and organizational landscapes.
Exceptional Candidates Might Have
Strategic Vision: Able to define and communicate a multi‑year evolution path that bridges legacy operational environments with SDV‑ready processes.
Cross‑Functional Leadership: Skilled at influencing broad stakeholder groups and driving alignment without formal authority.
Change Management: Navigates resistance, communicates clearly, and leads global teams through structural and procedural transitions.
Systems Thinking: Able to understand end‑to-end impacts across tools, workflows, and organizational boundaries.
Analytical Problem Solving: Identifies bottlenecks, risks, and improvement opportunities across complex software ecosystems.
Communication Excellence: Clear, transparent, and timely communication with global teams and senior leadership.
Continuous Improvement Mindset: Focused on modernization, simplification, and quality‑focused optimization.
Flexibility & Resilience: Able to handle ambiguity and adapt to changing priorities in a rapidly evolving SDV landscape.

Nice To Haves

Experience in automotive, commercial vehicle, or safety‑critical software environments.
Exposure to large‑scale transformation initiatives, especially around SDV, DevOps, Agile at Scale, or CI/CD implementation.
Knowledge of cybersecurity validation, homologation requirements, or data governance for connected vehicles.
Prior leadership experience in a global or matrixed organization.

Responsibilities

Define, maintain, and continuously improve the global Software Release Management Process for SDV and software‑only functionality.
Establish global standards, procedures, and documentation for release planning, validation, packaging, and approval workflows.
Lead and facilitate global governance activities, including cross‑functional release board meetings and impact assessments.
Ensure policy adherence, organizational alignment, and escalation management across regions and business units.
Develop and manage a unified global software release roadmap spanning testing sprints, SDV feature deliveries, OTA releases, and major program milestones.
Consolidate inputs from Local and Regional Release Managers to maintain cross‑region alignment and readiness.
Ensure end‑to-end traceability through well‑defined infrastructure including Release Tickets, Release Packages, and supporting tooling.
Oversee release readiness assessments, risk identification, dependency management, and approval gates from a process and toolset perspective.
Act as the primary interface between Engineering, Testing, Product Management, Quality, Operations, Cybersecurity, and other stakeholders for process and tool related questions.
Drive transparent, timely communication of release schedules, readiness status, risks, and critical decisions.
Support regional teams with guidance, alignment, and escalation pathways.
Promote and lead process optimization initiatives, automation enhancements, and SDV‑oriented workflows.
Support the transition toward CI/CD principles, iterative software delivery, and modern SDV operational models.
Drive tools, metrics, and best practices that improve release velocity, quality, compliance, and global collaboration.
Identify performance bottlenecks and lead cross‑functional initiatives to address systemic issues.
Develop and lead the strategic roadmap for evolving current, legacy release management processes into next‑generation SDV‑aligned methodologies.
Define the migration approach for integrating traditional ECU‑based release workflows with emerging Systems Engineering (SE) processes, DTOS, and SDV frameworks.
Ensure compatibility and coexistence of legacy and future‑state processes during the transition period, including hybrid release models.
Partner with architecture, program leadership, and platform teams to align release management with the evolving technical foundations of SE/DTOS/SDV.
Identify gaps, dependencies, and change‑management needs across tools, organizations, and processes to enable a smooth evolution toward the SDV paradigm.
Communicate the long‑term roadmap, milestones, and expectations to leadership and global teams.
Support the development and maintenance of global tools and methodologies for tracking SEDP and CxF processes—including Cybersecurity, Functional Safety, Network Management, and Diagnostics—by helping define workflows, data structures, and documentation.
Assist in establishing traceability and standardized reporting within the toolset, ensuring impacted components, CxF requirement status, milestones, and implementation timelines are consistently visible through governed dashboards and metrics.
Help harmonize CxF rollout requirements across regions by contributing to process documentation, alignment activities, and integration of these requirements into release management workflows and the broader SDV/SE/DTOS tool ecosystem.
Collaborate with Engineering, Cybersecurity, Functional Safety, Program Management, and Product teams to support the incorporation of CxF requirements into global processes and supporting toolchains.

Benefits

annual bonus program
401k company contribution with company match up to 6% as well as non-elective company contribution of 3 - 7% depending on age
starting at 4 weeks paid vacation
13+ calendar holidays
8 weeks paid parental leave
employee assistance program
comprehensive healthcare plans and wellness programs
onsite fitness (at some locations)
tuition assistance and volunteer paid time off
short-term and long-term disability plans