Release Manager is a thought leader in and an advocate of quality-focused software releases. Well-connected within the community, the Release Manager balances the individual needs of the Legacy and TRIPS Program Releases (includes complex projects, small changes, urgent production fixes etc.) and the respective business area’s needs, with the principle of protecting and enhancing the Production environment.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

As a Release Manager, working in a fast moving Agile at Scale delivery environment, your leadership will be pivotal to the successful delivery of TRIPS Releases into Production and the continued success of the legacy operation, until such a time that it is retired.

You will ensure the TRIPS Releases, that are managed independently, are aligned to the TRIPS milestones, ensuring that any changes maintain the Release integrity with regard to date / milestone adherence and deliverable quality. You will gather demand for the Release from various sources & Stakeholders and agree the main content of Release with Product Owners, Testers, Enablers and Service Teams. You will arrange, run and report on Release Readiness check point meetings against agreed readiness criteria, as well as facilitating Signoff at Go / No Go Meetings

You will also work closely with the Business to ensure that the Technology Release plan aligns with the Business Go Live expectations and is feasible in its expectations. This includes managing the controlled move into any Validation Testing in Production and orderly handover to the Production HyperCare Teams

Your Release planning will need to consider code, infrastructure, set-up and data deployment alignment across the multiple TRIPS Services and allow for dependencies and conflicts. While communicating and getting agreement across all Stakeholders with a clear Release framework and plan, room for dynamic flexibility & compromise in the plan will also be needed in order to meet overall TRIPS goals

Reporting and communication will be key for this role, not only across IT Service Delivery and programme teams but also throughout the wider IT departments and beyond, as these Releases will be key to the overall TUI Group ambition. 

ABOUT YOU:

• A proven track record in successful delivery
• ITIL or similar IT Service Delivery processes
• Business and IT Service Change Management
• Capable and confident communicator, owning communication of the release (including status of the release, agreed scope, software versions etc.)
• Scheduling and Planning, highlighting dependencies understanding their relative importance
• Risk and Impact Analysis – Identify and work with targets, dependencies and constraints
• Ability to see the big picture, analyse complex delivery schedules and evaluate ways to meet expectations; including  alignment to Business Change Management and the Release Pipeline
• Manage major issues / defects across Dry-run (Confidence Testing) and Go-live Weekends
• Deliver Release Assurance, including Release Readiness, Gate Reviews and Lessons Learned to ensure the Release Management process continues to evolve
• Work with multiple disperse groups and Third Parties to prioritise and resolve issues
• Ensure all relevant stakeholders are engaged – coordinate with relevant parties for planning to ensure smooth delivery of projects (e.g. business for UAT, Infrastructure team for environments etc.)
• Able to take accountability and confident at driving actions through to resolution
• Able to work on own initiative and take a long term view and anticipating workloads
• Proactive attitude and approach
• Adhere to and help develop Release Policy, Process and Metrics, and help evolve the continual improvement of overall Release processes

Specific Qualities:

• Proven experience of delivering release management in large and complex environments.
• Advanced knowledge of SDLC (including waterfall and agile)
• Knowledge of development scripts and automation tools used to build and deploy software
• Up-to-date with technology trends, including DevOps
• Ability to run a tight ship services organisation but also liaise seamlessly and flex where necessary to work the delivery organisation in order ensure smooth service introduction.
• Strong on process but able to make sensible adaptations where needed.
• Experience of ITIL based IT release methodology definition and adoption.
• Ability to gain, build and maintain stakeholder trust.
• Jira experience (desirable)

ABOUT OUR OFFER
 

• Competitive salary
• Pension scheme, life assurance and options to buy shares
• Generous holiday entitlement & holiday discounts
• Forward thinking ways of working
• TUI time off, purchase of additional holiday entitlement
• Excellent rates with foreign exchange and discounts with retailers