Senior Release Manager (Agile / DevOps / Financial Services)

Senior Release Manager (Agile / DevOps / Financial Services)

Location: London (Hybrid - 8 days onsite per month)
Contract: 12 Months (Inside IR35)
Working Pattern: Hybrid

The Opportunity

We are looking for an experienced Senior Release Manager to join a major financial services organisation responsible for managing complex enterprise-wide technology releases across multiple Agile squads and Tribes.

This is a highly visible delivery role where you will own the end-to-end release lifecycle, ensuring technology changes are delivered safely, predictably and to the highest quality standards.

You'll work with senior stakeholders, Delivery Leads, Engineering, Testing and Change teams to coordinate large-scale releases while driving continuous improvement across release management, DevOps and Agile delivery practices.

Responsibilities

Manage the complete Release Lifecycle from initiation through to closure.
Produce and maintain Release Plans and governance documentation.
Manage key release milestones including:
Scope Freeze
Code Freeze
PPE Launch
Go / No Go
Production Release
Release Closure
Produce Release Level Test Strategy documentation in collaboration with Testing teams.
Identify, assess and manage risks, issues, dependencies and delivery timelines.
Provide regular release reporting to senior stakeholders.
Take accountability for release quality and successful delivery.
Coordinate activities across multiple Agile Squads and Tribes.
Develop contingency and rollback plans.
Improve release predictability and delivery quality.
Ensure governance and IT controls are followed throughout the release lifecycle.
Champion Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery and DevOps best practices.
Contribute to Release Engineering Community of Practice initiatives and continuous improvement.Required Experience

Extensive Release Management experience within complex enterprise environments.
Strong understanding of the full Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC).
Excellent Project Management experience.
Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
Experience delivering releases within Agile environments.
Working knowledge of:
Azure DevOps (ADS)
ServiceNow
CI/CD
Agile certification.
Project Management certification.
Financial Services or Banking experience.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Experience improving release frequency while maintaining high quality standards.Desirable Experience

Change Management
DevOps Automation
CREST knowledge
ServiceNow Incident & Change Management
Power BI
Power Apps

*Rates depend on experience and client requirements