Lead Release Manager

Company Description

Visa is a world leader in payments and technology, with over 259 billion payments transactions flowing safely between consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government entities in more than 200 countries and territories each year. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable, and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive while driven by a common purpose – to uplift everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.

Make an impact with a purpose-driven industry leader. Join us today and experience Life at Visa.

Job Description

• Release Planning: Develop and maintain detailed release schedules, including defining release criteria and coordinating and negotiating with various teams to ensure successful implementation.  Planning release windows and cycles across portfolios, components.  Initiating and overseeing progressive release processes.

• Coordination: Serve as the primary liaison between product, project management, engineering, QA, Devsecops, coverage and operations teams and other stakeholders to ensure seamless release processes.  Coordinating processes between different teams in various locations.  Coordinating enterprise release content and efforts based on OS updates and third-party apps.

• Communication: Communicating crucial release plans and changes to all relevant stakeholders. 

• Risk Management: Identify potential risks in the release process and implement proactive mitigation strategies to address them effectively.  Managing risks and resolving challenges that impact release scope, quality, and schedules.

• Quality Assurance: Ensure that all releases meet the required quality standards through meticulous testing and validation procedures.  Conducting release readiness and milestone reviews.

• Continuous Improvement: Implement and promote best practices for release management, continuously enhancing processes and tools.  Measuring and monitoring deployment progress to achieve a timely software release within defined parameters and defined quality standards. 

• Documentation: Maintain comprehensive release documentation, including release notes, technical guides, and troubleshooting procedures.  Maintaining release schedules for every core service and ensuring it aligns with major vendors and other stakeholders.

• Issue Resolution: Swiftly address and resolve any issues that arise during the release process to minimize downtime and user impact.  Working with release engineers to comprehend code merges and branch ramifications.

• Performance Metrics: Monitor and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) related to release management to ensure alignment with organizational delivery goals.

• Working with the Devsecops teams and others, overseeing the deployment of deliverables into production environments.

• Validating release notes

• Deployment management of deliverables to the test environments particularly guaranteeing that the external dependent items are available during the test runtime

This is a hybrid position. Hybrid employees can alternate time between both remote and office. Employees in hybrid roles are expected to work from the office 2-3 set days a week (determined by leadership/site), with a general guidepost of being in the office 50% or more of the time based on business needs.

Qualifications

• Technical Expertise: Extensive understanding of software development life cycles (SDLC), continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD), configuration management and version control systems (e.g., Git).
   
• Project Management: Demonstrated experience in project management methodologies, with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
   
• Communication Skills: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, capable of articulating complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
   
• Problem-Solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with acute attention to detail.
   
• Leadership: Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and foster collaboration across different departments.
   
• Organizational Skills: Highly organized, with the ability to prioritize tasks and manage time effectively. Experience in coordinating cross-functional work teams up to task completion.
   
• Adaptability: Flexible and adaptable to changing priorities and fast-paced environments.
   
• Experience: Minimum of 5 years of experience in release management or a related field, with a track record of successful project delivery.
   
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, or a related field is preferred.
   
• Experience with cloud platforms: Proficiency in platforms such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
   
• Familiarity with agile and DevOps practices: Knowledge and application of agile methodologies and DevOps practices.
   
• Certification in project management: Certifications such as PMP or Scrum Master are advantageous.

Additional Information

Visa is an EEO Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Visa will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.