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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for a Release Coordinator

💰 $75,000 - $115,000

TechnologyProject ManagementSoftware DevelopmentDevOps

🎯 Role Definition

Are you the ultimate organizer, a master communicator, and the calm in the eye of the deployment storm? This role requires a meticulous and driven Release Coordinator to serve as the central command for our software release lifecycle. In this pivotal role, you will be the air traffic controller for our code, orchestrating the movement of new features and fixes from development to production. You will collaborate with a diverse group of talented engineers, product managers, and quality assurance professionals to ensure our software is delivered seamlessly, on time, and with the highest quality. If you thrive on process, excel at managing dependencies, and have a passion for seeing projects through to successful completion, this is your opportunity to make a significant impact on our delivery capabilities.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • QA Analyst / Test Engineer
  • Junior Project Manager / Project Coordinator
  • DevOps Engineer / Build Engineer
  • Senior Technical Support Engineer

Advancement To:

  • Release Manager
  • DevOps Manager
  • Senior Project Manager
  • Program Manager

Lateral Moves:

  • Scrum Master
  • Agile Coach
  • Product Owner
  • Technical Project Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Plan, schedule, and manage all aspects of the software release lifecycle, from build and deployment to post-launch monitoring, for multiple applications across various environments.
  • Act as the central point of coordination between diverse cross-functional teams, including Development, QA, DevOps, Product Management, and Business Stakeholders, to ensure a smooth and predictable release process.
  • Facilitate critical release-related meetings, such as Go/No-Go decisions, release planning sessions, and post-release retrospectives, ensuring all stakeholders are aligned and key decisions are documented.
  • Develop and maintain a comprehensive, forward-looking release calendar, identifying and managing potential conflicts, dependencies, and resource constraints across different projects and teams.
  • Proactively identify, track, and mitigate risks, impediments, and dependencies associated with software releases, escalating critical issues to senior management when necessary.
  • Define and manage release readiness criteria, quality gates, and sign-off procedures to ensure that all software packages meet the required standards for quality, stability, and security before deployment.
  • Create, manage, and disseminate detailed release notes, deployment plans, and runbooks to provide clear, actionable information for technical teams and business stakeholders.
  • Communicate release status, progress, and any changes in schedule effectively and consistently to all levels of the organization, from individual contributors to executive leadership.
  • Govern the integrity of the CI/CD pipeline, collaborating with DevOps engineers to troubleshoot build/deployment failures and ensure a reliable automated path to production.
  • Manage source code branching strategies and repository access in collaboration with development teams to ensure code stability and integrity for each release.
  • Coordinate the deployment of emergency hotfixes and patches outside of the normal release cycle, ensuring rapid response while adhering to established change management protocols.
  • Monitor and report on key release metrics and KPIs, such as release cadence, deployment success rates, and rollback occurrences, to drive continuous improvement.
  • Uphold and enforce strict adherence to the organization's Change Management and ITIL processes for all production changes.
  • Own and maintain a central repository of all release-related documentation, including standard operating procedures (SOPs), process flows, and historical release data in tools like Confluence.
  • Coordinate environment readiness, including data refreshes, configuration updates, and smoke testing, to ensure staging and UAT environments accurately reflect production.
  • Triage and coordinate the resolution of issues discovered during the release process or immediately post-deployment, ensuring minimal impact on end-users.
  • Champion and contribute to the continuous improvement of release management processes and tools, identifying opportunities for automation and increased efficiency.
  • Track and ensure all necessary artifacts, such as test results, security scans, and stakeholder approvals, are completed and attached to the release record prior to deployment.
  • Negotiate, plan, and manage release activities in a fast-paced Agile/Scrum environment, aligning release trains with sprint cycles and product increments.
  • Serve as the primary subject matter expert on the release process, providing guidance and training to development and operations teams on release standards and best practices.
  • Manage relationships and coordinate with third-party vendors or external teams whose components are integral to the release package.
  • Conduct post-implementation reviews (PIRs) to analyze the success of releases, identify lessons learned, and integrate findings into future release planning.

Secondary Functions

  • Continuously analyze and drive improvements in the release process to increase efficiency, predictability, and quality.
  • Contribute to the organization's overall DevOps and Change Management strategy.
  • Provide training and mentorship to junior team members or other departments on release management best practices.
  • Maintain a knowledge base of release procedures, tools, and troubleshooting guides in Confluence or a similar wiki.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Project & Issue Tracking: Proficiency with issue and project tracking software, particularly Jira and Confluence, for managing release tickets, roadmaps, and documentation.
  • SDLC Methodologies: Strong understanding of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) and various methodologies, including Agile, Scrum, Kanban, and Waterfall.
  • CI/CD Tools: Hands-on experience with CI/CD principles and tools such as Jenkins, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps, or similar automation servers.
  • Version Control: Familiarity with source code management systems like Git and an understanding of branching/merging strategies (e.g., GitFlow).
  • Scripting: Basic knowledge of scripting languages (e.g., Bash, Python, PowerShell) for automation and reporting tasks is highly desirable.

Soft Skills

  • Communication: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical information clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Organization & Planning: Superior organizational and time-management abilities, capable of juggling multiple releases, competing priorities, and tight deadlines simultaneously.
  • Problem-Solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a keen eye for detail and the ability to identify risks and dependencies proactively.
  • Influence & Negotiation: Excellent negotiation and influencing skills to build consensus among teams with differing priorities and drive towards a common release goal.
  • Leadership Under Pressure: Unwavering composure and leadership under pressure, especially during critical release windows or incident response situations.
  • Collaboration: A collaborative, team-player mindset with a proven ability to work effectively as part of a high-performing, cross-functional team.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's Degree or equivalent practical experience in a technical or project management discipline.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor's or Master's Degree in a technical field.
  • Certifications such as PMP, CSM (Certified ScrumMaster), or ITIL are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Computer Science
  • Information Technology
  • Project Management
  • Business Administration

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 3-5 years of experience in software development, project management, or operations.

Preferred:

  • Proven experience in a dedicated Release Coordinator, Project Management, or DevOps role within an Agile/Scrum software development environment.
  • Demonstrable experience managing complex, multi-project releases with a track record of successful delivery.
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