Release Manager

As a Release Manager within a Dutch bank, you are responsible for planning, coordinating, and overseeing the controlled delivery of software releases across highly regulated banking environments. You ensure that all releases comply with security, risk, and audit requirements while supporting the bank’s digital transformation goals. You work closely with IT delivery teams, DevOps engineers, architecture, risk & compliance, and business stakeholders to guarantee stable and secure deployments to production environments.

Key Responsibilities

- Plan, schedule, and manage software releases for critical banking systems across development, test, acceptance, and production environments (DTAP).

- Coordinate release activities with cross-functional teams, including development, QA, operations, security, and compliance.

- Ensure all release processes align with regulatory requirements, including DNB guidelines, internal controls, and audit standards.

- Prepare and maintain detailed release documentation such as deployment plans, release notes, risk assessments, and rollback procedures.

- Facilitate release readiness meetings, Go/No-Go decision processes, and post-release evaluations.

- Maintain an integrated release calendar and ensure transparent communication across IT and business departments.

- Collaborate with DevOps teams to enhance CI/CD pipelines and drive automation in deployment and testing processes.

- Monitor release performance, identify process improvements, and promote best practices across the bank’s IT landscape.

- Ensure operational stability by minimizing production impact and coordinating incident resolution when release issues occur.

- Act as a bridge between IT delivery teams and business stakeholders to ensure alignment with strategic objectives.

Required Skills & Competencies

Technical Skills

- Strong understanding of SDLC and release management within highly regulated environments.

- Experience with CI/CD tools commonly used in banking (e.g., Azure DevOps, GitLab CI/CD, Jenkins).

- Proficiency with version control systems (e.g., Git).

- Understanding of microservices, API-driven architectures, and cloud technologies (Azure or private cloud).

- Experience working with complex banking platforms and integrations (e.g., payments, core banking, risk systems).

- Knowledge of IT risk, security controls, and compliance standards relevant to financial institutions.