Release Manager

Release Manager 6 Month contract initially + Extensions Based: Onsite - Wokingham Rate: £400 - £450 p/d - (via Umbrella company) We have a great opportunity with a world leading organisation where you will be provided with all of the support and development to succeed. A progressive organisation where you can really make a difference. We have a great opportunity for a Release Manager to join the team. The Release Manager will lead and coordinate network release activities and CNI (Critical National Infrastructure) cutovers, ensuring controlled, secure, and high quality deployments across mission critical environments. The role requires strong leadership during complex cutovers, excellent planning skills, and experience working with network engineering, infrastructure, cyber security, and operations teams. Candidates must be eligible for UK Security Check (SC) clearance; active SC is advantageous. Key Responsibilities; 1. Release Planning & Governance * Own the end to end release lifecycle for network and CNI related changes. * Define and maintain a cutover plan, release calendar, and integrated deployment timelines. * Coordinate with network, security, test, environment, and change management teams to ensure readiness. * Conduct release readiness reviews, impact assessments, and Go/No-Go meetings. 2. Network & CNI Cutover Coordination * Lead network cutovers including: o WAN/LAN migrations o SD WAN transitions o Firewall/proxy/security rule changes o Routing updates, IP schema changes o CNI protected service migrations * Oversee Major Releases, Emergency Releases, and CNI off-peak cutovers. * Validate pre cutover configuration baselines, rollback plans, and network dependencies. * Monitor real time cutover execution, manage escalations, and coordinate between engineering teams. 3. Deployment & Technical Oversight * Ensure deployment artefacts (config files, templates, scripts) are validated and approved. * Oversee automated and manual releases across environments. * Ensure alignment with security, architecture, and compliance requirements. * Work with Test Leads to ensure post cutover verification (PCV) is completed and documented. 4. Risk, Change & Compliance Management * Identify risks, interdependencies, and mitigation actions for all network releases. * Ensure adherence to ITIL Change Management processes for CNI environments. * Produce accurate release documentation, evidence packs, and audit logs. * Support incident reviews and root cause analysis for failed or partially successful releases. 5. Stakeholder Communication * Provide clear communication to project managers, network leads, operational teams, and CNI governance stakeholders. * Deliver daily/weekly release status reports, dashboards, and cutover readiness summaries. * Facilitate cross team coordination during complex CNI related implementation windows. Key Skills & experience: * Ideally 5+ years of experience as a Release Manager or Delivery Lead for network or infrastructure projects. * Strong understanding of: o Enterprise networks (WAN/LAN) o SD WAN architectures o Routing (BGP/OSPF), firewalls, load balancers o Secure network zones & segmentation (CNI/OT/IT) o Cloud/on prem hybrid network models * Experience managing complex cutovers, migrations, and multi vendor network deployments. * Familiarity with CI/CD tools (Azure DevOps, Jenkins, GitLab) and ServiceNow/JIRA for change governance.