Software Release Management Manager

Welcome to the intersection of energy and home services. At NRG, we’re driven by our passion to create a smarter, cleaner and more connected future. Vivint Smart Home, an NRG owned company, is a leading smart home company in the United States, dedicated to redefining the home experience with intelligent products and services. We find purpose in proactively protecting and keeping our customers connected to home, no matter where they are. Join the Smart Home team to create smarter, safer and more sustainable homes. Summary As Vivint Smart Home continues to scale across cloud, mobile, embedded, and firmware product lines, release operations have become a critical lever for delivery speed, platform reliability, and customer trust. We are seeking a Manager, Release Management, to lead the strategy, execution, and continuous evolution of release operations across this full portfolio. This role operates at the intersection of technical delivery and organizational leadership. You will build and develop a high-performing Release Management function, drive alignment across Engineering, Quality Engineering (QE), Vertical Quality Leads (VQL), Product, Program, DevOps, and Operations, and ensure every release is governed, executed, and delivered with rigor and consistency. You will balance process discipline with agility—leveraging CI/CD maturity, automation, and evidence-based decision making to improve release velocity, reduce risk, and strengthen operational confidence across all product domains. Key Responsibilities Team Leadership: Build the function, grow the talent Lead, coach, and develop a team of Release Managers supporting multiple engineering groups Create role clarity, strong operating rhythms, and consistent execution standards across the team Build organizational capability through mentoring, performance management, and career development, while fostering a culture of accountability, urgency, collaboration, and continuous improvement Cross-Functional Execution: Team One for release deliveryPartner closely with Engineering, QE, VQL, Product, Program, DevOps, Operations, and Support to drive aligned, coordinated release executionCreate a shared release operating cadence that brings clarity to priorities, risks, dependencies, and readiness across teamsEnsure stakeholders are aligned early, escalations are surfaced quickly, and release decisions are made with the right level of visibility and accountability Release Governance: Clear standards, stronger decisionsEstablish and scale release governance, standards, policies, and best practices across product and engineering teamsDefine release readiness criteria, checkpoints, approval workflows, and standard artifacts that improve consistency and auditabilityGuide Go/No-Go decisions with clear, risk-based recommendations grounded in scope health, quality signals, dependency status, and operational readiness Integrated Planning: One portfolio, multiple release domainsOversee release calendars, milestone planning, dependency tracking, and integrated schedules across cloud, mobile, embedded, and firmware delivery streamsSupport release planning by aligning timing, sequencing, capacity, and organizational interdependenciesEnsure release plans include quality validation, environment readiness, launch coordination, rollback strategies, and support preparedness — so releases are ready operationally, not just technically Risk Management & Escalation: No surprises in the critical pathIdentify, assess, and manage release risks, dependencies, and operational constraints across a complex portfolioDrive proactive mitigation planning throughout the release lifecycle, not just at the endServe as a senior escalation point for critical blockers, quality concerns, timeline risks, and deployment issues — helping teams navigate trade-offs quickly while protecting customer experience, business commitments, and platform stability Metrics & Visibility: From release status to release intelligenceDefine and operationalize release health metrics, KPIs, and dashboards that provide meaningful visibility into release performanceMeasure and report on outcomes such as on-time delivery, deployment failures, release confidence, change failure rate, rollback rates, production incidents, MTTR, and deployment automation coverageImprove executive reporting with clear status, actionable risk views, and trend-based insights that support better planning and decision-making Operational Excellence & CI/CD Maturity: Manual effort → scalable release systemsDrive continuous improvement in release processes, tooling, and automation to improve speed, reliability, and efficiencyPartner with engineering and platform teams to advance CI/CD maturity, reduce manual release overhead, and strengthen deployment practicesStandardize release workflows across the portfolio — from frequent cloud deployments to coordinated mobile launches to controlled embedded/firmware releases — adapting where domain differences matterAutomate where practical and eliminate recurring sources of friction that create delay, confusion, or release instabilityLead post-release reviews, retrospectives, and root cause analysis; use data, trends, and team feedback to strengthen planning, governance, and execution every cycle How You’ll Measure Success (KPIs) On-time release delivery: % of releases shipped on or before the committed date — trending up across all release domainsDeployment failure & rollback rate: % of deployments requiring rollback or emergency intervention — trending downRelease cycle time: time from code complete to production — reduced without eroding reliability or customer experienceChange failure rate (CFR): % of releases causing production incidents — trending downMean time to recovery (MTTR): time from release-related incident to resolution — trending downRelease readiness compliance: % of releases meeting all governance checkpoints before deployment — trending upDeployment automation coverage: % of release steps automated vs. manual — increasing over timeRelease dashboard signal quality: executive reporting accuracy, dependency transparency, milestone accuracy, and scope-to-outcome traceability — improved quarter over quarter Required Qualifications 10+ years in Release Management, Technical Program Management, or Software Delivery, with 3+ years leading teams in a multi-product software organizationProven experience building or scaling a release management function across multiple technology domains (cloud, mobile, embedded, firmware)Track record managing and developing a team of 5–10 Release Managers, including coaching, performance management, and career developmentStrong expertise in release governance, readiness frameworks, Go/No-Go decision-making, and risk/escalation management across complex delivery environmentsWorking knowledge of CI/CD pipelines, deployment orchestration, and modern release automation practicesExperience defining release health metrics, KPIs, and dashboards that drive decision quality and operational visibilityProven ability to drive aligned execution across Engineering, QE, Product, Program, DevOps, and Operations boundariesBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field — or equivalent practical experience Preferred Qualifications & Credentials Experience supporting mixed release domains across SaaS/cloud, native mobile, connected devices, and firmwareTrack record improving CI/CD maturity, deployment automation, and release tooling at scaleProficiency with Jira, Confluence, Smartsheet, Tableau, or similar release planning and reporting platformsExperience in consumer technology, IoT, or device-cloud ecosystemsWorking knowledge of incident management, change control, and operational compliance in production environmentsFamiliarity with AI-assisted release practices (automated change impact analysis, intelligent deployment gating, predictive risk scoring)Agile, SAFe, PMP, or Lean Six Sigma certifications are a plus Ways of Working Servant-leader first: builds trust, accountability, and psychological safety while holding a high bar for execution quality; creates an environment where Release Managers grow, take ownership, and challenge the status quoCommunicates to the audience translates release complexity into crisp executive summaries for leadership and into actionable plans for delivery teams; no one leaves a conversation unclear on status, risk, or next stepsLeads through influence, not authority: creates alignment across teams with different priorities, delivery models, and technical constraints; earns credibility through consistency, follow-through, and sound judgmentBalances speed with stability: ensures release processes enable the business to move fast without compromising reliability or customer experience; knows when to push and when to protectRuns a disciplined operating cadence: release planning, risk and dependency reviews, release readiness checkpoints, and post-release retrospectives — each with clear inputs, outputs, and ownersPartners with stakeholders to ensure release decisions are evidence-based, quality signals are trusted, and governance is shared — not siloed NRG Energy is committed to a drug and alcohol-free workplace. To the extent permitted by law and any applicable collective bargaining agreement, employees are subject to periodic random drug testing, and post-accident and reasonable suspicion drug and alcohol testing. EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability. Level, Title and/or Salary may be adjusted based on the applicant's experience or skills. Official description on file with Talent. We support the use of AI tools to help you prepare for your interview (e.g., practicing responses, researching the role, or refining your resume). However, during interviews and assessments, we expect responses to reflect your own thinking, experience, and communication. Use of AI to generate or read answers in real time, complete assessments, or misrepresent your qualifications is not permitted and may impact your candidacy.