Job Description

Job Description: Information Technology (IT) Change and Release Manager

Position Title: IT Change and Release Manager

Location: Chicago, IL (day 1 onsite)

Employment Type: Long Term

Reports To: Director of Change and Release Management

Job Summary

The IT Change and Release Manager plays a critical role in ensuring that IT changes and releases are delivered efficiently, safely, and with minimal disruption to business operations. This position is responsible for managing the lifecycle of IT changes and releases, from planning and coordination to implementation and review, while adhering to best practices such as ITIL standards.

The ideal candidate will possess strong analytical and organizational skills, a solid technical background, and the ability to lead cross-functional teams through complex IT processes.

Key Responsibilities

Release Management

• Plan, coordinate, and oversee IT releases, ensuring successful deployments of applications, updates, and infrastructure changes.
• Create and maintain a centralized release calendar to provide visibility across IT teams.
• Conduct release readiness reviews, ensuring all dependencies and risks are addressed.
• Oversee deployment processes, validating that releases meet quality and compliance standards.
• Perform post-release evaluations to document lessons learned and improve future processes.

Process and Policy Development

• Develop and refine release management policies, ensuring alignment with industry and Northern Trust standards (e.g., ITIL).
• Implement tools and automation to enhance efficiency and reduce manual effort in the release workflows.
• Measure and analyze KPIs to identify trends and areas for continuous improvement.

Collaboration and Communication

• Act as the primary liaison between IT and business units for release activities.
• Ensure clear communication of change and release plans, risks, and outcomes to all stakeholders.
• Address escalations related to changes or releases and ensure swift resolution.

Governance and Compliance

• Ensure all releases comply with organizational policies, security standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Maintain detailed documentation for audit purposes and historical reference.
• Provide training and awareness sessions to promote understanding and adherence to IT change and release processes.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
• ITIL certification (Foundation level required; Intermediate or Expert level preferred).

Experience

• 5+ years of experience in IT service management, with a focus on change and release management.
• Demonstrated success managing complex IT changes and releases in a dynamic environment.
• Hands-on experience with ITSM tools (e.g., ServiceNow, Jira, BMC Remedy).
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, and Agile methodologies is advantageous.

Skills

• Strong project management and organizational abilities.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to manage cross-functional teams and stakeholder relationships.
• Analytical mindset with a proactive approach to problem-solving.
• Expertise in risk assessment, mitigation strategies, and root cause analysis.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Percentage of successful changes/releases without incidents.
• Change implementation time vs. schedule.
• Frequency of unplanned outages or rollbacks.
• Stakeholder satisfaction scores for change and release management processes.
• Compliance rate with internal and external standards.

Best Candidate

• Analytical
• Political
• Project Management skills (project portfolio management)
• Risk
• Process

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