Release Manager

Location:

Chicago, IL Hybrid Anchor Days:
Monday - Thursday (pick 3 days)

Duration: 2 months with possibility of extension

• The client is seeking an experienced Release Manager to support the delivery of strategic cybersecurity remediation initiatives, including network segmentation security controls.
• The Release Manager will be accountable for planning, coordinating, and governing releases across multiple work streams to ensure changes are introduced into production in a predictable, secure, and compliant manner.
• This role operates within a heavily regulated financial services environment and requires close alignment with Security Engineering and Program Delivery functions.

• Define, maintain, and execute integrated release plans across multiple cybersecurity work streams and delivery teams.
• Coordinate release activities spanning planning, build, test, validation, and deployment phases.
• Ensure releases are aligned with program milestones, regulatory commitments, and dependency constraints.
• Manage release calendars and resolve conflicts across parallel initiatives and shared environments.

• Partner with technology Change Management teams to ensure all releases comply with internal change control, approval, and audit requirements.
• Identify, assess, and manage release-related risks, including environment readiness, dependency misalignment, and rollback considerations.
• Ensure release artefacts (release notes, deployment plans, back?out procedures) are complete, accurate, and audit-ready.
• Support governance routines by providing clear visibility into upcoming releases, risks, and go/no?go decisions.

• Act as a central coordination point between Security Engineers, Infrastructure & app teams, and project resources.
• Support planning and execution for complex infrastructure and security-related changes.
• Coordinate testing and validation activities to ensure solutions meet security, operational, and regulatory expectations before release.
• Manage communications to stakeholders before, during, and after releases to ensure transparency and alignment.

• Proven experience delivering infrastructure, security, or regulatory remediation initiatives in Financial Services or similarly regulated environments.
• Strong understanding of change management, release governance, and risk controls.
• Experience coordinating releases across multiple teams, vendors, and time zones.
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent releases without loss of control or visibility.
• Strong communication skills, able to explain complex release risks and decisions to technical and non?technical stakeholders.

• Experience with release and change tracking tools such as Service Now, Azure Dev Ops (ADO), JIRA, or equivalent platforms.
• Familiarity with CI/CD concepts and how they apply in controlled enterprise environments.
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office 365 and MS Teams for coordination and reporting.

Experience supporting releases involving network, firewall, identity, or cloud security components is strongly preferred