Manager - Release Engineering Services

JOB SUMMARY

Manages ERCOT Release Engineering Services function encompassing three core delivery disciplines — Release Dev Ops Engineering (CI/CD, automated deployments, Dev Sec Ops , and pipeline operations), Release Planning and Governance (product release planning, backlog facilitation, change management, and ITSM governance), and Release and Scope Management (release scope baselining, formal scope change control, and traceability from approved backlog items through production deployment).

Leads a team of Release Engineers and Release Train Engineers across all technology stacks and product lines. Responsible for the end-to-end software delivery lifecycle from code commit to production — ensuring releases are automated, scope-controlled, compliant with NERC CIP requirements, governed through Service Now, and continuously improved through DORA metrics and retrospective practices. Operates at the intersection of Dev Ops execution, Agile delivery governance, scope/change control, and regulated change management serving ERCOT's mission to reliably operate the Texas power grid.

Define and govern the CI/CD pipeline architecture, branching strategy, and deployment toolchain standards (Git Hub Actions, Harness, Jenkins, Azure Dev Ops) across all product lines; ensure engineering practices align to Dev Ops industry benchmarks and NERC CIP compliance requirements.

Provide management oversight of all deployments to test, UAT, staging, and production environments; govern release readiness criteria, change authorization processes, and rollback decision authority for high-impact releases across Agile and waterfall delivery tracks.

Own end-to-end release and scope governance for all product lines, ensuring every release is delivered against a formally approved, traceable scope baseline and that scope changes are controlled rather than absorbed informally. Define and baseline release scope for each release cycle and Program Increment, including scope statement, work breakdown of committed backlog items, and acceptance criteria, in alignment with PMI Scope Management practices (Plan Scope, Define Scope, Create WBS, Validate Scope, Control Scope).

Establish and enforce scope-lock checkpoints within Agile Release Train (R-train) cadences; require documented justification, impact assessment, and CAB or Release Train Engineer approval for any story, RFC, or requirement introduced after scope lock. Own formal scope change control: evaluate scope change requests against schedule, capacity, risk, and downstream dependencies, and route approved changes through the Change Advisory Board before they enter a committed release.

Define and report scope health metrics — stories added after scope lock, silent scope drops, scope creep rate, and stories committed versus delivered per cycle — and integrate them into DORA and executive release reporting. Maintain requirements traceability between the approved scope baseline and shipped deliverables, ensuring RFCs, user stories, and acceptance evidence map back to in-scope items and that out-of-scope requests are logged for future cycles rather than dropped without record.

Facilitate scope trade‑off and re‑prioritization decisions during PI Planning Adjustments, Inspect & Adapt sessions, and mid‑cycle re‑baselining; balance business demand against team capacity, schedule, and release risk. Serve as the management escalation point for scope disputes between product, engineering, and business stakeholders, ensuring scope decisions are documented, communicated to all teams, and reflected in the release calendar and CAB record.

Own the Dev Sec Ops  framework for Release Engineering; ensure NERC CIP‑aligned controls (vulnerability scanning, SBOM, image signing, secrets management, audit trails) are embedded in all CI/CD pipelines and production deployment workflows.

DORA Metrics Governance Own DORA metrics instrumentation and executive reporting for Release Engineering; track deployment frequency, lead time,…