Manager, North America Release Management

Manager, NA Release Management

WHO WE ARE

Solera is a global leader in data and software services that strives to transform every touchpoint of the vehicle lifecycle into a connected digital experience. In addition, we provide products and services to protect life's other most important assets: our homes and digital identities. Today, Solera processes over 300 million digital transactions annually for approximately 235,000 partners and customers in more than 90 countries. Our 6,500 team members foster an uncommon, innovative culture and are dedicated to bringing the future to bear today through cognitive answers, insights, algorithms, and automation. For more information, please visit solera.com.
 

THE ROLE

We are looking for a Manager of North America Release Managers who can effectively lead a team and self-manage platform releases in a collaborative environment. This role involves working closely with other departments and is the key person for software development and infrastructure deployments. This is a crucial position as a part of the Global Release Management team and will work with the Manager of Release Management in Europe, as well as Release Engineers, Product Owners, and Product Managers across multiple regions, facilitating and coordinating modern, iterative, agile approaches to software delivery.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

As a Manager of North America Release Managers, you will work directly with Product, Engineering, QA, IT, and the Business to manage, track, report on, and ensure the success of Solera's software release efforts.

• Be the product team's subject matter release expert.

• Participate in daily meetings and drive prioritization with the squads.

• Communicate all critical project plans, commitments, and changes, including requirements, QA plans, schedule, and scope changes.

• Collaborate with business, technical, and creative partners to ensure timely capabilities launch readiness, communications, and training delivery.

• Coordinate the creation of detailed release notes, runbooks, and platform architecture diagrams.

• Manage risks and resolve issues that affect release scope, schedule, and quality.

• Facilitate deployment Go/No-Go meetings.

• Support release event (bridge), including communication and coordinating issue resolution.

• Gain a detailed understanding of the products within the region.

• Continually work towards making improvements in the release process

In addition, as a Manager of People, you will:

• Leading direct reports: Scrum Masters and Release Managers

• Working with the Manager of Release Management in Europe to ensure consistency, alignment, and mobilize process improvement efforts

• Aligning with Global Release Management Lead on service priorities, brand, improvement initiative, and delivery expectations

• Ensuring direct reports meet corporate and PMO objectives and performance expectations

• Owning the Release Engineer hiring initiatives for North America

WHAT YOU  WILL BRING

• Bachelor's degree (B.A.) or equivalent work experience.  

• 10+ Years of experience in Release Management, Project/Program Management, or Agile methodologies

• 5+ Years of experience facilitating software delivery projects across multiple teams and regions

• Management and leadership expeirence

• Advanced knowledge of business applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Project, Teams, Power BI, etc. 

• Understanding of SaaS solutions.

• Experience with Agile methodologies (Kanban, SAFe, Scrum, Lean, etc.) required

HOW TO SUCCEED

• Effective Communication: Communicate proactively, effectively, and efficiently while presenting ideas clearly and persuasively to all organizational levels. Excellent verbal and written communication (English)

• Exceptional Delivery: Demonstrated expertise in Release Management as a high-value deliverer, including release scope alignment, release prioritization, engagement of stakeholders, planning, prioritizing work, identifying critical milestones, and driving projects utilizing documented process

• Process Improvement: Increase delivery success by iteratively improving existing or developing new artifacts and processes across programs and the PMO. Apply the proper balance of creating value versus diminishing returns to increase efficiency, repeatability, alignment, control, documentation, reporting, and the capture of details critical to team success.

• Risk Management: Work with stakeholders to identify potential problems, create mitigation plans, and minimize risk to project timelines

• Facilitating Solutions: Discern objective information to address issues, including documenting the impact and utilization of the PMO escalation process; collaboratively problem-solve and adapt to achieve objectives

• Be Reliable: trust will be your number one asset; follow through on what you are expected to do as part of your role; do what you say you are going to do, and be aware of expected communication/project/timeline

• Detail Oriented: at every level, the details do matter; unequivocally skilled in accounting for and confirming critical details; competent in identifying critical follow-up and drill-down questions even when you are not expected to be the technical subject matter expert

• Training Competency: mentoring peers as determined by growth and delegation, skilled at logically documenting processes and artifacts for ease of use by others, comfortable and professional in providing feedback and course re-direction to peers

HOW TO EXCEL

• Creating Accountability: Utilize the PMO framework and Solera processes, apply strategies to maintain alignment, and hold yourself and your teams accountable by driving action plans and ensuring measurable visibility.

• Adding Value: Bring value to stakeholders within projects, programs, and PMO by facilitating alignment and contributing to process improvement with measurable, lasting contributions to organizational performance.

• Building Relationships:  Enhance others by facilitating a positive culture and developing relationships across organizational levels, including assisting, encouraging, enrolling, and collaborating with others.

• Leading with Humility: Be accountable, dependable, transparent, confident, and trustworthy, balanced with inherently valuing the experience, perspective, intelligence, ideas, diversity, and intelligence of others.

• Apply Emotional Intelligence: This role will include dealing with stressful situations and challenging obstacles.  Success will require self-regulation while leading the team in maintaining focus on the end objective. Demonstrate ability to find solutions within the PMO framework and Solera processes and adapt as needed, providing unique solutions. 

• Speed of Work: Capacity to work and improve at a fast pace, contextualize and prioritize communications from simultaneous streams (high volume of MSFT Team chats, meetings, email, phone calls), ability to document and create team alignment in real-time at the pace of working sessions

• Context and Priority Switching: Solera is a fast-paced culture where the PMO is critical to the successful delivery of challenging efforts; capable of quickly switching context throughout the day and often within the hour while continuing to align with the PMO framework; at times, it will be required to pivot priorities with limited notice immediately

• Coachable:  Humility to allow for professional growth and self-enhancement through constructive feedback and collaborative learning

• High Initiative: Actively seeks opportunities for new challenges and professional growth; demonstrates motivation and a passion for work by proactively driving progress, including meeting and pulling in delivery dates

It is impossible to list every requirement for, or responsibility of, any position. Similarly, we cannot identify all the skills a position may require since job responsibilities and the Company's needs may change over time. Therefore, the above job description is neither comprehensive nor exhaustive.  The Company reserves the right to adjust, add, or eliminate any aspect of the above description. The Company also retains the right to require all employees to undertake additional or different job responsibilities to meet business needs.