Software Release Manager

Description

Description

Are you the kind of person who keeps your environments clean, your dependencies minimal, and your stakeholders stress-free? Do you see the value in moving fast—but never breaking things? If orchestrating software releases with finesse, visibility, and zero drama sounds like your version of a good time, keep reading.

I’m the CTO at RTA, and I’m on the hunt for a Software Release Manager, not just a scrum master, who can own our release process from concept to customer. You’ll work across the org to ensure features flow smoothly from idea to production, without surprise parties along the way (unless we’re shipping something epic—then you better bring balloons).

If you’re a systems thinker who believes in continuous delivery, lives in the land of Kanban, and treats stakeholder communication as a first-class citizen, we want to talk.

What We’re Looking For

In general, someone who:

• Thrives in organized chaos, sees complexity as an invitation, and rallies teams through both wins and setbacks.
• Knows how to navigate and even welcome healthy conflict. Thin-skinned folks, proceed with caution.
• Genuinely cares about our clients—fleet managers, parts clerks, and auto techs—because their jobs keep real people safe.
• Leads with humility and grit. No job is beneath them, whether it's debugging a deploy or cleaning up a stale branch.
• Owns their role fully, proactively solving problems and finding ways to make their team more effective.
• Reads, grows, learns. Bonus points for any Lencioni books you’ve devoured!

Specifically for This Role, Someone Who:

• Has 5+ years of experience in software delivery, release coordination, or DevOps-adjacent roles
• Is fluent in Agile and Kanban practices (you think in flow efficiency, not sprint points)
• Knows how to drive change without being “the process person”
• Understands versioning, change management, rollback strategies, and hotfix triage
• Is a Jira (or similar) ninja—able to configure, automate, and extract real insights
• Works hand-in-hand with engineering leads and product owners to prioritize release readiness
• Has strong instincts around risk, quality, and timing—and knows how to balance them
• Writes comms that are crisp, kind, and always appreciated by stakeholders
• Can facilitate go/no-go decisions without panic or politics
• Is technically literate enough to discuss deployments, CI/CD, and build pipelines
• Knows post-release retros are sacred and feedback loops are gold

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinate & Orchestrate: Align engineering, QA, and product teams for every release—big or small
• Flow Management: Ensure features are continuously moving through Kanban stages with clarity and ownership
• Risk Management: Identify and mitigate delivery risks early through visibility and stakeholder alignment
• Stakeholder Comms: Proactively communicate timelines, changes, blockers, and outcomes to all stakeholders
• Release Planning: Own the calendar, checklist, and ceremony for each release—including emergency deploys and patches
• Automation Partner: Work with DevOps to evolve pipelines, tools, and dashboards that reduce manual effort
• Continuous Improvement: Facilitate retros, root cause analysis, and process refinements across the SDLC
• Tool Stewardship: Maintain systems that track release readiness, delivery metrics, and flow efficiency

Key Results Areas

• Smooth Releases: Deployments are stable, low-drama, and predictable
• High Visibility: Stakeholders always know what’s coming, when, and why
• Reduced Risk: Quality and risk are managed through transparency and feedback
• Efficient Flow: Features move through the SDLC with minimal friction
• Process Maturity: Teams incrementally improve release practices every cycle

Qualifications

• 5+ years in software release, delivery, or related roles
• Deep understanding of Agile SDLCs, especially Kanban and continuous delivery
• Experience with CI/CD tools (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, CircleCI, etc.)
• Familiarity with Jira, Confluence, and other release planning tools
• Exceptional communication and facilitation skills
• Bonus points for experience in cloud platforms (AWS/GCP) and incident management workflows

The Bottom Line

If you thrive on cross-functional coordination, love creating clarity from complexity, and know that a “release” isn’t just a deploy but the final chapter of a great delivery story—you’ll feel right at home. We offer $120k–$135k, hybrid work (M/W/F in Glendale), and a great team that values calm, confidence, and craft.

About Us

RTA has been around since 1979 and is known for top-tier customer service. We support the people who keep buses, ambulances, and transit running. Our culture is warm and collaborative, and our team is energized by meaningful work. Our Glendale office is convenient, sunlit, and full of snacks.

Still reading? Then you’re probably our kind of person. Hit apply and let’s make releases boring (in the best way).