Release Manager

Reach’s customer value strategy puts our customers and their experience at the heart of everything we do. The Release Manager plays a key role in ensuring we deliver high-quality software to production reliably and efficiently. This position also reports to the Head of Delivery. You will be responsible for the coordination, governance, and successful deployment of releases across teams, ensuring all necessary checks, approvals, and documentation are in place.

In addition to managing releases, this role will also provide delivery management support for squads whose work is centred on adoption, configuration, and operational follow-up of software built by our teams. These squads whilst often working outside of traditional development life cycles still require strong planning and coordination.

You’ll work closely with other members of the Delivery Management function and the wider Engineering team in addition to Product, Digital Operations and PMO team members.

This is not a line management role, but you will be responsible for coordinating cross-functional teams and ensuring readiness and issue resolution across multiple squads.

You will be responsible for fostering a great culture by being a strong role model and demonstrating great people leadership. You must have a continuous improvement mindset and be constantly looking for opportunities for improvement.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

Release Management:

• Own and coordinate the end-to-end release process across products and platforms
• Ensure all changes have the appropriate CAB approvals and follow release governance processes
• Validate that all required testing, documentation, and sign-offs are complete prior to deployment
• Maintain an accurate release schedule and provide visibility across teams
• Act as the main point of contact for releases — communicating timelines, risks, and status updates to stakeholders
• Monitor post-release performance and facilitate post-release reviews and retrospectives

Issue Triage and Support:

• Monitor incoming issues related to releases and assign them to the appropriate teams.
• Escalate blockers and risks, ensuring they are addressed promptly and transparently.
• Maintain visibility over issues until resolution and share regular updates with stakeholders.

Delivery for Non-Development Squads:

• Act as Delivery Manager for squads whose remit includes rollout, configuration, or operational use of software
• Support planning and prioritisation for these teams, ensuring smooth handovers and adoption
• Ensure Agile ceremonies, reporting, and team processes are in place and adapted to their delivery model

Skill

• Strong understanding of software delivery and release management processes
• Hands-on experience coordinating deployments and working with CAB/change governance
• Excellent organisational and planning skills — able to manage multiple moving parts across teams
• Effective communicator, able to influence and align stakeholders at all levels
• Calm under pressure, particularly during time-sensitive deployments or incidents
• Experience working with technical teams and understanding of Agile delivery principles

Key Experience

• Experience managing or coordinating software releases in an Agile environment
• Experience working with CAB, change governance, or regulated deployment processes
• Experience supporting delivery of software development, infrastructure or operations

We are offering a competitive salary and benefits including;

• Help saving for your retirement - join our pension scheme and we’ll match contributions up to 6%
• 25 days’ holiday per year when you join. After three, five and ten years’ service with Reach, you’ll accrue one additional day of annual leave. We also have a Holiday Purchase Scheme
• Giving back day - an additional day’s leave each year to support a cause close to your heart
• Enhanced family leave - including maternity, paternity and adoption - and you’ll be eligible after just six months’ employment
• Private Healthcare Cash Plan - free health cash plan so you can claim back cash for a range of medical expenses
• As one of the UK’s top 50 Inclusive Employers everyone’s invited to join our events, programmes and networks to celebrate diversity and build an environment where all our people can thrive
• Wellbeing support - including a 24/7 employee assistance programme (EAP) for you and your nearest and dearest
• Awesome career opportunities - you’ll have support from your line manager and a range of learning & development programmes
• We are also a member of the 30% Club, a global campaign aimed at increasing gender diversity at board and senior management levels

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested please apply early to avoid disappointment.

Reach plc believes diversity brings benefits for our customers, our business and our people. This is why we are committed to being an inclusive employer and encourage applications from all suitable applicants irrespective of background, circumstances, age, disability, gender identity, ethnicity, religion or belief and sexual orientation.