Release Manager

Methods is a £100M+ IT Services Consultancy who has partnered with a range of central government departments and agencies to transform the way the public sector operates in the UK. Established over 30 years ago and UK-based, we apply our skills in transformation, delivery, and collaboration from across the Methods Group, to create end-to-end business and technical solutions that are people-centred, safe, and designed for the future.

Our human touch sets us apart from other consultancies, system integrators and software houses - with people, technology, and data at the heart of who we are, we believe in creating value and sustainability through everything we do for our clients, staff, communities, and the planet.

We support our clients in the success of their projects while working collaboratively to share skill sets and solve problems. At Methods we have fun while working hard; we are not afraid of making mistakes and learning from them.

Predominantly focused on the public-sector, Methods is now building a significant private sector client portfolio.

Methods was acquired by the Alten Group in early 2022. Alten is a global engineering firm with approximately 57,000 employees specializing in engineering and IT services.

Requirement

Reporting into the DTS Release Lead, the Release and Transition Manager will work closely with the Business Product Owners, Business Change Managers, Project /Delivery Managers and the Operational Services manager. The post holder will be responsible for the service transition and release management of digital products developed as part of the programme. The main responsibilities of the role are: 

This role is responsible for the service transition and release management of digital products into the live service:

• To be responsible for delivering transition and release services within the agreed service levels.

• To help build and maintain a release pipeline that utilises the maturing DCD Demand process.

• To maintain and coordinate an accurate Forward Schedule of Release

• To plan and orchestrate technical implementation of releases into production environments.

• To provide hands-on service implementation, in the production of service and operational collateral to ensure smooth acceptance into service.

• To monitor supplier’s delivery to contractual commitments and escalate as appropriate.

• To work with project managers, service managers and product managers to understand user needs for new and existing services.

• To ensure the warranty and utility of new and updated products through the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) principles and processes as approved by the programme.

• To work with delivery teams to impact access and categorise releases ensuring the correct level of governance is prescribed and carried out successfully;

• To provide direction and guidance to suppliers on service management material creation to enable service transition and ongoing efficient operational service provision;

• To identify risks and issues affecting IT service management processes, operational working agreements and underpinning contracts, escalating as appropriate;

• To identify opportunities for improvement to IT Service Management processes and IT services;

• To work with delivery teams and service partners to identify support services required;

• To ensure that operational collateral delivered by the project team(s) is to the required quality and covers all appropriate areas for the service being transitioned;

• To advise on, manage and implement the service transition activities of agile delivery projects within HMCTS, providing guidance and mentoring to ensure best in class service provision;

• To act as Programme SME’s and help DCD SMS mature operational processes in order to better support Programme Releases.

• To manage the changes to live service arising from the Reform Portfolio, be that via the introduction, amendment or retirement of services.

• To ensure that any live service transitions are carried out in a controlled fashion

• To ensure that any transitions are efficient and effective by following the standard, industrialised approach

• To contributes to the efficiency & effectiveness of service delivery by ensuring the adherence to discrete standard service models and the consideration of non-functional requirements during on-boarding

• To reduce the likelihood of poor service performance through the identification and mitigation of service or transition risks ahead of time

• To works alongside the project and delivery teams to assemble the collateral needed for the Impact Phase

• To runs the Impact Assessment exercise and ensuring that the necessary actions are identified

• To commission and coordinate the build activities required from specialist functions (e.g. Tooling, Service Design, Service Operations)

• To plans, track and report on Knowledge Transfer from delivery to support teams

• To liaises with Live Services and project teams for the fulfilment of Acceptance into Service criteria

• To raises Requests for Change (RFC) in the ITSM toolset

• To controls and coordinates the Go/No Go and Key Decision Points

• To Manage Early Life Support arrangements

• To coordinate with Live Services around final closedown & handover activities

Requirements:
• The post holder must have a strong track record of transitioning new services through acceptance into service (AIS) processes, ensuring projects provide the AIS collateral to enable the service to be operationally supported.

• Significant experience of planning and orchestrating technical deployment of releases into production environments is also essential.

• The post holder will be working with internal and external stakeholders and excellent interpersonal skills allied with the ability to quickly develop strong working relationships in high pressure environments is essential.

• The ability to work both independently and as part of a team, proactively and with versatility in responding to changing circumstances is essential. You will need an eye for detail, excellent communication skills and be able to interrogate reported information and challenge sources where inconsistencies are found.

Benefits:
By joining us you can expect:

• Autonomy to develop and grow your skills and experience
• Be part of exciting project work that is making a difference in society
• Strong, inspiring and thought-provoking leadership
• A supportive and collaborative environment.

As well as this, we offer:

• Development access to LinkedIn Learning, a management development programme and training
• Wellness 24/7 Confidential employee assistance programme
• Social – Breakfast Tuesdays, Thirsty Thursdays and Pizza on the last Thursday of each month as well as commitment to charitable causes
• Time off 25 days a year
• Pension Salary Exchange Scheme with 4% employer contribution and 5% employee contribution
• Discretionary Company Bonus based on company and individual performance
• Life Assurance of 4 times base salary
• Private Medical Insurance which is non-contributory (spouse and dependants included)
• Worldwide Travel Insurance which is non-contributory (spouse and dependants included)