Senior Software Release Manager

Job Summary:

The Senior Software Release Manager will lead the strategic execution of Product Releases and complex airline releases by driving cross-functional collaboration, stakeholder alignment, and issue resolution. Oversee testing, prioritize defects, and manage customer negotiations to ensure seamless deployment, schedule consensus, and high-quality outcomes. This role requires strong software technical understanding, senior-level delivery and project management skills, excellent interpersonal skills, strong process understanding, and the ability to clearly present release status to stakeholders. Experience in complex customer-facing software delivery environments is required.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Coordinate software release processes, including planning, scheduling, and deployment, with a strong focus on quality and timeliness

Collaborate with cross-functional teams such as Engineering, Product Management, and Program Management to ensure effective communication and alignment throughout the release lifecycle, including SW and System Engineering, integration, and customer-facing teams. Provide leadership and influence across cross-functional team members so they remain focused, put effort into improving execution, remove blockers, and meet agreed deadlines

Oversee defect prioritization and resolution efforts, negotiating scope and schedule to maintain high standards of quality.

Manage release risks by identifying potential blockers, developing contingency plans, and ensuring proactive issue resolution. Provide recovery plans when release dates or quality are at risk

Document and communicate release plans, progress, and outcomes to stakeholders, including senior leadership and customers. Prepare clear release status updates, dashboards, decision points, risks, dependencies, and customer/program impact for stakeholders.

Participate actively in development and testing phases, providing insights and oversight to maintain release integrity

Support customer meetings when necessary, supporting complex deployments with established release strategies and clear status communication for customer-facing software deliveries.

Contribute to stakeholder communication, ensuring alignment and consensus on release timelines and outcomes

Own release schedule, milestones, dependencies, risks, blockers, and action items.

Lead release readiness reviews and delivery checkpoints.

Maintain Jira and MS Project views to support release planning, schedule tracking, issue follow-up, and management reporting

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience

6+ years of experience in software release management, technical project management, software delivery, or software program management

Experience in complex customer-facing software delivery environments, preferably within aviation, aerospace, IFE, embedded systems, or other integrated technology platforms

Strong software technical understanding, including software development lifecycle, release lifecycle, software features, defects, builds, integration issues, validation, deployment readiness, and customer-impacting software issues

Ability to translate technical software issues into clear schedule, quality, risk, dependency, and customer-impact language

Experience working closely with software engineering, QA, system engineering, integration, validation, product, program management, and customer-facing teams

Strong hands-on experience with Jira and MS Project, including release tracking, task ownership, dependencies, blockers, milestones, dashboards, and schedule management

Skilled in project planning and execution, including ownership of release schedules, milestones, dependencies, risks, blockers, action items, and recovery plans

Strong understanding of risk management, mitigation planning, governance frameworks, and release decision-making

Experience supporting project management process improvements, and organizational transformation

Knowledge of portfolio and program management concepts

Strong presentation, leadership, and stakeholder communication skills, with the ability to present clear release status to leadership, customers, and cross-functional teams

Ability to influence cross-functional team members without direct authority, drive accountability, and motivate teams to meet commitments and deadlines

Strong verbal communication skills

Detail-oriented, highly organized, and able to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment

Team-oriented work style with strong collaboration, negotiation, and problem-solving skills

The starting pay range for this position is $112,000 - 127,000 per year however, the base pay offered may vary depending on the level of the position, skills, experience, job-related knowledge, and location.

In addition to a comprehensive package of health benefits that include company contributions, RAVE Aerospace offers a variety of additional benefits and perks to enhance your work-life balance experience including but not limited to:

• A home allowance to elevate your home workspace
• Discretionary bonus program
• Future financial security with a 401(k) program with a company match
• Paid time off covering vacations, personal time off, and sick days, capped off by an exciting year-end holiday shutdown
• Embraced flexibility with our alternative work schedule (9/80) to navigate your workweeks with every other Friday off