Software Development Manager - Release Management

Department Overview

The Software Development Manager – Release Management at McDonald's leads best-in-class software release activities across multiple product lines. This role suits a proactive, self-motivated individual who works well with multi-functional teams and focuses on operational efficiency. As a key member of our release management team, you will guide Release Managers and Defect Managers. You will also collaborate with Test Leads, handle sprint and release close-out tasks, and lead special projects to update release processes.

You will evaluate, develop, and grow talent within the Release Management and Defect Management teams. If you excel in rigorously leading important metrics, coordinating with vendors, and driving detailed execution, this is the perfect opportunity for you!

Accountabilities & Responsibilities

Release Management Leadership

• Coordinate the full release lifecycle, ensuring planning, validation, documentation, communication, and deployment are accomplished effectively.
• Guide and support Release Coordinators and Defect Coordinators, including assessing performance and encouraging talent through structured mentoring and development plans.
• Maintain release calendars, deployment timelines, readiness assessments, and governance compliance.

Sprint & Release Close‑Out

• Guide sprint and product launch wrap-up ceremonies, including:
• Scope completion validation
• Defect review and prioritization
• Documentation of risks and known issues

Multi-functional communication of results

• Drive post-release retrospectives and follow-up on improvement actions.

Defect & Issue Management

• Coordinate defect triage, prioritization, assignment, and root-cause analysis.
• Ensure consistent defect lifecycle processes and strong RCA documentation.
• Partner with engineering to drive defect burn-down and long-term product stability.

Quality, Testing & Compliance Alignment

• Collaborate alongside Test Leads to ensure accurate implementation of testing strategies, regression plans, and acceptance criteria.
• Ensure releases meet performance, accessibility, security, and functional quality gates.
• Advance risks or quality concerns proactively and openly.

Release Management Special Projects

Coordinate special projects including:

• Tooling and automation improvements

Process and governance modernization

• Reporting and analytics improvements

Pilot rollout frameworks and enablement strategies

• Collaborate across departments including the project management office dedicated to solution preparation, Engineering, Product, and Ops.

Operational Excellence & Benchmark Ownership

• Partner with senior leadership to define release adoption strategies and operational readiness plans.
• Develop, track, and report benchmarks measuring release predictability, defect leakage, cycle time, MTTR, testing compliance, and overall release quality.
• Use data-driven insights to improve processes and elevate team performance.
• Maintain clear dashboards and operational reporting.

Cross‑Functional & Vendor Collaboration

• Collaborate closely with Engineering, Product, PMO, Solution Readiness, Operations, and partner teams.
• Coordinate interactions and teamwork involving outside vendors to make sure work corresponds with release deadlines.
• Collaborate optimally with offshore teams, ensuring alignment across time zones, clear communication, and consistent execution.
• Facilitate release readiness reviews, dependency alignment, and cross-team planning sessions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software Engineering, or a related technical field.
• More than 5 years of experience in software development, release management, DevOps, or comparable technical leadership positions.
• More than 2 years of experience managing people, including proven ability in assessing and developing talent.
• Strong understanding of SDLC, Agile practices, defect lifecycles, and release governance.
• Experience collaborating with external vendors, offshore personnel, and extensive multi-functional groups.
• Excellent communication, risk management, and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to lead teams in fast-paced, high-complexity environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in large enterprise, multi-platform, or high-transaction environments.
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, DevOps tooling, cloud environments, and automation frameworks.
• Experience leading distributed global teams.
• History of using important metrics and analytics to drive continuous improvement.

Compensation

Bonus Eligible: Yes

Benefits Eligible: Yes

Salary Range

The expected salary range for this role is $127,332.00 - $159,165.00 per year
 
The above represents the expected salary range for this job requisition. Ultimately, in determining your pay, we may also consider your experience, and other job-related factors.