Network Release Manager

Job Title: Network Release Manager, Load Balancing

Location: Charlotte NC, (2 TO 3 DAYS ON SITE)

Duration: 12 Months+

Position Summary

· The Network Release Manager is responsible for coordinating the planning, readiness, execution, and stabilization of complex network implementations supporting enterprise Load Balancing services, with a primary focus on F5 BIG-IP and VMware Avi Load Balancer technologies.

· This role partners across Network Engineering, Operations, Architecture, Product Management, Project Management, application teams, Change Management, and third-party providers to ensure releases are well planned, dependencies are understood, risks are proactively managed, and implementations comply with enterprise change-management standards.

· The Release Manager is accountable for readiness, coordination, execution oversight, and stakeholder communication.

Key Responsibilities

· Coordinate end-to-end implementation activities supporting F5 BIG-IP, VMware Avi Load Balancer, and related application-delivery services.

· Develop and manage change implementation schedules, milestones, resource requirements, risks, and dependencies.

· Coordinate application migrations, infrastructure refreshes, software upgrades, vulnerability remediation, maintenance, and service decommissioning.

· Partner with engineering and operations teams to validate implementation, testing, validation, bakout, support, and escalation plans.

· Identify and manage cross-functional dependencies involving routing, firewall, DNS, certificates, security controls, monitoring, applications, and infrastructure.

· Coordinate preparation and review of Change Requests (CRQs) and supporting implementation documentation.

· Facilitate implementation-readiness reviews, implementation checkpoints, change windows, Production Day-One support, and post-implementation reviews.

· Monitor implementation execution and proactively resolve or escalate schedule conflicts, resource constraints, technical dependencies, and delivery risks.

· Coordinate engineering, operations, vendors, and project resources across multiple concurrent releases without direct reporting authority.

· Provide clear and timely release status, risk, issue, and escalation communications to delivery teams and senior stakeholders.

· Ensure releases comply with enterprise Change Management policies, controls, and documentation requirements.

· Identify opportunities to improve release processes, reporting, automation, and overall delivery effectiveness.

Required Qualifications

· 5+ years of experience coordinating technical delivery, infrastructure projects, production releases, or enterprise changes.

· Experience supporting network infrastructure and enterprise Change/Release Management processes.

· Working technical knowledge of Load Balancing and application-delivery concepts, including virtual IPs, pools, nodes, health monitors, SSL/TLS certificates, DNS, routing, firewall dependencies, and traffic management.

· Demonstrated experience coordinating complex implementations across engineering, operations, application, security, vendor, and project teams.

· Experience with CRQs, Change Approval Board (CAB) processes, implementation and backout plans, release-readiness reviews, risk management, and post-implementation activities.

· Ability to manage multiple concurrent efforts, competing priorities, technical dependencies, and critical delivery dates.

· Strong written, verbal, presentation, and stakeholder-management skills, including the ability to communicate and influence across technical teams and senior leadership.

· Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, ownership, and ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced environment.

· Ability to participate in planned evening and weekend implementation windows when required.

Preferred Qualifications

· Direct experience supporting F5 BIG-IP and/or VMware Avi Load Balancer environments.

· Familiarity with F5 technologies such as LTM, DNS/GTM, Advanced WAF/ASM, and APM.

· Experience coordinating load-balancing migrations, platform refreshes, software upgrades, vulnerability remediation, or application onboarding.

· Experience with Jira and Confluence and hybrid waterfall/Agile delivery methodologies.

· Experience within banking, financial services, or another highly regulated environment.

· Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, information technology, business, or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.

· PMP, ITIL, SAFe, CCNA, F5, VMware Avi, or related certifications are a plus.