STEP Release Management Lead

Job Description Summary

The STEP Release Management Lead is responsible for establishing, governing, and continuously improving release management across the Enterprise Transformation Program, with a primary focus on SAP S/4HANA and SAP Cloud ALM. The incumbent ensures that business, technical, integration, data, and deployment changes are planned, sequenced, approved, tested, and released into production in a controlled, auditable, and business-aligned manner. Working closely with program leadership, process teams, solution architects, SAP functional and technical teams, test management, cutover, operations, quality, and external implementation partners, the role provides end-to-end visibility of release scope, dependencies, risks, readiness, and go-live decisions. The role also drives the effective use of SAP Cloud ALM for deployment planning, feature and requirement traceability, release governance, progress transparency, and compliance-ready reporting.

Job Description

Major accountabilities: 

• Define and operate the end-to-end release management framework for the Enterprise Transformation Program, covering release strategy, release calendar, governance model, release gates, roles and responsibilities, and decision forums.
• Own and maintain the integrated SAP S/4HANA release plan, ensuring alignment across program increments, deployment waves, testing cycles, cutover activities, business readiness, and production go-live windows.
• Drive effective use of SAP Cloud ALM for requirement, feature, test, defect, deployment, and release traceability, ensuring transparent reporting of release scope, status, dependencies, risks, and decisions.
• Coordinate cross-functional release readiness across business process teams, SAP functional and technical teams, integration, data migration, security, testing, change management, cutover, operations, and external delivery partners.
• Govern change and deployment execution, including transport coordination, release bundling, dependency management, impact assessment, approvals, segregation of duties, and controlled movement of changes through non-production and production environments.
• Establish release quality criteria and go/no-go checkpoints, ensuring that testing evidence, defect status, business sign-offs, technical readiness, operational readiness, and compliance documentation are complete before production deployment.
• Identify, escalate, and actively manage release risks, conflicts, environment constraints, transport dependencies, testing bottlenecks, and readiness gaps that could impact deployment timelines or business continuity.
• Champion continuous improvement of release processes, automation, metrics, and reporting to increase delivery predictability, reduce deployment risk, and support a scalable SAP S/4HANA operating model.
• Responsible for performing all assigned activities in compliance with GxP regulations, company SOPs, and data integrity requirements.

Minimum Requirements: 
Experience and Skills:

• 10+ years of experience in project delivery and/or application management or IT services within a multinational organization. Key skills include strategic planning, financial acumen, and team leadership.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Effective communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate business needs into data and system requirements.
• Strong leadership and team-building skills, with a focus on developing talent and fostering a collaborative team culture.
• Proven ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and drive change and innovation.
• Experience in managing global projects and working in diverse cultural environments.
• Proficiency in using advanced software tools and platforms relevant to the job.
• Experience with ITIL frameworks and other service management methodologies.
• Expert knowledge and practical experience in SAP S/4HANA release management, SAP Cloud ALM, SAP Activate delivery methods, and large-scale ERP transformation programs.
• Certification in project management methods (Agile, ITIL, Prince 2, PMI) is a plus.
• Certification or formal training in SAP S/4HANA, SAP Cloud ALM, SAP Activate, project management, Agile, ITIL, Prince2, or PMI is a plus.
• Experience with Agile/DevOps methodologies; Certification is a plus

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology Business Administration, or related field; (Master’s degree is preferred)

Languages:

• Fluent English required (oral and written)

Skills Desired

Budget Management, Business Acumen, Performance Management, Risk Management, Service Delivery Management, Stakeholder Management, Strategic Planning, Talent Development, Waterfall Project Management