Release Manager

Company Description

Since opening our first self-storage facility in 1972, Public Storage has grown to become the largest owner and operator of self-storage facilities in the world. With thousands of locations across the U.S. and Europe, and more than 170 million net rentable square feet of real estate, we're also one of the largest landlords.

We've been recognized as A Great Place to Work by the Great Place to Work Institute. And, our employees have also voted us as having Best Career Growth, ranked us in the Top 5% for Work Culture, and in the Top 10% for Diversity and Inclusion.

We're a member of the S&P 500 and FT Global 500. Our common and preferred stocks trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Public Storage is the nation’s leading self-storage provider, recognized for its iconic orange doors and commitment to delivering simple, reliable solutions to millions of customers across the country. We are expanding our creative team to enhance our consistent and engaging visual brand presence.

Job Description

This role will own end-to-end release orchestration—from scheduling and change management through stakeholder communication and post-release validation. The Release Manager will serve as the central coordination point between Development, QA, Product, Operations, and Business stakeholders to ensure controlled, auditable, and risk-mitigated software deployments. 

Key Responsibilities 

Release Planning & Scheduling 

• Own the release calendar across all software development teams and platforms (web, mobile, backend services) 

• Coordinate release windows and dependencies across multiple concurrent initiatives 

• Establish and maintain release schedules aligned with business priorities and operational constraints 

• Proactively identify scheduling conflicts, resource constraints, and cross-team dependencies 

Change Management & Governance 

• Create and manage Change Request (CR) tickets in ServiceNow for all software releases 

• Ensure all releases follow established change management policies and procedures 

• Attend and represent changes at weekly/bi-weekly Change Advisory Board (CAB) meetings 

• Present release scope, risk assessments, rollback plans, and business justification to CAB stakeholders 

• Obtain necessary approvals and document decisions in an audit-ready manner 

Release Documentation & Communication 

• Develop clear, comprehensive Release Notes for technical and non-technical audiences 

• Communicate release schedules, feature updates, and potential impacts to stakeholders across the organization 

• Maintain a centralized repository of release documentation, runbooks, and post-mortems 

• Create stakeholder communication plans tailored to different audiences (executives, operations, support teams, end users) 

Cross-Functional Coordination 

• Partner closely with Product, Engineering, QA, DevOps, Infrastructure, and Business teams to ensure release readiness 

• Facilitate go/no-go meetings and readiness reviews prior to each release 

• Coordinate User Acceptance Testing (UAT) completion and sign-offs 

• Ensure deployment teams have clear runbooks and rollback procedures 

Risk Management & Issue Resolution 

• Identify and escalate release risks, blockers, and dependencies early 

• Drive resolution of issues that could impact release timelines or quality 

• Coordinate emergency hotfixes and out-of-cycle releases when necessary 

• Conduct post-release retrospectives and implement continuous improvement initiatives 

Process Improvement & Standards 

• Establish and maintain release management best practices, templates, and standards 

• Define and enforce "Definition of Done" criteria for release readiness 

• Implement metrics and reporting to track release velocity, quality, and predictability 

• Drive automation and tooling improvements to increase release efficiency

Qualifications

Required Experience 

• 5–8 years of hands-on Release Management or similar experience in a technology-focused environment 

• 2–4 years managing releases across multiple Agile/Scrum teams simultaneously 

• Proven experience managing 50 releases annually in a complex, multi-team environment 

• Strong understanding of SDLC, CI/CD pipelines, and modern deployment practices 

• Hands-on experience with ServiceNow (or similar ITSM platforms) for change management 

• Experience participating in and presenting to Change Advisory Board (CAB) meetings 

Technical & Process Knowledge 

• Deep familiarity with Agile/Scrum methodologies and release cadences 

• Understanding of web and mobile application deployment processes 

• Knowledge of DevOps practices, automation tools, and deployment strategies (blue/green, canary, rolling) 

• Experience with version control systems (Git), build tools, and deployment automation 

• Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) is a plus 

Core Competencies 

• Exceptional organizational skills — ability to manage multiple concurrent releases without dropping details 

• Strong communication skills — both written and verbal, with ability to communicate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders at all levels (including Directors and VPs) 

• Proactive and self-directed — anticipates needs, identifies risks early, and drives resolution independently 

• Calm under pressure — maintains composure during critical releases and incidents 

• Detail-oriented — ensures accuracy in documentation, approvals, and compliance requirements 

• Collaborative mindset — builds strong relationships across teams and functions 

Preferred Qualifications 

• ITIL Foundation certification or equivalent change management training 

• Background in website and mobile app release management 

Additional Information

Workplace

• One of our values pillars is to work as OneTeam and we believe that there is no replacement for in-person collaboration but understand the value of some flexibility. Public Storage teammates are expected to work in the office five days each week with the option to take up to three flexible remote days per month. 

Public Storage is an equal opportunity employer and embraces diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or any other protected status. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply.

**Sponsorship for Work Authorization is not available for this posting.  Candidates must be authorized to work in the U.S. without requiring sponsorship now or in the future.**

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