Technical Release Manager
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What you'll do
- Own the end-to-end release process across a portfolio of software and system releases, aligning scope, content, configuration, schedule, validation, risks, and readiness from planning through sign-off and deployment.
- Be the expert on release content and configuration, including release-defining changes, hardware and software compatibility, cross-system dependencies, and the downstream impact of changes.
- Coordinate release activities across component teams and downstream consumers, aligning dependencies and incremental work with release milestones to improve consistency and predictability.
- Assess release readiness, anticipate risk, and work across teams to develop mitigation strategies. Ensure validation evidence, release blockers, exceptions, dependencies, and required decisions are understood and resolved before each release gate.
- Lead cross-functional release forums, driving clear decisions, ownership, and accountability.
- Proactively identify and own technical projects that resolve major inefficiencies and/or gaps in the release process.
- Improve release metrics, dashboards, and supporting tools, providing engineering, operations, and leadership with accurate, data-backed assessments of release health.
What they're looking for
- A bachelor’s or master’s degree in systems engineering, computer science, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
- 3+ years of experience as a Technical Program Manager, Release Manager, Systems Engineer, or in a related role.
- Experience in aerospace, autonomous vehicles, robotics, or other safety-critical, hardware-software systems.
- Working knowledge of software configuration, change, and release management, including version control, branch strategy, traceability, and compatibility management.
- Familiarity with the systems engineering concepts, including verification and validation, safety and risk assessment, requirement to test traceability.
- Technical fluency across complex hardware-software systems, with the ability to ask pointed questions, evaluate dependencies, and facilitate technical tradeoffs.
- Demonstrated ability to lead highly specialized domain experts, facilitate technical and nontechnical discussions, and drive decisions without direct authority.
- Proactive risk identification and sound judgment in fast-moving environments with incomplete information, shifting priorities, and competing constraints.
- Excellent written and verbal communication, including the ability to translate technical status and risk for engineering, operations, and leadership audiences.
- Experience using project, requirements, change, and configuration-management tools to maintain traceability, communicate decisions, and drive execution.
Summarised by NextRaise from the employer’s description, which follows in full below.
Full description from employer
About Zipline
Zipline is the world’s largest and most experienced drone delivery service. We are on a mission to serve all humans equally by ensuring access to food, medicine and essential goods anytime, anywhere. We design, build, and operate the world’s largest autonomous logistics system, delivering critical supplies quickly and reliably. Today, Zipline operates on four continents, makes a delivery somewhere in the world every 30 seconds, and has completed millions of deliveries to date, including blood, vaccines, medical supplies, food, and retail products.
Our customers include the world’s largest and most prominent healthcare systems, governments, retailers, restaurants and global businesses who rely on us to save lives, reduce emissions, increase economic opportunity, and provide delivery from point A to point B as fast as possible. The drone is only 15% of what we’ve built to enable seamless, reliable, global operations.
Our system strengthens supply chains, reduces congestion, and gives people time back. With more than 140 million commercial autonomous miles safely flown, Zipline is redefining access to healthcare, consumer products, and food across the globe.
We operate at a global scale and are looking for practical problem solvers who thrive on real-world challenges and rapid growth. Our team is motivated by building systems that have a direct, meaningful impact on people’s lives and by scaling the future of logistics. We are seeking people who sculpt from first principles, enjoy facing adversity, and can do the impossible at record breaking speeds.
About You and The Role
Zipline’s System Validation team ensures the software and hardware powering our autonomous delivery system operate safely, reliably, and as intended in the real world.
As a Technical Release Manager, you will define and own the process for releasing software, hardware, and integrated systems into commercial operations. You will align release scope and readiness, connect the teams responsible for building, validating, deploying, and operating each release, and drive execution through validation, sign-off, and deployment.
This role combines hands-on release management with technical program management. During releases, you will bring structure to ambiguity, surface risk early, establish clear ownership, and drive complex issues to conclusion. Beyond recurring releases, you will lead cross-functional projects that improve release efficiency and precision.
What You'll Do
- Own the end-to-end release process across a portfolio of software and system releases, aligning scope, content, configuration, schedule, validation, risks, and readiness from planning through sign-off and deployment.
- Be the expert on release content and configuration, including release-defining changes, hardware and software compatibility, cross-system dependencies, and the downstream impact of changes.
- Coordinate release activities across component teams and downstream consumers, aligning dependencies and incremental work with release milestones to improve consistency and predictability.
- Assess release readiness, anticipate risk, and work across teams to develop mitigation strategies. Ensure validation evidence, release blockers, exceptions, dependencies, and required decisions are understood and resolved before each release gate.
- Lead cross-functional release forums, driving clear decisions, ownership, and accountability.
- Proactively identify and own technical projects that resolve major inefficiencies and/or gaps in the release process.
- Improve release metrics, dashboards, and supporting tools, providing engineering, operations, and leadership with accurate, data-backed assessments of release health.
What You'll Bring
- A bachelor’s or master’s degree in systems engineering, computer science, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
- 3+ years of experience as a Technical Program Manager, Release Manager, Systems Engineer, or in a related role.
- Experience in aerospace, autonomous vehicles, robotics, or other safety-critical, hardware-software systems.
- Working knowledge of software configuration, change, and release management, including version control, branch strategy, traceability, and compatibility management.
- Familiarity with the systems engineering concepts, including verification and validation, safety and risk assessment, requirement to test traceability.
- Technical fluency across complex hardware-software systems, with the ability to ask pointed questions, evaluate dependencies, and facilitate technical tradeoffs.
- Demonstrated ability to lead highly specialized domain experts, facilitate technical and nontechnical discussions, and drive decisions without direct authority.
- Proactive risk identification and sound judgment in fast-moving environments with incomplete information, shifting priorities, and competing constraints.
- Excellent written and verbal communication, including the ability to translate technical status and risk for engineering, operations, and leadership audiences.
- Experience using project, requirements, change, and configuration-management tools to maintain traceability, communicate decisions, and drive execution.
What Else You Need To Know
The starting cash range for this role is $124,000-$186,000. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum qualifications for this role. The final cash pay for this role will depend on a variety of factors, including a specific candidate's experience, qualifications, skills, working location, and projected impact. The total compensation package for this role may also include: equity compensation; overtime pay; discretionary annual or performance bonuses; sales incentives; benefits such as medical, dental and vision insurance; paid time off; and more.
Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws or our own sensibilities.
We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!
Voluntary Self-Identification
For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.
As set forth in Zipline ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.
Company
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