Release And Quality Assurance Manager at GVA Partners

Industry ICT / Telecommunications

Specialization Accounting / Audit / Tax

Minimum Qualification Degree

Minimum Experience 7 Year(s)

Application Deadline 2011-09-15

rowth in Value Alliance (GV Alliance) Partners is a business advisory and market intelligence services firm. Our objectives are to assist organizations to achieve their growth aspirations by providing market intelligence, strategy formulation and implementation expertise and business operation improvement skills.GVA’s unique value proposition is our familiarity with both global and local business environment and depth of expertise of our consultants. Our consultants have a combined industry experience of over 18 years in various roles such as project managers, business analyst, product developers, strategy consultants and industry research analyst in large multinational firms. We typically resource all engagements with personnel that have gained direct and related experience from similar assignments. Our clients in the telecommunication and financial service industries have the above position available.Job Title:      Release And Quality Assurance ManagerPlan the deployment of software releases of products and in-house applications. 
Work with the end users, and internal cross teams to prioritize and scope scheduled releases with completion dates for each phase. 
Monitor progress by employing appropriate metrics and management reporting. 
Facilitate all release and change control meetings.
Manage the release process end-to-end, from the planning of release content through to actual release deployment to production. 
Develop the change management process for documenting software release and actively drive the process to support release management in an ITIL Change Management process.
Create the platform for concise documentation and appropriate distribution of all software releases. 
Schedule reviews as necessary to ensure all stakeholders are aware of the impacts of a software release.
Create and maintain version directories. 
Coordinate and participate in regular post-implementation reviews and present release metrics in order to assist with the evaluation of release quality. 
Track and report status and other metrics against goals on an ongoing basis.
Configure and implement automated tool and/or manual processes that integrate the Release Management function with other ITIL processes. 
Control the combination of various versions of all software releases which have passed the testing series and are certified as working correctly together. 
Control the version migration process of each version release through development and testing process. 
Plan and support conversion test migrations and production deployments across multiple environments. 
Assist with the planning and support of the user acceptance testing (UAT) phase.
Assist with the creation of test plans, test scripts, test data sets and automated testing.
Develop and use automated test scripts to ensure all components of the system meet specifications.
Drive the automation of the regression test tool- collect regression test scripts and execute automated regression tests on software after each approved build as well as publish the results.
Work with other technical team members to resolve all release related issues.
Coordinate all testing with end users prior to production.
Advise end users of all changes and impacts prior to release.
Write and maintain written procedures for all release management activities.
Ensure completion of operational and technical documentation prior to software release for each application. 
Gather necessary release notes and user guides prior to releasing software into production.
Lead the planning and release management processes to ensure that release process is effectively communicated and planned, under the directives of the Head, Transformation and Change. 
Define and document Release Management processes and policies in a Plan, clearly defining workflows, default calendars, roles, responsibilities and artifacts. 
Provide leadership and work guidance to members of the Release Management team.
The post holder will be expected to work actively to achieve enterprise goals within a set of resource constraints. S/he will need to: 
Have the ability to think logically and analyse complex situations for effective, sometimes out of the box solutions.
Work with all stakeholders to develop strategic solution options and delivery plans
Communication and visibility of all critical issues and their status and service restore plans
Define team member roles and expectations, and ensure timely feedback
Communicate and interact effectively with internal and external stakeholders
Manage conflicts and relationships through effective communication with all stakeholders
Perform project planning and project schedule monitoring across multiple project teams 
Oversee the regular updating and monitoring of metrics for the project such as, but not limited to, defects identified, basis of estimate, and earned value
Communicate effectively between software implementation teams to ensure on-time delivery of software products. 
Assess any impacts to software schedules and tracking those impacts to resolution.
Validate that software code is following standards and ensuring code and documentation peer reviews are carried out
Provide on-call support for end users for all in-place software release solutions. 
Build and maintain relationships with the overall team and stakeholders.
Coach, mentor, appraise and develop team members
Minimum of 7 years of Quality Assurance/ Testing experience.
5 or more years of software release management experience.
5 or more years of experience in managing release schedules, monitoring and reporting release status. 
3 or more years experience in leading technical teams 
Knowledge of SDLC and ITIL standards- ITIL certification required
A history of working with agile/ scrum software projects
Strong project management skills.
Strong experience in software release engineering, and/or configuration management.
Knowledge of Configuration Management industry standards and best practices.
Knowledge of the deployment of standard business applications or large scale web applications.
ITIL, Change Control and Management processes.
Extensive knowledge of software configuration management systems and/or source code version control systems. 
Working knowledge of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
Sound knowledge of quality assurance methodologies
Sound knowledge of software process management and improvement techniques
Working knowledge of technical architectures and development phases.
Previous programming skills/extensive scripting skills will be advantageous.
Test Automation skills is highly desirable
Knowledge of software testing and automated test scripts.
Ability to communicate effectively, verbally and in writing, to interact effectively with internal and external clients, peers, management and cross-functional areas, to build relationships and use facilitation skills with both technical and non-technical personnel
Ability to set appropriate stakeholders’ expectations
Ability to create technical documentation
Proven analytical and problem-solving abilities. 
Ability to pay close attention to detail and effectively prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment. 
Team-oriented and skilled in working within a collaborative environment. 
Knowledge management 
Entrepreneurially minded
A good bachelor’s degree in Science, Electronic Engineering or any related discipline.(B.Sc degree in Computer Science, Engineering discipline, Mathematics or Physics will be a distinct advantage)
Experience within the Financial Services sector will be a distinct advantage
Experience in managing/working with senior stakeholders will be a distinct advantage

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