RQ00790 - Project Manager/Leader - Senior I City of Toronto

RQ00790 - Project Manager/Leader - Senior

Location: Toronto, ON – Metro Hall, 55 John Street, 15th Floor
Work Arrangement: Hybrid – up to 3 days onsite per week, subject to Hiring Manager discretion
Public Sector Experience: Preferred
Supplier Submissions: 1

Project Overview

We are seeking an experienced Senior Project Manager / Release Manager to establish, implement, and continuously improve enterprise-wide Release Management practices .

The successful candidate will develop and standardize release management processes, governance, tools, templates, and reporting across a diverse portfolio of technology initiatives. This role will work closely with project, product, operations, infrastructure, vendor, and business teams to establish a consistent and scalable framework for release planning, assessment, approval, scheduling, deployment, risk management, and communication.

The ideal candidate has proven experience implementing or maturing Release Management practices within large, complex enterprise or public-sector environments with diverse delivery methodologies and varying levels of process maturity.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and operationalize an enterprise-wide Release Management framework , including processes, procedures, governance, roles, and responsibilities.
• Assess current-state release and deployment practices and identify opportunities for standardization and continuous improvement.
• Establish release planning, scheduling, governance, dependency management, risk assessment, approval, and deployment readiness processes.
• Develop and maintain release management artifacts, including release plans, intake forms, deployment checklists, templates, procedures, and governance documentation .
• Establish an enterprise release calendar and reporting framework.
• Define and implement release metrics, dashboards, KPIs, and executive reporting .
• Facilitate release governance meetings, risk reviews, dependency reviews, and deployment readiness assessments.
• Collaborate with Project Management, Change Management, Service Management, technical, operational, and vendor teams to align release activities with business and service delivery objectives.
• Provide coaching, training, and knowledge transfer to project and operational teams.
• Recommend and implement process improvements to increase consistency, compliance, transparency, and operational effectiveness.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field .
• 10+ years of experience in IT Service Management, Release Management, Change Management, Project Delivery, or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated experience establishing or maturing Release Management practices within large, complex enterprise or public-sector organizations.
• Experience developing enterprise governance frameworks, operating models, standards, procedures, and service management processes .
• Experience working across multiple business units and technology teams with different delivery methodologies, governance models, and operational processes.
• Strong understanding of Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid, DevOps, and operational change practices .
• Proven ability to analyze current processes, identify gaps, and implement practical process improvements.
• Strong stakeholder management, facilitation, communication, and consensus-building skills.
• Experience developing executive-level reports, dashboards, presentations, and governance materials .
• Ability to work independently and effectively across cross-functional teams.

Technical Skills

• Strong knowledge of ITIL and IT Service Management best practices , including:
  • Release Management
  • Change Management
  • Incident Management
  • Problem Management
  • Configuration Management
  • Service Request Management
• Experience designing and implementing release governance, release planning, deployment coordination, dependency management, and risk management processes.
• Knowledge of CI/CD, DevOps, Agile delivery, software development, deployment lifecycles, and operational support models .
• Experience with enterprise tools such as ServiceNow, Jira, Azure DevOps , or equivalent platforms.
• Experience developing release performance metrics, compliance measures, dashboards, and reporting frameworks .

Key Deliverables

• Enterprise Release Management framework, governance model, processes, procedures, and roles/responsibilities.
• Standardized release templates, intake forms, release plans, deployment checklists, and governance artifacts.
• Enterprise release calendar and release reporting framework.
• Current-state assessments, gap analysis, recommendations, and implementation plans.
• Training and knowledge-transfer materials to support organizational adoption.
• Regular leadership reporting, performance metrics, and continuous improvement recommendations.

Must-Have Skills

1. 10+ years of experience in IT Service Management, Release Management, Change Management, Project Delivery, or related disciplines.
2. Experience developing enterprise-wide governance frameworks, operating models, standards, procedures, and service management processes .
3. Demonstrated experience establishing or maturing Release Management practices in large, complex enterprise or public-sector organizations.
4. Strong process assessment, gap analysis, standardization, and continuous improvement experience.
5. Knowledge of CI/CD, DevOps, Agile delivery, software development and deployment lifecycles .
6. Strong stakeholder engagement, communication, and facilitation skills.