IT Change and Release Manager (Hospitality Retail Client\'s IT and EPOS systems)

Purpose of Role
The Change and Release Manager is responsible for overseeing and managing changes to customer core business IT infrastructure, hardware, enterprise software applications, and POS systems, including Zonal and Oracle. The role ensures that changes are assessed, tested, approved, and implemented in a controlled manner, minimising disruption to business operations.

Key Responsibilities:

• Change Management:
  Act as the process owner for change management, ensuring adherence to ITIL best practices. Lead the assessment, analysis, development, documentation, and implementation of changes based on requests for change. Chair the Change Advisory Board (CAB) and ensure all changes are properly impact-assessed and authorized. Develop and maintain a structured change control process, ensuring consistency across IT services.
• Release Management:
  Plan and schedule releases, ensuring alignment with business objectives and IT service continuity. Oversee the development and implementation of release packages, including risk assessment and rollback procedures. Liaise with business and IT partners on release scheduling and communication of progress. Conduct post-release reviews to assess effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.
• Stakeholder Engagement:
  Obtain stakeholder sign-off prior to managing the release program. Work closely with service delivery managers and IT teams to ensure changes are recorded, evaluated, and implemented in a controlled manner. Promote awareness of structured change control processes across the organization.
• Risk and Compliance:
  Evaluate risks to the integrity of the service environment inherent in proposed changes, including availability, performance, security, and compliance. Ensure governance is adhered to throughout the lifecycle of changes. Participate in audits of the change control process and implement improvements based on findings.
• Third Party Management:
  Manage relationships with external vendors and partners who request changes to IT systems. Ensure third-party changes are assessed, documented, and implemented in line with internal change management processes. Coordinate with third parties to schedule changes, ensuring minimal disruption to business operations. Review and approve third-party change requests, ensuring they meet compliance and security standards. Communicate third-party change impacts and schedules to relevant stakeholders. Monitor and evaluate the performance of third parties in relation to change and release activities. Ensure third-party adherence to SLAs and contractual obligations regarding change management.

Required Skills & Experience:

• Proven experience in Change and Release Management within an ITIL framework.
• Strong knowledge of IT infrastructure, enterprise applications, and POS systems (Zonal, Oracle) and Kitchen management.
• Experience leading CAB meetings and managing change control processes.
• Ability to assess risks and implement mitigation strategies.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Familiarity with release management tools and automation techniques.

Qualifications:

• ITIL v4 Certification.
• Experience in retail or enterprise IT environments.

Outcomes and Deliverables:

• Ensure that the business and our customer has a clearly defined road map of planned changes to systems, applications and technology.
• That all required changes are managed in a professional manner, tested and agreed by all stakeholders.
• Manage testing programs, record findings and problem trends.
• Design change deployment plans, with a RACI and agreed actions and tasks.
• Ensure compliance with all agreed deployment plans.
• Obtain change sign off as BAU with stakeholders.

Applicants ideally have:

• A strong understanding of IT infrastructure, including networks, servers, cloud services, PoS and Payment solutions.
• Over 5 years’ experience in change and release management environments.
• Experience with PoS and Kitchen management systems.
• The focus to work alone or as part of a team ensuring deadlines are met.