Release Manager - Hawthorn East

We’ve been proudly serving Australian communities since 1914 and have grown to become a top 30-listed company on the ASX with a portfolio of iconic homegrown brands. At the heart of our continued success is over 115,000 team members working across the country, all contributing to bringing our customers smiles. You’ll not only get to see your work make a difference, you’ll be part of a team working together to help Australians eat and live better every day.

About the team

As the way Australians shop continues to evolve, our Data and AI Team keep Coles at the forefront of modern retail. We combine data, artificial intelligence, and applied engineering to reimagine how our stores, supply chain, and digital channels operate — creating smarter, more connected, and seamless experiences for our customers and team members.

Operating as a centralised development and enablement function within Coles Technology, the team unites product, engineering, and platform capabilities to deliver the intelligence layer of the enterprise. We serve every part of Coles — from computer vision applications that enhance in-store experiences and reduce loss, to forecasting, optimisation, and decision-support solutions that drive efficiency, accuracy, and agility across our supply chain, retail operations, and corporate functions.

The scale and impact of this work are significant. Coles serves millions of customers each week across more than a thousand stores nationwide, and our AI and data capabilities provide the intelligence that underpins how we plan, move, sell, and serve. By combining deep data capability with applied AI and modern engineering, we’re enabling Coles to become a truly AI-enabled enterprise, transforming how we operate and how Australia shops every day.

About the role

We are currently recruiting for a Release Manager to lead enterprise-grade release management across complex Data & AI platforms, ensuring secure, scalable, and high-quality delivery.

You will also:

• Govern the strategic release calendar, integrating delivery roadmaps, change controls, and operational dependencies.​
• Drive release orchestration across multi-squad environments, enabling seamless coordination and risk mitigation.​
• Architect and evolve release automation frameworks using advanced CI/CD tooling (e.g., Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, Harness).​
• Lead readiness assessments, cutover planning, and post-release reviews to ensure platform reliability and business continuity.​
• Collaborate with SRE, engineering, and product teams to align release practices with platform resilience and strategic outcomes.​
• Monitor release KPIs, cycle times, and incident patterns to inform continuous improvement and tooling strategy.

Leadership

• Leadership of team members as model scales, lead key contingent resources and key strategic partners​
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex release issues and platform deployment risks.​
• Lead and coach release engineers and stakeholders, fostering technical depth and delivery excellence.​
• Represent release management in governance forums, architecture reviews, and strategic planning sessions.​
• Drive capability uplift across release, DevOps, and automation domains.

About you and your skills

• 10+ years in release management, DevOps, or platform delivery roles, with leadership experience in enterprise environments.​
• People leadership experience ​
• Experience leading and managing contingent resources and key strategic partner relationship and resources ​
• Proven track record of leading complex release programs across cloud-native platforms (e.g., Azure, Snowflake, Databricks).​
• Deep experience in CI/CD, change management, and release governance frameworks.​
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and drive strategic improvements in release practices.

Skills and Qualifications

• Advanced leadership, stakeholder engagement, and strategic planning capabilities.​
• Expertise in release and automation tools (e.g., Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, ServiceNow).​
• Strong communication, influence, and decision-making skills.​
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in IT, Computer Science, or related field.​
• Certifications in ITIL, DevOps, or cloud platforms are highly desirable.

What’s in it for you?

• Flexible working options: We know that work is only one part of your life, so we actively encourage a positive work-life balance and provide hybrid working options to help you achieve it.
• Office perks: Take advantage of our gym facility and fitness classes, free parking, BBQ area, mini-Coles supermarket, fooderie hub where you can sample new products before they hit the shelves, school holiday program and so much more when you come in.
• Discounts: Eligible team members receive 5% discount all year round on your Supermarket and Liquor online and in-store purchases. We also offer additional periods of double discount (10%) at various times throughout the year. As well as hotdeals exclusive to team members that translate into additional savings.
• Reward through recognition: Give and receive recognition, linked to our Coles values, through our digital recognition platform ‘mythanks’. You can accumulate points to redeem in the online shop for exciting gifts and electronic gift cards from an extensive range of retailers.
• Opportunities for learning and development: No matter where you start within our diverse business, you’ll have experiences, exposure, and education to satisfy you. Discover and explore a variety of career development programs and job-specific training.
• Paid parental leave: We understand how important your life outside work is and offer permanent team members paid parental leave to support you in balancing work and family.
• Investment in your future: Our annual team member share plan offer allows eligible team members to make regular pre-tax salary sacrifice deductions to purchase Coles Group shares.

About the recruitment process

We’re continuing to build a gender equitable team, and a culture that is just as diverse, inclusive and welcoming as the communities we serve. We are committed to creating a workplace that is safe and respectful for our team. We encourage applications from people of all ages, cultures (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples), abilities, sexual orientation and gender identities.

We’re happy to adjust our recruitment process to support candidates with disability. For further information and additional contact details visit the ‘Our Recruitment Process’ section of our careers site or email inclusionrecruitment@coles.com.au

Job ID: 174714

Employment Type: Full time