Director, Change and Release Management Operations

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Role Summary

The Director, IT Change & Release Management provides enterprise leadership over the end‑to‑end change and release lifecycle, ensuring technology changes are delivered safely, predictably, and in compliance with regulatory and audit requirements. This role establishes governance, chairs Change Advisory Boards (CAB), and drives continuous improvement through automation, DevOps alignment, and industry best practices. The Director will build and lead a Change & Release Center of Excellence that protects production stability while enabling speed and innovation.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy & Governance

• Define and enforce enterprise change and release management policies, standards, and controls aligned to ITIL, ISO 20000, SOC 2, and regulatory expectations.

• Establish and mature a Change & Release Management Center of Excellence (CoE).

• Provide executive‑level oversight and report on change risk, release readiness, and operational stability.

Change Management

• Chair and govern Change Advisory Boards (CAB), ensuring appropriate risk assessment, prioritization, approval, and documentation of all technology changes.

• Ensure all changes include impact analysis, testing validation, rollback planning, and audit‑ready documentation.

• Partner with Risk, Compliance, and Audit teams to support internal and external reviews.

Release Management

• Oversee planning, scheduling, and coordination of releases across development, QA, and production environments.

• Manage release calendars, dependencies, and cross‑portfolio conflicts to minimize business disruption.

• Ensure release execution adheres to enterprise standards and service availability targets.

Risk Management

• Identify, assess, and proactively mitigate risks related to change scope, timing, dependencies, and implementation quality.

• Communicate change and release risks clearly to technology and business stakeholders.

Automation, DevOps & AIOps

• Drive automation of change and release workflows using ITSM platforms (e.g., ServiceNow) and CI/CD toolchains.

• Leverage AIOps and agentic AI capabilities to reduce manual effort, improve decision quality, and lower operational risk.

• Support continuous delivery and DevOps maturity while maintaining appropriate governance controls.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Lead and develop a global team supporting change and release operations in a follow‑the‑sun model.

• Act as a key liaison across Engineering, QA, Operations, and Business partners.

• Influence senior leaders through clear communication, data‑driven insights, and operational discipline.

Qualifications Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.

• 10+ years of IT Service Management leadership experience with deep expertise in Change and Release Management.

• 10+ years of experience with ITSM platforms (e.g., ServiceNow, Jira) and CI/CD pipelines.

• Proven experience implementing ITIL‑aligned change and release practices in large, complex enterprises.

This role will have a Hybrid work schedule, with the expectation of working in an office (Columbus, OH, Chicago, IL, Hartford, CT or Charlotte, NC) 3 days a week (Tuesday through Thursday). 
Candidates must be authorized to work in the US without company sponsorship. The company will not support the STEM OPT I-983 Training Plan endorsement for this position.

Compensation

The listed annualized base pay range is primarily based on analysis of similar positions in the external market. Actual base pay could vary and may be above or below the listed range based on factors including but not limited to performance, proficiency and demonstration of competencies required for the role. The base pay is just one component of The Hartford’s total compensation package for employees. Other rewards may include short-term or annual bonuses, long-term incentives, and on-the-spot recognition. The annualized base pay range for this role is:

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