D2C Technical Program Manager - Release Management
Washington, DC

Job Description

Posting Job Description

OVERALL SUMMARY

WarnerMedia is a global media company that delivers premium content and operates one of the worlds largest TV, Film & Interactive Studios that has brought you some of the most iconic franchises from HBO, Turner, Warner Bros, Otter Media including: Game of Thrones, Aquaman, The Sopranos, Scooby-Doo, True Detective, Austin Powers, Friends, Lord of the Rings, Batman, Westworld, DC Comics, Teen Titans, Wonder Woman, The Flintstones, Harry Potter, The Matrix, The Big Bang Theory, and more.

WarnerMedia Technology is launching an all-new direct-to-consumer streaming service which will bring together the breadth and depth of WarnerMedia and AT&T's broadcast and cable TV, film studios, interactive & immersive content, distinguished news & entertainment reporting and much more - all in one digital destination.

HBO Digital Products, a division of WarnerMedia, is seeking a D2C Technical Program Manager for our Release Management Team with experience shipping multiple products across a variety of platforms (iOS, Android, AppleTV, FireTV, Samsung, Roku, etc.) and technologies, using a variety of development methodologies. The ideal candidate will know their process for releasing software, and be passionate about using, modeling, and teaching that process thereby increasing their teammate's productivity. Should be able to influence the quality bar of the product in an organization where the quality bar is owned by engineer and design. As a Release Manager, you will know how to make the rational and thoughtful tradeoffs required in order to deliver a product while maintaining a healthy team and healthy business relationships.

The successful candidate will work closely with internal and external platform teams, Product Management, Design, quality assurance (QA), business managers, and the Digital Product's leadership team to release HBO GO and NOW's client portfolio across mobile, connected televisions, and desktop clients. In close partnership with Program Managers, development and leadership, the Release Manager will work to help define new release processes, work with external Client partners, and clearly communicate status of releases to all stakeholders. This resource will be able to embrace our Product-Focused culture and development philosophy by actively involving and engaging the entire team to drive Collaborative Cross-Functional solutions. Our self-organizing development teams need Release Management to help us scale delivery of our many platforms and help HBO Digital Products achieve our goals. To this end, the successful candidate must possess strong negotiation and cross-functional communication skills.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

* Shepard Releases in the later stages of the Product Development Lifecycle (PDLC)
* Track and manage risks to Release timelines and drive resolutions
* Expertly manage cross-functional communication across teams
* Create problem statements and move from those to appropriate and data driven proposals, recommendations, and solutions. Then drive alignment across all stakeholders
* Work with cross-functional team leadership to establish goals and milestones that align with our requirements, raise risks and dependencies, and drive towards cross-team collaborative solutions
* Work with development teams to identify roadblocks before they occur and help develop mitigating plans of action
* Communicate the impact of feature or schedule changes to teams that are potentially affected
* Communicate how product-level goals fit into, and are influenced by, larger divisional goals, and how the team's work impacts the success or failure of the division
* Identify and document the requirements for a Release and get stakeholder sign-off

REQUIREMENTS

* 3 - 5 years of experience on multiple technical projects
* A minimum of 3 years prior experience in releasing clients via external partners or service releases
* Strong knowledge of best practices in software development and release management
* Cloud based application PM/QA/RM experience focused on clients or services
* Excellent written and verbal communication with all levels of technical and non-technical staff
* Able to establish goals and set clear expectations, prioritize activities, and follow through to completion
* Excellent interpersonal skills, including negotiation and problem resolution in a cross-functional team
* Strong understanding of development methodologies including waterfall, agile, and scaled agile
* Strong problem solving and critical thinking skills
* Able to clearly, concisely, and regularly communicate status, issues, and risks to project stakeholders
* Able to function effectively and consistently when faced with frequently changing and sometimes ambiguous goals
* Experience managing Java, JavaScript, iOS, and Android projects
* Experience with infrastructure build-out and application deployment
* Experience documenting technical systems and training users in complex operational procedures
* Ability to learn new development tools and productivity tools in order to continuously improve effectiveness
* Experience with Jenkins, GitHub, and branching strategies a plus
* Bachelor's Degree or an advanced degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field preferred; software development experience is a plus
* Media or entertainment industry experience is a plus