Release Communications Manager

Strategic Leadership

Own the end-to-end release communications strategy across the digital portfolio.
Build the release communications function, governance model, and operating rhythm from scratch.
Define release tiers (major launches, enhancements, maintenance updates, incidents) and the communications required for each.
Create scalable processes that can support hundreds of releases annually.
Product Translation

Attend product planning, PI planning, sprint reviews, and launch readiness meetings.
Translate technical product work into customer and commercial value.
Distill engineering language into messaging that sales, customers, partners, and executives understand.
Determine what matters to each audience—not every feature deserves the same attention.
Cross-Functional Orchestration

Serve as the communication bridge between Product, Engineering, Product Marketing, Commercial, Customer Success, Support, Legal, Brand and Corporate Communications.
Ensure stakeholders receive the right information at the right time.
Drive launch readiness and communication timelines.
Eliminate surprises across the organization.
Customer Communications

Produce release notes customers actually want to read.
Write customer emails.
Develop knowledge base updates and FAQs.
Ensure communications are segmented appropriately by customer type and product adoption.
Incident & Crisis Communications

Own communication during product outages and service disruptions.
Partner with engineering and operations to provide accurate, timely updates.
Create communication templates before incidents occur.
Balance transparency with speed and clarity.
Metrics They Own

Rather than measuring volume, they focus on outcomes such as:

On-time release communications
Stakeholder satisfaction
Customer engagement with release content
Reduction in support tickets caused by communication gaps
Internal awareness of releases

Skills Required
U.S. Citizenship and living in the United States
Proven experience building or leading a release communications function or operating model
Ability to translate technical product and engineering work into customer and commercial value
Experience producing customer-facing release notes, customer emails, knowledge base updates, and FAQs
Experience owning incident and crisis communications for product outages or service disruptions
Demonstrated cross-functional collaboration with Product, Engineering, Product Marketing, Customer Success, Support, Legal, and Brand
Experience designing scalable processes and governance to support high-volume releases
Strong stakeholder management and ability to drive launch readiness and timelines
Metrics-driven mindset with experience measuring communications outcomes (engagement, on-time delivery, reduced support tickets)