VP of Program & Release Management

Description

The Role

DriveNets is seeking an experienced and strategic Vice President of Program & Release Management to lead the end-to-end lifecycle of complex programs and software releases across our networking portfolio. This executive will drive cross-functional execution across Product, Engineering, and Quality to ensure high-quality delivery to global customers and partners.

The VP will play a critical leadership role in the R&D management team, scaling program and release governance in a fast-growing, globally distributed environment. This includes orchestrating large-scale software releases and aligning platform evolution with customer commitments.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Program Leadership

• Lead large-scale programs spanning a 300+ engineering organization across multiple products, platforms, and technologies.
• Translate business and product strategy into executable multi-quarter roadmaps.
• Define development processes to support scale and quality.
• Establish metrics and reporting frameworks to provide transparency and risk insights to the team.

Release Management & Execution

• Own the release lifecycle from planning through all execution phases to customer go-to-market readiness.
• Ensure structured coordination of software and hardware releases across Engineering, QA, and delivery teams.
• Integrate AI-based tooling and analytics (release forecasting, risk detection, automation, quarter planning readiness, customer trends) to drive release excellence.

Cross-Functional Management

• Partner with Product, Engineering, and Customer Support to align priorities and remove blockers.
• Manage dependencies and trade-offs across diverse stakeholder groups.

Team Leadership

• Build, mentor, and scale a high-performing Program & Release Management organization.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.

What Success Looks Like

• Achievement of reliable, predictable, and high-quality delivery across major strategic releases.
• Continuous and clear executive visibility into program risks, trade-offs, and timelines.
• Strong alignment between engineering execution and company strategy.
• Scalable processes and frameworks that adapt to rapid growth and technological complexity, including AI-driven features.

Requirements

• 10+ years in senior program management and release leadership roles within a technology company, preferably in Networking, Infrastructure, or AI/Cloud platforms.
• Proven track record of delivering complex, cross-functional programs at scale in global organizations.
• Deep understanding of software release lifecycles and execution governance.
• Strong strategic mindset with the ability to influence senior leadership.
• Experience with AI-enabled execution tooling and data-driven release insights preferred.

Preferred Qualifications

• Success in scaling PMO/Release teams in an advanced engineering organization within a fast-growing, mid-sized startup.
• Exposure to networking, security, or telecom domains.