Product Release Readiness Specialist

Oracle, a global provider of enterprise cloud computing, empowers businesses of all sizes on their digital transformation journey. With 430,000 customers in 175 countries, Oracle provides leading-edge capabilities in Software as a Service, Platform as a Service, Infrastructure as a Service, and Data as a Service.
Our mission is to transform our world for the better through innovative technologies.

Preferred Skills:
• Excellent Verbal & written communication skills (English Required)
• Relationship building: Ability to establish and foster critical relationships w/multiple LOBs particularly with PM, Dev and Support
• Excellent organizational and presentation skills and Program management experience
• Self-motivated and ability to work proactively and take the initiative
• Ability to multitask and work independently, as well as collaboratively in a global team environment
• Ability to diagnose and recognize problem areas and lead a cross-organizational team towards problem resolution

Preferred Job Requirements:
• BS degree in Computer Science or technical related field
• 3+ years’ experience in software industry
• Strong Technical background with the ability to understand and assess the impact of new product technology on both customers and Support
• Preferable candidate will have prior experience and/or working knowledge of Oracle Products – preference for HGBU Products
• Prior experience in Customer Support or Product/ Project Management is ideal

• Manages the overall support lifecycle planning for the relevant products areas, i.e. through the Definition, Launch, Maintenance and Obsolescence phases of a product.
• Owns the overall relationship with Support and Development for the relevant product areas.
• Project manages in conjunction with the lead developer the GTL activities such as new product requirements identification, product impact assessment, training requirements, training plan creation and review, etc.
• Represents Support at any Development meetings at the relevant product areas.
• Typically works with Product Management and Development and Support Product Leads, GTLs and Delivery Specialists along with the HW Service Release Managers.
• Identified as Support and Development’s “go to” person for any planning related issues or processes for the relevant product areas.
• Responsible for establishing and building successful relationships with Product Management and Development and maintaining communications with Support.
• Ensures that appropriate support infrastructure is updated for new releases and products i.e. PLA Product Map changes and SR routing is defined, new h/w requirements reviewed with Customer Environment Lab (CEL), My Oracle Support CRM system.
• Leads and manages the Support Readiness Program (SRP) for respective Product Areas and ensure that appropriate task are assigned and completed by the SRP team
• Coordinates and schedules Support Rotations into Development prior to new releases and post-release as required.


Deliverables:
• Support Readiness Program (SRP) for Product Areas (currently HGBU)
○ Tasks identified, assigned and completed
• Support Training Details for Product Areas in conjunction with the Training and Development Management Teams
○ Prereqs, Target Audience, Schedule and Self-Registration, EDP Training Plans
• Support Rotation Schedule for Product Areas
• 3rd Party OEM Agreements when required

Meetings:
• Meetings with Product Management and Development, per Product Area
• PRR ST Cross-Product Meeting
• PRR Staff and Planning Meetings
• GCS Delivery Staff Meetings
• Some elements of travel may be required for this position

Primary Interfaces:
• GCS Product Leads and Delivery Specialists
• Global Technical Leads (GTLs)
• Support Engineers i.e. SRP team
• PRR Program Specialists and COE
• Product Management and Development
• H/W Release Managers

• Be a champion of the Release Management process
• Always on lookout to improve processes to effectively manage the releases
• Enforce, monitor and report on entry and exit criteria for different phases of release
• Participate in service release, deployment process policy and planning
• Create and Communicate Release Management Reports for e.g.
- Release Metrics
- Defects Introduced by Release
- Deviations from Release Calendar
• Create and works with all stakeholders to gain acceptance on Releases Calendar
• Coordinates and manages the release calendar and the release schedule for all new and updated releases
• Manage release timelines to ensure the quality and delivery of all changes into production
• Successfully manages each release from release requirements to implementation
• Manage release level risks for all implementations, while managing impacts and risks when delivery options change
• Provides status of all major and minor releases on a regular basis to Business and Support Management stakeholders
• Provides tracking and plan, for any action items to stabilize a release
• Controls out of cycle release deployments and strategize on best available options for standardized delivery
• Identifies and alert management when a non-standard change is too risky to implement from either system integrity compliance standpoint or stability of a release
• Conduct formal Release Readiness reviews of each release as planned the release calendar
• Conducts Post-Implementation Review of every major release. Track all action items, defines Best Practices solutions and manage Continuous Improvement follow-up items.
• Ensures all changes are tested and non-destructive, and ensures acceptable testing coverage is carried out in full
• Oversees release deployments to ensure no cross-track-issues and disruption parallel testing activities with awareness/communication about all out of process changes.
• Ensures version control of all changes and consults on environment usage.