Release Manager

SmartNews is a global leader in redefining information and news discovery, committed to providing users with accurate, timely information and supporting quality journalism. We combine the power of our unique machine-learning technology with the expertise of our first-rate editorial team to bring news that matters to millions of users from our over 3,000 global publishing partners.

Founded in 2012 in Tokyo, Japan, SmartNews has offices in Tokyo, San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York, and Singapore.

The Team

The Product Frontend group is dedicated to creating and delivering the core app experience for our JP and US products. Our mission is to build scalable systems and innovative features that drive new user experiences and habits. We focus on enhancing the app’s impact by continuously increasing the frequency and quality of positive changes for our users.

The Mission

You will collaborate closely with product managers and engineers from different regions to ensure a timely, efficient and high-quality delivery of product updates across all regions. Your role consists in running the release process, managing timelines and mitigating risks.

In this role, you will also be in charge of developing a scalable release management system, creating the solutions to support multiple products, incident responses, velocity of releases. We highly value curiosity, a proactive and outcome-oriented mindset, as you will be expected to take ownership and collaborate with several teams to deliver change across the organization. 

Role and Responsibilities:

• Run the release operations across products, including the submission to mobile platforms, dealing with rejections, challenges and scheduling. 
• Develop a scalable release management process that increases the efficiency and quality of the product development across products and regions. 
• Optimize and manage timelines for internal and external releases, ensuring that criteria for release readiness are met (quality, compliance, etc.)
• Identify potential risks in the release process and develop strategies to mitigate them. 
• Maintain a clear and effective communication with stakeholders about release schedules, progress and issues.

Requirements

Minimum requirements

• Experience in managing complex app release cycles and multiple projects simultaneously. 
• Hands-on expertise in mobile app release operations (both Android/iOS), including knowledge about Google Play and App Store dashboards, tools and policies.
• Technical knowledge about mobile development and CI/CD pipelines. 
• Experience with release management tools (Jira, GitHub)
• Excellent communication skills to effectively collaborate across teams and roles (across regions and multilingual is a plus)
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a keen attention to detail and the ability to anticipate and mitigate risks.
• Business-level communication in English

Nice to have experiences/skills

• Past experience as a mobile engineer (Android, iOS, mobile cross-platform preferred)
• Experience working across countries. 
• Background in continuous process improvement methodologies
• Proficiency in automation tools and some scripting languages (e.g., Python, Shell scripting)
• Business-level communication in Japanese

Working condition

• Office Location: Tokyo

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Benefits

• Annual health check covered by the company 
• Visa sponsorship and overseas relocation support available for eligible candidates

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