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.
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.
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.
Nice to have
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.
Experience with AI-enabled execution tooling and data-driven release insights