Senior Manager, Change and Release Management Operations (ITSM)

About Northern Trust

As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world’s most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions.

Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure: Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide.

With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

We are seeking a Senior Change and Release Management leader to own and continue to evolve the Change and Release Management function , enabling safe, predictable, and efficient delivery of production changes across a complex, highly regulated technology environment.

This role is responsible for leading the day-to-day execution, governance, and continual improvement of ITSM Change and Release Management practices across a complex, regulated technology environment. The role ensures production changes and releases are delivered safely, predictably, and efficiently while balancing business agility, operational stability, risk management, and regulatory compliance.

This role is accountable for ensuring that change governance enables business outcomes , balancing velocity, stability, risk, and regulatory expectations at enterprise scale. This leader will be accountable for operational governance, change risk oversight, release readiness, CAB leadership, stakeholder engagement, process optimization, and performance reporting based on the OKRs and KPIs. The role partners closely with Technology Infrastructure, Application Development, Information Security, Risk & Control, Audit, Service Management, and Business stakeholders to drive disciplined execution and continuous service improvement

Change Governance, CAB & Risk Decisioning

Lead the execution of end‑to‑end Change Management process, ensuring compliance with IT controls, regulatory standards, and enterprise risk

frameworks

Chair and actively participate in Change Advisory Board (CAB) forums, driving collaborative, well‑informed change decisions

Partner closely with Business Units (BUs), Technology, and Operations leaders to ensure risk‑based, outcome‑focused decisioning on changes

Promote and sustain a risk‑aware, decision‑driven change culture, with strong exception evaluation and mitigation strategies

Partner with Risk & Control, Audit, and other Lines of Defense to evidence control monitoring and ongoing compliance

Oversee internal and external change audits, ensuring timely execution, transparent issue management, and senior leadership visibility

Monitor policy adherence and escalate non-compliance, control weaknesses, and operational risks

Review high-risk, major, and emergency changes to ensure adequate planning, testing, fallback, and implementation readiness.

Drive reduction in change-related incidents through robust governance and proactive risk identification.

Release and Change Operational Excellence

Design and operate lean, scalable, and resilient change and release processes suitable for high‑volume production environments

Define, implement, and enforce SLAs across the full change lifecycle

Produce executive‑ready month‑end change reporting, highlighting throughput, risk trends, systemic issues, and improvement opportunities

Drive continuous improvement initiatives to improve production stability and operational maturity

Own operational governance of enterprise release activities across application and infrastructure portfolios ensuring compliance with the controls

Partner with Release Owners, Product Teams, and Technology Leaders to improve release predictability and deployment success

Lead release readiness reviews and ensure completion of required artifacts, approvals, and compliance checkpoints

Identify opportunities to simplify, standardize, and automate Change and Release Management processes.

Lead CSI initiatives focused on efficiency, quality, compliance, and user experience.

Leverage data analytics and operational insights to drive measurable improvements.

Technology, Delivery & Tooling Enablement

Partner with the Change Management Product and process Owners to enable tooling modernization and workflow automation, including requirements, testing, and enterprise adoption

Leverage enterprise platforms such as ServiceNow, Azure DevOps, Clarity, and other PPM / ITSM tools

Apply a strong understanding of application delivery models, release practices, and testing readiness when assessing risk change and deployment confidence

Integrate cybersecurity considerations and control dependencies into CAB discussions and change approval decisions

Leadership & Stakeholder Partnership

Lead, coach, and develop a high‑performing Change and Release Management team

Act as a trusted partner to Engineering, Application Development, Infrastructure, Operations, and Business stakeholders

Communicate clearly and credibly with senior management, enabling informed and timely decision‑making

Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, risk awareness, and continuous improvement.

Influence senior leaders to drive adoption of governance standards and operational excellence

Required Qualifications

Minimum 16 years of experience in the IT industry, with senior leadership accountability

Minimum 6 years of experience leading Change and/or Release Management functions within large, complex environments

Demonstrated experience in financial services or other highly regulated industries

Proven expertise with ITSM controls, ITGCs, and audit frameworks

Hands‑on experience working on Servicenow and internally developed, proprietary application platforms

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, Engineering or related discipline.

Strong Demonstrable knowledge of ITIL and ITSM processes.

Demonstrated experience leading enterprise-scale Change & Release improvement initiatives.

Experience working within regulated or governance-intensive environments.

Required Technical Skills

Strong understanding of: ITIL Change Enablement

Release Management

SDLC Governance

Operational Risk Management

Service Transition

Production Readiness

ITSM process linkages

DevOps and Agile delivery methodologies

Experience implementing automation and workflow optimization initiatives

Experience supporting regulatory examinations and technology audits

ITSM Platforms

ServiceNow

ITSM Governance Frameworks

Performance Analytics

Service Reporting

Certifications (Preferred, Not Mandatory

ITIL v4 Managing Professional or ITIL Expert Certification.

ServiceNow ITSM certification.

Leadership Competencies

Strategic Thinking

Innovation & Automation Mindset

Data-Driven Decision Making

Executive Communication

Enterprise Architecture Thinking

Influencing Without Authority

Continuous Improvement

Operational Excellence

Customer & Stakeholder Focus

Mentorship & Technical Leadership

Working with Us

As a Northern Trust partner, you will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture, which has a strong history of financial strength and stability. Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to an inclusive workplace and assisting the communities we serve.

Philanthropy is deeply rooted in Northern Trust’s history and is an essential element of our culture. Employees around the world give their time and talent to work for the greater good of their communities.

Reasonable Accommodation

Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing adjustments to individuals with health conditions and disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at MyHRHelp@ntrs.com , or alternatively you can discuss your individual requirements with the recruiter you are working with.

About Our Pune Office

The Northern Trust Pune office, established in 2016, is now home to over 3,000 employees. The office handles various functions, including Operations for Asset Servicing and Wealth Management, as well as delivering critical technology solutions that support business operations across the globe.

Our Pune team takes our commitment to service to heart. In 2024, they volunteered more than 10,000+ hours into the communities where they live and work. Learn more.