Program Release Manager Jobs in Illinois (NOW HIRING)

Shape the future of product delivery while crafting solutions that enhance and optimize client/stakeholder experiences. Lead end-to-end processes, manage dependencies, and liaise with stakeholders as part of a team at the forefront of innovation.

As a Product Delivery Manager in Asset Based Lending (ABL) within Wholesale Lending Services, you work to enhance and optimize the way products are delivered to customers. As a key member of the team, you create solutions and efficiencies that enable successful implementations in an expedient and organized way. You will lead delivery of strategic capabilities supporting collateral-intensive lending across Lending Line of Business (LOB)s . You will drive end-to-end execution across business, operations, data, and technology teams to modernize workflows, strengthen risk and controls, and improve efficiency and client experience across the ABL lifecycle (onboarding, collateral setup, borrowing base, monitoring, exceptions, servicing, reporting). This role also partners on platform modernization-system migrations, decommissioning legacy components, and targeted transformation-while evaluating and implementing responsible agentic AI (Artificial Intelligence) / automation patterns to streamline operations and decisioning support. 

Job responsibilities

• Leads end-to-end product delivery processes including intake, dependency management, release management, product operationalization, delivery feasibility decision-making, and product performance reporting, while escalating opportunities to improve efficiencies and functional coordination
• Leads the completion of change management activities across functional partners and ensures adherence to the firm's risk, controls, compliance, and regulatory requirements
• Effectively manages timelines and dependencies while monitoring blockers, ensuring adequate resourcing, and liaising with stakeholders and functional partners
• Own delivery execution for ABL initiatives from discovery through production release; establish integrated plans, milestones, scope, benefits, and quality targets across multiple squads/teams.
• System migration & modernization: lead or coordinate migrations (platform upgrades, re-platforming, data migrations, decommissioning, and consolidation) with rigorous cutover planning, parallel runs where needed, reconciliation, and operational readiness.
• Transformation delivery: drive process re-engineering and operating model improvements (digitization, exception reduction, straight-through processing) with measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs ) cycle time, Straight-Through Processing (STP) , exception rates, Service Level Agreement (SLA) adherence, defect leakage).
• Agentic AI & intelligent automation enablement: identify high-value ABL workflows suitable for agentic AI/automation (e.g., case triage, document intake/extraction, exception routing, monitoring alerts, knowledge retrieval, operational assist), define guardrails and human-in-the-loop controls, and partner with Technology/Data to deliver safe, auditable capabilities.
• Product partnership: collaborate with Product Managers to refine epics/features and ensure user stories are actionable and testable; manage sequencing, scope trade-offs, and dependency alignment to target-state architecture.
• Cross-functional governance: drive stakeholder forums (steering, working groups), manage Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies (RAID), and communicate status, risks, decisions, and trade-offs to senior stakeholders.
• Risk, controls, and compliance embedded delivery: ensure delivery meets firm standards for data governance, access controls, auditability, change management, and operational resiliency; coordinate evidence collection for internal reviews, audits, and regulatory expectations.
• Testing & release excellence: oversee end-to-end testing strategy (functional, integration, regression, performance, resiliency), User Acceptance Testing (UAT) coordination, release readiness, post-release monitoring, and hypercare. 

Required qualifications, capabilities, and skills

• 5+ years of experience or equivalent expertise in product delivery or a relevant domain area
• Demonstrated ability to execute operational management and change readiness activities
• Strong understanding of delivery and a proven track record of implementing continuous improvement processes
• Experience in product or platform-wide release management, in addition to deployment processes and strategies
• 7+ years in product delivery / program delivery / transformation within financial services, with demonstrated success delivering complex cross-team initiatives.
• Experience delivering capabilities in commercial/wholesale lending and/or collateral-centric products and processes.
• Proven track record leading system migrations and modernization, including cutover planning, dependency management, reconciliation/controls, and post-migration stabilization.
• Strong execution in Agile/Hybrid models: integrated planning, backlog refinement partnership, RAID management, release management, and stakeholder governance.
• Ability to translate complex business processes into structured delivery plans and measurable outcomes; excellent written/verbal communication. 

Preferred qualifications, capabilities, and skills

• Proficient knowledge of the product development life cycle, design, and data analytics
• Agentic AI / AI-enabled workflow delivery experience, including:
  • designing human-in-the-loop processes, escalation paths, and explain ability/traceability expectations
  • partnering with data/ML teams on evaluation metrics (accuracy, error modes, control effectiveness)
  • applying responsible AI principles (model risk awareness, privacy, data minimization, access controls)
• Experience with data migration and data quality practices: reconciliation, lineage, controls, and reporting parity between legacy and target platforms.
• Direct ABL domain expertise: collateral eligibility, borrowing base calculations, collateral monitoring, field exam coordination, covenant monitoring, and exception management.