In our latest Career Map article, we want you to meet Mikheil Parunovi, our Release Manager from Singular Tbilisi. Unlike many of his teammates, Mikheil graduated with Bachelor’s degrees in Economics & Business Administration: Finance but soon moved on to marketing and then tech.

He started working at Singular as a Technical Writer as part of the Application Support team and soon progressed to a Release Manager. His progress not only tells about the good job he’s doing but that when you have a passion to gain knowledge in a certain area, there’s nothing stopping you to get there. Read below to find out more about his #SingularStory and make sure to check out his Career map at the end of the article. 😄

Mikheil’s Singular Story

I graduated with a double major from my university. My first choice of field of studies was Business Administration. However, since I was pretty good with numbers and had already taken lots of math courses, I also decided to complete the concentration in Finance. To support my Finance concentration, I realized that an Economics major would complement the best.

During my school years, I was interested in Google advertising and always wanted to learn more. Later, I got an opportunity to work part-time in this field, which turned into more than four years there. Anyone curious about innovation and technology must have at least some years of experience working in IT. The fast-paced environment and innovative spirit of tech companies is a valuable experience to any business professional. Therefore, when I got a chance to work at Singular, I knew I had to take it. And now here I am a year later. 🙂

What technologies are you working with?

When I just started as part of the Application Support staff, I utilized JIRA and Confluence to create documentation and user manuals both for internal and external use. Now, as a release manager, my role is to oversee and coordinate the release processes and serve as an intermediary between a client and our development and deployment teams.

We use Jira/Confluence to manage the projects, releases, and deployments. Our team utilizes ITIL/ITSM methodology to deliver updates, fixes, and changes in a timely and effective manner. For project delivery, we use Jenkins automation server. G-suit is used to store and share internal knowledge and information, as well as represents one of the communication channels. Communication with customers and other teams, facilitation of UAT processes, and organizing deployments are also part of our day.

The most challenging part of your work?

Probably its novelty. The release manager position was created only several months ago when a major reorganization in the company took place. Our team is now responsible for delivering updates and changes, service releases, etc. Thus, our team is still working on process optimization issues and establishing a correct approach to the workflow to deliver high-quality projects quickly and efficiently.

Moreover, in times of remote work, it is essential for us to stay connected and collaborate with each other. G-suit and slack come in handy when addressing those issues with communication. However, I am excited about all the learning and growth opportunities which the role is capable of providing.

The most important skill a person should develop to be successful in this role?

I believe that it’s not just one skill that is required for someone to be successful, but rather the combination of experience, personality, and skill set. Probably, if I would think of some most important qualities one should possess, I’d choose:

• autonomous and responsible
• curious and creative
• team player and communication savvy

Also, staying positive and having the occasional laugh is always an asset! 🙂

Whether you are a fresh graduate on the search for their first job experience, or an experienced tech professional, we encourage you to take a look at our open vacancies. At Singular, we are always looking for individuals who are willing to grow and contribute to our products with innovative ideas, a challenging mindset, and eagerness to become outstanding in what they do. See Mikheil’s Career Map below and see how much you can grow as part of our team! ⬇️⬇️