diff --git a/.buildkite/beta-builds.yml b/.buildkite/beta-builds.yml
index 556fb4dfb1bc..b58ecc63269e 100644
--- a/.buildkite/beta-builds.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/beta-builds.yml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 common_params:
   # Common plugin settings to use with the `plugins` key.
   - &common_plugins
-    - automattic/a8c-ci-toolkit#2.15.0
+    - automattic/a8c-ci-toolkit#2.15.1
 
 steps:
   #################
diff --git a/.buildkite/code-freeze.yml b/.buildkite/code-freeze.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..004369d3b578
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.buildkite/code-freeze.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Nodes with values to reuse in the pipeline.
+common_params:
+  # Common plugin settings to use with the `plugins` key.
+  - &common_plugins
+    - automattic/a8c-ci-toolkit#2.15.1
+
+steps:
+  - label: "Code Freeze"
+    plugins: *common_plugins
+    command: |
+      .buildkite/commands/configure-git-for-release-management.sh
+
+      install_gems
+
+      bundle exec fastlane code_freeze skip_confirm:true
diff --git a/.buildkite/commands/checkout-editorial-branch.sh b/.buildkite/commands/checkout-editorial-branch.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..f495193ae32f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.buildkite/commands/checkout-editorial-branch.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/bin/bash -eu
+
+# EDITORIAL_BRANCH is passed as an environment variable from fastlane to Buildkite
+#
+if [[ -z "${EDITORIAL_BRANCH}" ]]; then
+    echo "EDITORIAL_BRANCH is not set."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# RELEASE_VERSION is passed as an environment variable from fastlane to Buildkite
+# Even though RELEASE_VERSION is not directly used in this script, it's necessary to update
+# the app store strings. Having this check here keeps the buildkite pipeline cleaner. Later on,
+# if we don't want it here, we can move it to a separate script file.
+if [[ -z "${RELEASE_VERSION}" ]]; then
+    echo "RELEASE_VERSION is not set."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Buildkite, by default, checks out a specific commit. When we update the app store strings, we open
+# a PR from the current branch. So, we need to checkout the `EDITORIAL_BRANCH`.
+git fetch origin "$EDITORIAL_BRANCH"
+git checkout "$EDITORIAL_BRANCH"
diff --git a/.buildkite/commands/checkout-release-branch.sh b/.buildkite/commands/checkout-release-branch.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..2f6fb8302590
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.buildkite/commands/checkout-release-branch.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#!/bin/bash -eu
+
+# RELEASE_VERSION is passed as an environment variable from fastlane to Buildkite
+#
+if [[ -z "${RELEASE_VERSION}" ]]; then
+    echo "RELEASE_VERSION is not set."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Buildkite, by default, checks out a specific commit. For many release actions, we need to be
+# on a release branch instead.
+BRANCH_NAME="release/${RELEASE_VERSION}"
+git fetch origin "$BRANCH_NAME"
+git checkout "$BRANCH_NAME"
diff --git a/.buildkite/commands/configure-git-for-release-management.sh b/.buildkite/commands/configure-git-for-release-management.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..eb39be490f66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.buildkite/commands/configure-git-for-release-management.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/bin/bash -eu
+
+# Git command line client is not configured in Buildkite. Temporarily, we configure it in each step.
+# Later on, we should be able to configure the agent instead.
+curl -L https://api.github.com/meta | jq -r '.ssh_keys | .[]' | sed -e 's/^/github.com /' >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+git config --global user.email "mobile+wpmobilebot@automattic.com"
+git config --global user.name "Automattic Release Bot"
+
+# Buildkite is currently using the https url to checkout. We need to override it to be able to use the deploy key.
+git remote set-url origin git@github.com:wordpress-mobile/WordPress-Android.git
diff --git a/.buildkite/complete-code-freeze.yml b/.buildkite/complete-code-freeze.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6c913fd783ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.buildkite/complete-code-freeze.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Nodes with values to reuse in the pipeline.
+common_params:
+  # Common plugin settings to use with the `plugins` key.
+  - &common_plugins
+    - automattic/a8c-ci-toolkit#2.15.1
+
+steps:
+  - label: "Complete Code Freeze"
+    plugins: *common_plugins
+    command: |
+      .buildkite/commands/configure-git-for-release-management.sh
+      .buildkite/commands/checkout-release-branch.sh
+
+      install_gems
+
+      bundle exec fastlane complete_code_freeze skip_confirm:true
diff --git a/.buildkite/finalize-release.yml b/.buildkite/finalize-release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..049580502b3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.buildkite/finalize-release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Nodes with values to reuse in the pipeline.
+common_params:
+  # Common plugin settings to use with the `plugins` key.
+  - &common_plugins
+    - automattic/a8c-ci-toolkit#2.15.1
+
+steps:
+  - label: "Finalize release"
+    plugins: *common_plugins
+    command: |
+      .buildkite/commands/configure-git-for-release-management.sh
+      .buildkite/commands/checkout-release-branch.sh
+
+      install_gems
+
+      bundle exec fastlane finalize_release skip_confirm:true
diff --git a/.buildkite/new-beta-release.yml b/.buildkite/new-beta-release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..55cd764b2c7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.buildkite/new-beta-release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Nodes with values to reuse in the pipeline.
+common_params:
+  # Common plugin settings to use with the `plugins` key.
+  - &common_plugins
+    - automattic/a8c-ci-toolkit#2.15.1
+
+steps:
+  - label: "New Beta Release"
+    plugins: *common_plugins
+    command: |
+      .buildkite/commands/configure-git-for-release-management.sh
+
+      install_gems
+
+      bundle exec fastlane new_beta_release skip_confirm:true
diff --git a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
index 1aa998530d8b..043759063514 100644
--- a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 common_params:
   # Common plugin settings to use with the `plugins` key.
   - &common_plugins
-    - automattic/a8c-ci-toolkit#2.14.0
+    - automattic/a8c-ci-toolkit#2.15.1
 
 steps:
   #################
diff --git a/.buildkite/release-builds.yml b/.buildkite/release-builds.yml
index a19960ace524..762426dd12f1 100644
--- a/.buildkite/release-builds.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/release-builds.yml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 common_params:
   # Common plugin settings to use with the `plugins` key.
   - &common_plugins
-    - automattic/a8c-ci-toolkit#2.14.0
+    - automattic/a8c-ci-toolkit#2.15.1
 
 steps:
   #################
diff --git a/.buildkite/update-release-notes.yml b/.buildkite/update-release-notes.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b26efbc24886
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.buildkite/update-release-notes.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Nodes with values to reuse in the pipeline.
+common_params:
+  # Common plugin settings to use with the `plugins` key.
+  - &common_plugins
+    - automattic/a8c-ci-toolkit#2.15.1
+
+steps:
+  - label: "Update release notes"
+    plugins: *common_plugins
+    command: |
+      .buildkite/commands/configure-git-for-release-management.sh
+      .buildkite/commands/checkout-editorial-branch.sh
+
+      install_gems
+
+      bundle exec fastlane update_appstore_strings version:${RELEASE_VERSION}
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index c9787fdbf99b..5374b220ade2 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ gem 'nokogiri'
 
 ### Fastlane Plugins
 
-gem 'fastlane-plugin-wpmreleasetoolkit', '~> 7.0'
+gem 'fastlane-plugin-wpmreleasetoolkit', '~> 8.0'
 # gem 'fastlane-plugin-wpmreleasetoolkit', path: '../../release-toolkit'
 # gem 'fastlane-plugin-wpmreleasetoolkit', git: 'https://github.com/wordpress-mobile/release-toolkit', branch: 'trunk'
 
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 06201cb383f9..df906a58810f 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -3,26 +3,26 @@ GEM
   specs:
     CFPropertyList (3.0.6)
       rexml
-    activesupport (7.0.4.2)
+    activesupport (7.0.4.3)
       concurrent-ruby (~> 1.0, >= 1.0.2)
       i18n (>= 1.6, < 2)
       minitest (>= 5.1)
       tzinfo (~> 2.0)
-    addressable (2.8.1)
+    addressable (2.8.4)
       public_suffix (>= 2.0.2, < 6.0)
     artifactory (3.0.15)
     atomos (0.1.3)
     aws-eventstream (1.2.0)
-    aws-partitions (1.721.0)
-    aws-sdk-core (3.170.0)
+    aws-partitions (1.763.0)
+    aws-sdk-core (3.172.0)
       aws-eventstream (~> 1, >= 1.0.2)
       aws-partitions (~> 1, >= 1.651.0)
       aws-sigv4 (~> 1.5)
       jmespath (~> 1, >= 1.6.1)
-    aws-sdk-kms (1.63.0)
+    aws-sdk-kms (1.64.0)
       aws-sdk-core (~> 3, >= 3.165.0)
       aws-sigv4 (~> 1.1)
-    aws-sdk-s3 (1.119.1)
+    aws-sdk-s3 (1.122.0)
       aws-sdk-core (~> 3, >= 3.165.0)
       aws-sdk-kms (~> 1)
       aws-sigv4 (~> 1.4)
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ GEM
     colored2 (3.1.2)
     commander (4.6.0)
       highline (~> 2.0.0)
-    concurrent-ruby (1.2.0)
+    concurrent-ruby (1.2.2)
     declarative (0.0.20)
     diffy (3.4.2)
     digest-crc (0.6.4)
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ GEM
     faraday_middleware (1.2.0)
       faraday (~> 1.0)
     fastimage (2.2.6)
-    fastlane (2.212.1)
+    fastlane (2.212.2)
       CFPropertyList (>= 2.3, < 4.0.0)
       addressable (>= 2.8, < 3.0.0)
       artifactory (~> 3.0)
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ GEM
       xcodeproj (>= 1.13.0, < 2.0.0)
       xcpretty (~> 0.3.0)
       xcpretty-travis-formatter (>= 0.0.3)
-    fastlane-plugin-wpmreleasetoolkit (7.0.0)
+    fastlane-plugin-wpmreleasetoolkit (8.0.0)
       activesupport (>= 6.1.7.1)
       bigdecimal (~> 1.4)
       buildkit (~> 1.5)
@@ -125,17 +125,17 @@ GEM
       git (~> 1.3)
       google-cloud-storage (~> 1.31)
       nokogiri (~> 1.11)
-      octokit (~> 4.18)
+      octokit (~> 5.6)
       parallel (~> 1.14)
       plist (~> 3.1)
       progress_bar (~> 1.3)
       rake (>= 12.3, < 14.0)
       rake-compiler (~> 1.0)
     gh_inspector (1.1.3)
-    git (1.13.2)
+    git (1.18.0)
       addressable (~> 2.8)
       rchardet (~> 1.8)
-    google-apis-androidpublisher_v3 (0.35.0)
+    google-apis-androidpublisher_v3 (0.41.0)
       google-apis-core (>= 0.11.0, < 2.a)
     google-apis-core (0.11.0)
       addressable (~> 2.5, >= 2.5.1)
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ GEM
       google-cloud-core (~> 1.6)
       googleauth (>= 0.16.2, < 2.a)
       mini_mime (~> 1.0)
-    googleauth (1.3.0)
+    googleauth (1.5.2)
       faraday (>= 0.17.3, < 3.a)
       jwt (>= 1.4, < 3.0)
       memoist (~> 0.16)
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ GEM
     http-cookie (1.0.5)
       domain_name (~> 0.5)
     httpclient (2.8.3)
-    i18n (1.12.0)
+    i18n (1.13.0)
       concurrent-ruby (~> 1.0)
     jmespath (1.6.2)
     json (2.6.3)
@@ -185,22 +185,22 @@ GEM
     memoist (0.16.2)
     mini_magick (4.12.0)
     mini_mime (1.1.2)
-    mini_portile2 (2.8.1)
-    minitest (5.17.0)
+    mini_portile2 (2.8.2)
+    minitest (5.18.0)
     multi_json (1.15.0)
     multipart-post (2.0.0)
     nanaimo (0.3.0)
     naturally (2.2.1)
-    nokogiri (1.14.2)
+    nokogiri (1.14.4)
       mini_portile2 (~> 2.8.0)
       racc (~> 1.4)
-    octokit (4.25.1)
+    octokit (5.6.1)
       faraday (>= 1, < 3)
       sawyer (~> 0.9)
     options (2.3.2)
     optparse (0.1.1)
     os (1.1.4)
-    parallel (1.22.1)
+    parallel (1.23.0)
     plist (3.7.0)
     progress_bar (1.3.3)
       highline (>= 1.6, < 3)
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ PLATFORMS
 
 DEPENDENCIES
   fastlane (~> 2)
-  fastlane-plugin-wpmreleasetoolkit (~> 7.0)
+  fastlane-plugin-wpmreleasetoolkit (~> 8.0)
   nokogiri
   rmagick (~> 4.1)
 
diff --git a/fastlane/Fastfile b/fastlane/Fastfile
index c887a763e4c4..e02d7602621f 100644
--- a/fastlane/Fastfile
+++ b/fastlane/Fastfile
@@ -48,11 +48,13 @@ REPOSITORY_NAME = 'WordPress-Android'
 ########################################################################
 # Import domain-specific lanes
 ########################################################################
+import 'helpers/github.rb'
 import 'lanes/build.rb'
 import 'lanes/localization.rb'
 import 'lanes/release.rb'
 import 'lanes/screenshots.rb'
 import 'lanes/test.rb'
+import 'lanes/release_management_in_ci.rb'
 
 default_platform(:android)
 
diff --git a/fastlane/helpers/github.rb b/fastlane/helpers/github.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..df5bc2fe175e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fastlane/helpers/github.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+def create_release_management_pull_request(base_branch, title)
+  create_pull_request(
+      api_token: ENV['GITHUB_TOKEN'],
+      repo: GHHELPER_REPO,
+      title: title,
+      head: Fastlane::Helper::GitHelper.current_git_branch,
+      base: base_branch,
+      labels: 'Releases'
+  )
+end
diff --git a/fastlane/lanes/localization.rb b/fastlane/lanes/localization.rb
index 71bd81738093..f2f026e8bfe4 100644
--- a/fastlane/lanes/localization.rb
+++ b/fastlane/lanes/localization.rb
@@ -98,12 +98,12 @@
   lane :update_appstore_strings do |options|
     # If no `app:` is specified, call this for both WordPress and Jetpack
     apps = options[:app].nil? ? %i[wordpress jetpack] : Array(options[:app]&.downcase&.to_sym)
+    version = options.fetch(:version, android_get_app_version)
 
     apps.each do |app|
       app_values = APP_SPECIFIC_VALUES[app]
 
       metadata_folder = File.join(PROJECT_ROOT_FOLDER, 'WordPress', app_values[:metadata_dir])
-      version = options.fetch(:version, android_get_app_version)
 
       # <key in po file> => <path to txt file to read the content from>
       files = {
@@ -126,6 +126,11 @@
         commit_message: "Update #{app_values[:display_name]} `PlayStoreStrings.po` for version #{version}"
       )
     end
+
+    push_to_git_remote(tags: false)
+
+    release_branch = "release/#{version}"
+    create_release_management_pull_request(release_branch, "Merge #{version} editorialized release notes to #{release_branch}")
   end
 
   # Updates the metadata in the Play Store (Main store listing) from the content of `fastlane/{metadata|jetpack_metadata}/android/*/*.txt` files
@@ -173,7 +178,7 @@
 
     skip_commit = options.fetch(:skip_commit, false)
     skip_git_push = options.fetch(:skip_git_push, false)
-    
+
     # If no `app:` is specified, call this for both WordPress and Jetpack
     apps = options[:app].nil? ? %i[wordpress jetpack] : Array(options[:app]&.to_s&.downcase&.to_sym)
 
@@ -213,7 +218,7 @@
         source_file = key.to_s.start_with?('release_note_') ? 'release_notes.txt' : h[:desc]
         FileUtils.cp(File.join(metadata_source_dir, source_file), File.join(download_path, 'en-US', h[:desc]))
       end
-      
+
       unless skip_commit
         git_add(path: download_path)
         message = "Update #{app_values[:display_name]} metadata translations"
diff --git a/fastlane/lanes/release.rb b/fastlane/lanes/release.rb
index 0c436955b952..d091621f221d 100644
--- a/fastlane/lanes/release.rb
+++ b/fastlane/lanes/release.rb
@@ -32,12 +32,14 @@
       sh('git', 'commit', '-m', "Update draft release notes for Jetpack #{new_version}.")
     end
     cleanup_release_files(files: release_notes_short_paths)
-
     android_update_release_notes(new_version: new_version) # Adds empty section for next version
-    setbranchprotection(repository: GHHELPER_REPO, branch: "release/#{new_version}")
-    setfrozentag(repository: GHHELPER_REPO, milestone: new_version)
 
     UI.message("Jetpack release notes were based on the same ones as WordPress. Don't forget to check #{release_notes_path('jetpack')} and amend them as necessary if any item does not apply for Jetpack before sending them to Editorial.")
+
+    push_to_git_remote(tags: false)
+
+    setbranchprotection(repository: GHHELPER_REPO, branch: "release/#{new_version}")
+    setfrozentag(repository: GHHELPER_REPO, milestone: new_version)
   end
 
   #####################################################################################
@@ -60,10 +62,12 @@
     update_frozen_strings_for_translation
 
     ensure_git_status_clean
-    push_to_git_remote
+    push_to_git_remote(tags: false)
 
     new_version = android_get_app_version()
     trigger_beta_build(branch_to_build: "release/#{new_version}")
+
+    create_release_management_pull_request('trunk', "Merge #{new_version} code freeze to trunk")
   end
 
   #####################################################################################
@@ -88,10 +92,20 @@
     update_frozen_strings_for_translation
     download_translations()
     android_bump_version_beta()
-    next unless UI.confirm('Ready for CI build')
 
-    new_version = android_get_app_version()
-    trigger_beta_build(branch_to_build: "release/#{new_version}")
+    app_version = android_get_app_version()
+    release_branch = "release/#{app_version}"
+    release_version = android_get_release_version()["name"]
+
+    # Create an intermediate branch
+    new_beta_branch_name = "new_beta/#{release_version}"
+    Fastlane::Helper::GitHelper.create_branch(new_beta_branch_name)
+
+    push_to_git_remote(tags: false)
+
+    trigger_beta_build(branch_to_build: new_beta_branch_name)
+
+    create_release_management_pull_request(release_branch, "Merge #{release_version} to #{release_branch}")
   end
 
   #####################################################################################
@@ -110,6 +124,7 @@
     hotfix_version = options[:version_name] || UI.input('Version number for the new hotfix?')
     previous_tag = android_hotfix_prechecks(version_name: hotfix_version, skip_confirm: options[:skip_confirm])
     android_bump_version_hotfix(previous_version_name: previous_tag, version_name: hotfix_version, version_code: options[:version_code])
+    push_to_git_remote(tags: false)
   end
 
   #####################################################################################
@@ -148,6 +163,12 @@
     android_finalize_prechecks(skip_confirm: options[:skip_confirm])
     configure_apply(force: is_ci)
 
+    app_version = android_get_app_version()
+    release_branch = "release/#{app_version}"
+
+    # Remove branch protection first, so that we can push the final commits directly to the release branch
+    removebranchprotection(repository: GHHELPER_REPO, branch: release_branch)
+
     check_translations_coverage()
     download_translations()
 
@@ -155,14 +176,17 @@
     version = android_get_release_version()
     download_metadata_strings(version: version['name'], build_number: version['code'])
 
+    push_to_git_remote(tags: false)
+
     # Wrap up
-    removebranchprotection(repository: GHHELPER_REPO, branch: "release/#{version['name']}")
     setfrozentag(repository: GHHELPER_REPO, milestone: version['name'], freeze: false)
     create_new_milestone(repository: GHHELPER_REPO)
     close_milestone(repository: GHHELPER_REPO, milestone: version['name'])
 
     # Trigger release build
     trigger_release_build(branch_to_build: "release/#{version['name']}")
+
+    create_release_management_pull_request('trunk', "Merge #{app_version} final to trunk")
   end
 
   lane :check_translations_coverage do |options|
diff --git a/fastlane/lanes/release_management_in_ci.rb b/fastlane/lanes/release_management_in_ci.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b8186c13ab2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fastlane/lanes/release_management_in_ci.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+BUILDKITE_ORGANIZATION = 'automattic'.freeze
+BUILDKITE_PIPELINE = 'wordpress-android'.freeze
+platform :android do
+  #####################################################################################
+  # Triggers for Buildkite
+  #####################################################################################
+  lane :trigger_code_freeze_in_ci do |options|
+    buildkite_trigger_build(
+      buildkite_organization: BUILDKITE_ORGANIZATION,
+      buildkite_pipeline: BUILDKITE_PIPELINE,
+      branch: 'trunk',
+      pipeline_file: 'code-freeze.yml',
+      message: 'Code Freeze'
+    )
+  end
+
+  lane :trigger_complete_code_freeze_in_ci do |options|
+    release_version = options[:release_version]
+    buildkite_trigger_build(
+      buildkite_organization: BUILDKITE_ORGANIZATION,
+      buildkite_pipeline: BUILDKITE_PIPELINE,
+      branch: "release/#{release_version}",
+      pipeline_file: 'complete-code-freeze.yml',
+      message: 'Complete Code Freeze',
+      environment: { RELEASE_VERSION: release_version }
+    )
+  end
+
+  lane :trigger_finalize_release_in_ci do |options|
+    release_version = options[:release_version]
+    buildkite_trigger_build(
+      buildkite_organization: BUILDKITE_ORGANIZATION,
+      buildkite_pipeline: BUILDKITE_PIPELINE,
+      branch: "release/#{release_version}",
+      pipeline_file: 'finalize-release.yml',
+      message: 'Finalize Release',
+      environment: { RELEASE_VERSION: release_version }
+    )
+  end
+
+  lane :trigger_new_beta_release_in_ci do |options|
+    release_version = options[:release_version]
+    buildkite_trigger_build(
+      buildkite_organization: BUILDKITE_ORGANIZATION,
+      buildkite_pipeline: BUILDKITE_PIPELINE,
+      branch: "release/#{release_version}",
+      pipeline_file: 'new-beta-release.yml',
+      message: 'New Beta Release',
+      environment: { RELEASE_VERSION: release_version }
+    )
+  end
+
+  lane :trigger_update_appstore_strings_in_ci do |options|
+    release_version = options[:release_version]
+    editorial_branch = options[:editorial_branch]
+    buildkite_trigger_build(
+      buildkite_organization: BUILDKITE_ORGANIZATION,
+      buildkite_pipeline: BUILDKITE_PIPELINE,
+      branch: "#{editorial_branch}",
+      pipeline_file: 'update-release-notes.yml',
+      message: 'Update Release Notes',
+      environment: { RELEASE_VERSION: release_version, EDITORIAL_BRANCH: editorial_branch }
+    )
+  end
+end