diff --git a/.github/workflows/stage.yml b/.github/workflows/stage.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bbacd1ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/stage.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+---
+name: Stage Release
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      version:
+        description: 'Version to stage'
+        required: true
+      default_awx_version:
+        description: 'Will be injected as the DEFAULT_AWX_VERSION build arg.'
+        required: true
+      confirm:
+        description: 'Are you sure? Set this to yes.'
+        required: true
+        default: 'no'
+
+jobs:
+  stage:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      packages: write
+      contents: write
+    steps:
+      - name: Verify inputs
+        run: |
+          set -e
+
+          if [[ ${{ github.event.inputs.confirm }} != "yes" ]]; then
+            >&2 echo "Confirm must be 'yes'"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          if [[ ${{ github.event.inputs.version }} == "" ]]; then
+            >&2 echo "Set version to continue."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          exit 0
+
+      - name: Checkout awx
+        uses: actions/checkout@v2
+        with:
+          repository: ${{ github.repository_owner }}/awx
+          path: awx
+
+      - name: Checkout awx-operator
+        uses: actions/checkout@v2
+        with:
+          repository: ${{ github.repository_owner }}/awx-operator
+          path: awx-operator
+
+      - name: Install playbook dependencies
+        run: |
+          python3 -m pip install docker
+
+      - name: Log in to GHCR
+        run: |
+          echo ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} | docker login ghcr.io -u ${{ github.actor }} --password-stdin
+
+      - name: Build and stage awx-operator
+        working-directory: awx-operator
+        run: |
+          BUILD_ARGS="--build-arg DEFAULT_AWX_VERSION=${{ github.event.inputs.default_awx_version }}" \
+          IMAGE_TAG_BASE=ghcr.io/${{ github.repository_owner }}/awx-operator \
+          VERSION=${{ github.event.inputs.version }} make docker-build docker-push
+
+      - name: Run test deployment
+        working-directory: awx-operator
+        run: |
+          python3 -m pip install -r molecule/requirements.txt
+          ansible-galaxy collection install -r molecule/requirements.yml
+          sudo rm -f $(which kustomize)
+          make kustomize
+          KUSTOMIZE_PATH=$(readlink -f bin/kustomize) molecule test -s kind
+        env:
+          AWX_TEST_VERSION: ${{ github.event.inputs.default_awx_version }}
+
+      - name: Create draft release
+        working-directory: awx
+        run: |
+          ansible-playbook tools/ansible/stage.yml \
+            -e version=${{ github.event.inputs.version }} \
+            -e repo=${{ github.repository_owner }}/awx-operator \
+            -e github_token=${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4b95133d..6cf9a2d9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ awx-operator-controller-manager-66ccd8f997-rhd4z   2/2     Running   0
 So we don't have to keep repeating `-n $NAMESPACE`, let's set the current namespace for `kubectl`:
 
 ```
-$ kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=$NAMESPACE 
+$ kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=$NAMESPACE
 ```
 
 Next, create a file named `awx-demo.yml` with the suggested content below. The `metadata.name` you provide, will be the name of the resulting AWX deployment.
@@ -856,46 +856,11 @@ Please visit [our contributing guidelines](https://github.com/ansible/awx-operat
 
 ## Release Process
 
-### Update version and files
+The first step is to create a draft release. Typically this will happen in the [Stage Release](https://github.com/ansible/awx/blob/devel/.github/workflows/stage.yml) workflow for AWX and you dont need to do it as a separate step.
 
-Update the awx-operator version:
+If you need to do an independent release of the operator, you can run the [Stage Release](https://github.com/ansible/awx-operator/blob/devel/.github/workflows/stage.yml) in the awx-operator repo. Both of these workflows will run smoke tests, so there is no need to do this manually.
 
-  - `Makefile`
-
-### Verify Functionality
-
-Run the following command inside this directory:
-
-```
-$ IMAGE_TAG_BASE=quay.io/<user>/awx-operator make docker-build docker-push
-```
-
-After it is built, test it on a local cluster:
-
-```
-$ minikube start --memory 6g --cpus 4
-$ minikube addons enable ingress
-$ export NAMESPACE=example-awx
-$ make deploy
-$ ansible-playbook ansible/instantiate-awx-deployment.yml -e namespace=$NAMESPACE -e image=quay.io/<user>/awx -e service_type=nodeport
-$ # Verify that the awx-task and awx-web containers are launched
-$ # with the right version of the awx image
-$ # Launch a job at `minikube service awx-demo-service --url -n $NAMESPACE`
-$ minikube delete
-```
-
-### Update changelog
-
-Generate a list of commits between the versions and add it to the [changelog](./CHANGELOG.md).
-```
-$ git log --no-merges --pretty="- %s (%an) - %h " <old_tag>..<new_tag>
-```
-
-### Commit / Create Release
-
-If everything works, commit the updated version, then [publish a new release](https://github.com/ansible/awx-operator/releases/new) using the same version you used in `ansible/group_vars/all`.
-
-After creating the release, [this GitHub Workflow](https://github.com/ansible/awx-operator/blob/devel/.github/workflows/release.yaml) will run and publish the new image to quay.io.
+After the draft release is created, publish it and the [Promote AWX Operator image](https://github.com/ansible/awx-operator/blob/devel/.github/workflows/promote.yaml) will run, publishing the image to Quay.
 
 ## Author