diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..90b73dc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+name: Release
+
+on:
+  push:
+    tags:
+      - 'v*'
+
+# GitHub settings / example values:
+#
+# org level vars:
+#   - PUBLIC_REGISTRY: docker.io
+# repo level vars:
+#   - PUBLIC_REGISTRY_REPO: rancher
+# repo level secrets:
+#   - PUBLIC_REGISTRY_USERNAME
+#   - PUBLIC_REGISTRY_PASSWORD
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+jobs:
+
+  publish-public:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    
+    steps:
+    - name: Login to DockerHub
+      uses: docker/login-action@v3
+      with:
+        registry: ${{ vars.PUBLIC_REGISTRY }}
+        username: ${{ secrets.PUBLIC_REGISTRY_USERNAME }}
+        password: ${{ secrets.PUBLIC_REGISTRY_PASSWORD }}
+    - name: Setup QEMU
+      uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@v3
+    - name: Setup Docker Buildx
+      uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+    - name: Checkout code
+      uses: actions/checkout@v4
+  
+    - name: Build and push all image variations
+      run: |
+        make image-push
+        TAG="${TAG}-amd64" TARGET_PLATFORMS=linux/amd64 make image-push
+        TAG="${TAG}-arm64" TARGET_PLATFORMS=linux/arm64 make image-push
+      env:
+        TAG: ${{ github.ref_name }}
+        REPO: ${{ vars.PUBLIC_REGISTRY }}/${{ vars.PUBLIC_REGISTRY_REPO }}
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index b9246d76..32a545e5 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ GIT_TAG?=$(shell git describe --abbrev=0 --tags 2>/dev/null || echo "v0.0.0" )
 endif
 TAG?=${GIT_TAG}-${GIT_COMMIT_SHORT}
 REPO?=docker.io/rancher/eks-operator
+IMAGE = $(REPO):$(TAG)
+TARGET_PLATFORMS := linux/amd64,linux/arm64
+MACHINE := rancher
 E2E_CONF_FILE ?= $(ROOT_DIR)/test/e2e/config/config.yaml
 CHART_VERSION?=$(subst v,,$(GIT_TAG))
 RAWCOMMITDATE=$(shell git log -n1 --format="%at")
@@ -81,6 +84,24 @@ generate:
 	$(MAKE) generate-go
 	$(MAKE) generate-crd
 
+buildx-machine:
+	@docker buildx ls | grep $(MACHINE) || \
+		docker buildx create --name=$(MACHINE) --platform=$(TARGET_PLATFORMS)
+
+.PHONY: image-build
+image-build: buildx-machine ## build (and load) the container image targeting the current platform.
+	docker buildx build -f package/Dockerfile \
+    --builder $(MACHINE) --build-arg VERSION=$(TAG) \
+    -t "$(IMAGE)" $(BUILD_ACTION) .
+	@echo "Built $(IMAGE)"
+
+.PHONY: image-push
+image-push: buildx-machine ## build the container image targeting all platforms defined by TARGET_PLATFORMS and push to a registry.
+	docker buildx build -f package/Dockerfile \
+    --builder $(MACHINE) --build-arg VERSION=$(TAG) \
+    --platform=$(TARGET_PLATFORMS) -t "$(IMAGE)" --push .
+	@echo "Pushed $(IMAGE)"
+
 ALL_VERIFY_CHECKS = generate
 
 .PHONY: verify