diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 8eec9359fdfc65563bdddb0e1ed448651ec2d579..a84756e3aa7ead5efc9c868db27d3493adb92bb9 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,13 @@ variables:
   EXIT_CODE_FAIL: 1
   PROCESSING_SCRIPTS_BIN_DIR: "/test-bin"
   TESTS_DIR_CODEC_BE_ON_MR: "tests/codec_be_on_mr_nonselection"
+  MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE:
+    description: "Type for the manual pipeline run. Use 'test-be-release' to run BE test against release codec."
+    value: 'default'
+    options:
+      - 'default'
+      - 'test-be-release'
+
 
 default:
   interruptible: true # Make all jobs by default interruptible
@@ -143,6 +150,8 @@ stages:
       when: never
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'trigger' # Don't run triggered pipeline by default
       when: never
+    - if: $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'test-be-release' # Skip all the normal jobs when testing manually against release codec
+      when: never
     - when: on_success
 
 .rules-merge-request:
@@ -1039,6 +1048,40 @@ codec-comparison-on-main-push:
     reports:
       junit: report-junit.xml
 
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------
+# Manual jobs
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------
+
+test-be-to-release:
+  stage: test
+  tags:
+    - ivas-windows
+  resource_group: ivas-be-to-release-test-resource
+  timeout: "20 minutes"
+  rules:
+    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'web' && $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'test-be-release'
+  script:
+
+    - echo "$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH"
+    - MSBuild.exe .\Workspace_msvc\Workspace_msvc.sln /property:Configuration=Debug /p:Platform=win32 /m | tee -variable winoutdata
+    - $winoutdata | Out-File $BUILD_OUTPUT -Encoding Utf8
+    - ("& python ci/check_for_warnings.py '$BUILD_OUTPUT'") | Invoke-Expression
+    - ("exit $LASTEXITCODE") | Invoke-Expression
+
+    # path to release candidate refs defined in config.toml
+
+    - echo "Placeholder for BE test to release script"
+    - mkdir logs
+
+  artifacts:
+    name: "test-be-to-release--sha-$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA--results"
+    when: always
+    expire_in: 1 week
+    paths:
+      - logs/
+    expose_as: "test-be-to-release results"
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------
 # Scheduled jobs on main
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------