diff --git a/.github/workflows/run_release_tests.yml b/.github/workflows/run_release_tests.yml
index a7a1b9bd11..feebd4bb3d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/run_release_tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run_release_tests.yml
@@ -50,5 +50,4 @@ jobs:
           RESULTS_LOCATION: ${{ secrets.RESULTS_LOCATION }}
           DATABASE_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.DATABASE_PASSWORD }}
           S3_DATA_PATH: ${{ secrets.S3_DATA_PATH }}
-          S3_JARS_BUCKET: ${{ secrets.S3_JARS_BUCKET }}
           SPILL_BUCKET: ${{ secrets.SPILL_BUCKET }}
diff --git a/validation_testing/cdk_federation_infra_provisioning/app/lib/stacks/dynamo-stack.ts b/validation_testing/cdk_federation_infra_provisioning/app/lib/stacks/dynamo-stack.ts
index 0cd3bacb84..5c36662343 100644
--- a/validation_testing/cdk_federation_infra_provisioning/app/lib/stacks/dynamo-stack.ts
+++ b/validation_testing/cdk_federation_infra_provisioning/app/lib/stacks/dynamo-stack.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import * as cdk from 'aws-cdk-lib';
 import * as glue from '@aws-cdk/aws-glue-alpha';
 import * as ddb from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-dynamodb';
 import * as iam from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-iam';
+import { Repository } from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-ecr';
 import { CfnInclude } from 'aws-cdk-lib/cloudformation-include';
 import { Construct } from 'constructs';
 import tpcdsJson from '../../resources/tpcds_specs.json'
diff --git a/validation_testing/cdk_federation_infra_provisioning/app/lib/stacks/opensearch-stack.ts b/validation_testing/cdk_federation_infra_provisioning/app/lib/stacks/opensearch-stack.ts
index 5b2378e815..1ca38debec 100644
--- a/validation_testing/cdk_federation_infra_provisioning/app/lib/stacks/opensearch-stack.ts
+++ b/validation_testing/cdk_federation_infra_provisioning/app/lib/stacks/opensearch-stack.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import * as ec2 from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-ec2';
 import * as glue from '@aws-cdk/aws-glue-alpha';
 import * as s3 from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-s3';
 import * as iam from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-iam';
+import { Repository } from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-ecr';
 import { CfnInclude } from 'aws-cdk-lib/cloudformation-include';
 const path = require('path');
 import {FederationStackProps} from './stack-props'
diff --git a/validation_testing/cdk_federation_infra_provisioning/app/lib/stacks/rds-generic-stack.ts b/validation_testing/cdk_federation_infra_provisioning/app/lib/stacks/rds-generic-stack.ts
index c6bde711fc..e0a97a2c13 100644
--- a/validation_testing/cdk_federation_infra_provisioning/app/lib/stacks/rds-generic-stack.ts
+++ b/validation_testing/cdk_federation_infra_provisioning/app/lib/stacks/rds-generic-stack.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import * as rds from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-rds';
 import * as ec2 from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-ec2';
 import * as glue from '@aws-cdk/aws-glue-alpha';
 import * as iam from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-iam'
+import { Repository } from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-ecr';
 import { CfnInclude } from 'aws-cdk-lib/cloudformation-include';
 import { Construct } from 'constructs';
 const path = require('path')
diff --git a/validation_testing/cdk_federation_infra_provisioning/app/lib/stacks/redshift-stack.ts b/validation_testing/cdk_federation_infra_provisioning/app/lib/stacks/redshift-stack.ts
index 8f70345b02..f54b849e95 100644
--- a/validation_testing/cdk_federation_infra_provisioning/app/lib/stacks/redshift-stack.ts
+++ b/validation_testing/cdk_federation_infra_provisioning/app/lib/stacks/redshift-stack.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import * as iam from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-iam';
 import * as s3 from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-s3';
 import * as secretsmanager from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-secretsmanager';
 import * as ssm from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-ssm';
+import { Repository } from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-ecr';
 import { CfnInclude } from 'aws-cdk-lib/cloudformation-include';
 import { Construct } from 'constructs';
 const path = require('path');
diff --git a/validation_testing/deploy_infra.sh b/validation_testing/deploy_infra.sh
index a02961918b..00bcbc6271 100644
--- a/validation_testing/deploy_infra.sh
+++ b/validation_testing/deploy_infra.sh
@@ -1,10 +1,24 @@
-
 CONNECTOR_NAME=$1
 VALIDATION_TESTING_ROOT=$REPOSITORY_ROOT/validation_testing
 
-# upload connector jar to s3 and update yaml to s3 uri, redirect to /dev/null to not log the s3 path
-aws s3 cp $REPOSITORY_ROOT/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME/target/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME-2022.47.1.jar "$S3_JARS_BUCKET/" > /dev/null
-sed -i "s#CodeUri: \"./target/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME-2022.47.1.jar\"#CodeUri: \"$S3_JARS_BUCKET/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME-2022.47.1.jar\"#" $REPOSITORY_ROOT/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME.yaml
+# ecr repository must be created and an image pushed before the cdk stack is deployed for the lambda to create successfully
+# get the AWS account ID from the current roll (for use in ECR repo name)
+ACCOUNT_ID="$(aws sts get-caller-identity --query Account --output text)"
+
+# create the ECR repository
+aws ecr create-repository --repository-name athena-federation-repository-$CONNECTOR_NAME --region us-east-1
+
+# push the ECR image for the connector to the ECR repository
+aws ecr get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin $ACCOUNT_ID.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
+docker build -t athena-federation-repository-$CONNECTOR_NAME $REPOSITORY_ROOT/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME
+docker tag athena-federation-repository-$CONNECTOR_NAME\:latest $ACCOUNT_ID.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/athena-federation-repository-$CONNECTOR_NAME\:latest
+docker push $ACCOUNT_ID.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/athena-federation-repository-$CONNECTOR_NAME\:latest
+
+# update the template to use the correct ImageUri
+sed -i "s|292517598671|$ACCOUNT_ID|g" "$REPOSITORY_ROOT/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME.yaml"
+sed -i "s#\(/athena-federation-repository-$CONNECTOR_NAME:\)[0-9]\{4\}\.[0-9]\{1,2\}\.[0-9]\{1\}#\1latest#" $REPOSITORY_ROOT/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME.yaml
+
+echo "FINISHED PUSHING CONNECTOR IMAGE TO ECR REPOSITORY"
 
 # go to cdk dir, build/synth/deploy
 cd $(dirname $(find . -name ATHENA_INFRA_SPINUP_ROOT))/app;
@@ -20,6 +34,4 @@ npm run build;
 npm run cdk synth;
 npm run cdk deploy ${CONNECTOR_NAME}CdkStack > /dev/null;
 
-sed -i "s#CodeUri: \"$S3_JARS_BUCKET/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME-2022.47.1.jar\"#CodeUri: \"./target/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME-2022.47.1.jar\"#" $REPOSITORY_ROOT/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME.yaml
-
 echo "FINISHED DEPLOYING INFRA FOR ${CONNECTOR_NAME}."
diff --git a/validation_testing/main.py b/validation_testing/main.py
index bf03f13670..9bb8f10274 100644
--- a/validation_testing/main.py
+++ b/validation_testing/main.py
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ def assert_required_env_vars_set():
         'REPOSITORY_ROOT',
         'DATABASE_PASSWORD',
         'S3_DATA_PATH',
-        'S3_JARS_BUCKET',
         'SPILL_BUCKET'
     ]
     if not all([os.environ.get(env_var) for env_var in required_env_vars]):
diff --git a/validation_testing/run_release_tests.sh b/validation_testing/run_release_tests.sh
index 5b0a7c815b..47a272903a 100644
--- a/validation_testing/run_release_tests.sh
+++ b/validation_testing/run_release_tests.sh
@@ -7,9 +7,24 @@
 CONNECTOR_NAME=$1
 VALIDATION_TESTING_ROOT=$REPOSITORY_ROOT/validation_testing
 
-# upload connector jar to s3 and update yaml to s3 uri, redirect to /dev/null to not log the s3 path
-aws s3 cp $REPOSITORY_ROOT/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME/target/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME-2022.47.1.jar $S3_JARS_BUCKET > /dev/null
-sed -i "s#CodeUri: \"./target/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME-2022.47.1.jar\"#CodeUri: \"$S3_JARS_BUCKET/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME-2022.47.1.jar\"#" $REPOSITORY_ROOT/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME.yaml
+# ecr repository must be created and an image pushed before the cdk stack is deployed for the lambda to create successfully
+# get the AWS account ID from the current roll (for use in ECR repo name)
+ACCOUNT_ID="$(aws sts get-caller-identity --query Account --output text)"
+
+# create the ECR repository
+aws ecr create-repository --repository-name athena-federation-repository-$CONNECTOR_NAME --region us-east-1
+
+# push the ECR image for the connector to the ECR repository
+aws ecr get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin $ACCOUNT_ID.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
+docker build -t athena-federation-repository-$CONNECTOR_NAME $REPOSITORY_ROOT/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME
+docker tag athena-federation-repository-$CONNECTOR_NAME\:latest $ACCOUNT_ID.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/athena-federation-repository-$CONNECTOR_NAME\:latest
+docker push $ACCOUNT_ID.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/athena-federation-repository-$CONNECTOR_NAME\:latest
+
+# update the template to use the correct ImageUri
+sed -i "s|292517598671|$ACCOUNT_ID|g" "$REPOSITORY_ROOT/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME.yaml"
+sed -i "s#\(/athena-federation-repository-$CONNECTOR_NAME:\)[0-9]\{4\}\.[0-9]\{1,2\}\.[0-9]\{1\}#\1latest#" $REPOSITORY_ROOT/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME.yaml
+
+echo "FINISHED PUSHING CONNECTOR IMAGE TO ECR REPOSITORY"
 
 # go to cdk dir, build/synth/deploy
 cd $(dirname $(find . -name ATHENA_INFRA_SPINUP_ROOT))/app;
@@ -25,8 +40,6 @@ npm run build;
 npm run cdk synth;
 npm run cdk deploy ${CONNECTOR_NAME}CdkStack > /dev/null;
 
-sed -i "s#CodeUri: \"$S3_JARS_BUCKET/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME-2022.47.1.jar\"#CodeUri: \"./target/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME-2022.47.1.jar\"#" $REPOSITORY_ROOT/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME/athena-$CONNECTOR_NAME.yaml
-
 echo "FINISHED DEPLOYING INFRA FOR ${CONNECTOR_NAME}."
 
 # cd back to validation root
@@ -61,6 +74,9 @@ cd $(dirname $(find . -name ATHENA_INFRA_SPINUP_ROOT))/app;
 # cannot use --force because npm is stripping the flags, so pipe yes through
 yes | npm run cdk destroy ${CONNECTOR_NAME}CdkStack;
 
+# delete the ecr repository
+aws ecr delete-repository --repository-name athena-federation-repository-$CONNECTOR_NAME --force
+
 echo "FINISHED CLEANING UP RESOURCES FOR ${CONNECTOR_NAME}."