diff --git a/.changelog/changelog.tmpl b/.changelog/changelog.tmpl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7c3cdc8f21d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/changelog.tmpl
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+{{- if .NotesByType.feature }}
+FEATURES:
+
+{{range .NotesByType.feature -}}
+* {{ template "note" . }}
+{{ end -}}
+{{- end -}}
+
+{{- if index .NotesByType "breaking-change" -}}
+BREAKING CHANGES:
+
+{{range index .NotesByType "breaking-change" -}}
+* {{ template "note" . }}
+{{ end -}}
+{{- end -}}
+
+{{- if .NotesByType.security }}
+SECURITY:
+
+{{range .NotesByType.security -}}
+* {{ template "note" . }}
+{{ end -}}
+{{- end -}}
+
+{{- if .NotesByType.improvement }}
+IMPROVEMENTS:
+
+{{range .NotesByType.improvement -}}
+* {{ template "note" . }}
+{{ end -}}
+{{- end -}}
+
+{{- if .NotesByType.deprecation }}
+DEPRECATIONS:
+
+{{range .NotesByType.deprecation -}}
+* {{ template "note" . }}
+{{ end -}}
+{{- end -}}
+
+{{- if .NotesByType.bug }}
+BUG FIXES:
+
+{{range .NotesByType.bug -}}
+* {{ template "note" . }}
+{{ end -}}
+{{- end -}}
+
+{{- if .NotesByType.note }}
+NOTES:
+
+{{range .NotesByType.note -}}
+* {{ template "note" . }}
+{{ end -}}
+{{- end -}}
+
diff --git a/.changelog/note.tmpl b/.changelog/note.tmpl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b9908cd8f72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/note.tmpl
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{{- define "note" -}}
+{{.Body}}{{if not (stringHasPrefix .Issue "_")}} [[GH-{{- .Issue -}}](https://github.com/hashicorp/nomad/issues/{{- .Issue -}})]{{end}}
+{{- end -}}
diff --git a/GNUmakefile b/GNUmakefile
index 58b72dfacde..364dbe06af8 100644
--- a/GNUmakefile
+++ b/GNUmakefile
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ endif
 # tag corresponding to latest release we maintain backward compatibility with
 PROTO_COMPARE_TAG ?= v1.0.3$(if $(findstring ent,$(GO_TAGS)),+ent,)
 
+# LAST_RELEASE is the git sha of the latest release corresponding to this branch. main should have the latest
+# published release, but backport branches should point to the parent tag (e.g. 1.0.8 in release-1.0.9 after 1.1.0 is cut).
+LAST_RELEASE ?= v1.0.10
+
 default: help
 
 ifeq ($(CI),true)
@@ -97,6 +101,7 @@ deps:  ## Install build and development dependencies
 	GO111MODULE=on cd tools && go get github.com/hashicorp/hcl/v2/cmd/hclfmt@v2.5.1
 	GO111MODULE=on cd tools && go get github.com/golang/protobuf/protoc-gen-go@v1.3.4
 	GO111MODULE=on cd tools && go get github.com/hashicorp/go-msgpack/codec/codecgen@v1.1.5
+	GO111MODULE=on cd tools && go get github.com/hashicorp/go-changelog/cmd/changelog-build@latest
 
 .PHONY: lint-deps
 lint-deps: ## Install linter dependencies
@@ -187,10 +192,10 @@ generate-examples: command/job_init.bindata_assetfs.go
 command/job_init.bindata_assetfs.go: command/assets/*
 	go-bindata-assetfs -pkg command -o command/job_init.bindata_assetfs.go ./command/assets/...
 
-.PHONY: changelogfmt
-changelogfmt:
-	@echo "--> Making [GH-xxxx] references clickable..."
-	@sed -E 's|([^\[])\[GH-([0-9]+)\]|\1[[GH-\2](https://github.com/hashicorp/nomad/issues/\2)]|g' CHANGELOG.md > changelog.tmp && mv changelog.tmp CHANGELOG.md
+.PHONY: changelog
+changelog:
+	@changelog-build -last-release $(LAST_RELEASE) -this-release HEAD \
+		-entries-dir .changelog/ -changelog-template ./.changelog/changelog.tmpl -note-template ./.changelog/note.tmpl
 
 ## We skip the terraform directory as there are templated hcl configurations
 ## that do not successfully compile without rendering
@@ -218,7 +223,7 @@ dev: GOOS=$(shell go env GOOS)
 dev: GOARCH=$(shell go env GOARCH)
 dev: GOPATH=$(shell go env GOPATH)
 dev: DEV_TARGET=pkg/$(GOOS)_$(GOARCH)/nomad
-dev: changelogfmt hclfmt ## Build for the current development platform
+dev: hclfmt ## Build for the current development platform
 	@echo "==> Removing old development build..."
 	@rm -f $(PROJECT_ROOT)/$(DEV_TARGET)
 	@rm -f $(PROJECT_ROOT)/bin/nomad