Lead Guidewire PolicyCenter Software Development Engineer Test (SDET) - HYBRID

American Family Insurance•Madison, WI

6d•$113,000 - $194,000•Hybrid

About The Position

This role provides technical leadership for the Guidewire PolicyCenter functional and automation strategy, tooling, and architecture across assigned insurance technology applications. The Lead SDET interprets business challenges, recommends improvements to testing tools and processes, and ensures test engineering aligns with enterprise quality and delivery goals. The position also provides technical leadership, mentorship, and guidance to improve team capability and deliver large-scale automation initiatives. The role leads functional, automated, and performance testing across multiple systems, establishes quality standards and framework practices, and works with cross-functional teams and leadership on strategic testing decisions. It evaluates and implements new tools and methodologies, coordinates regression coverage and automation health reporting, and resolves complex system and environment issues. This is a hybrid position requiring at least 10 days per month in the office. Candidates should reside within approximately 50 miles of the Madison, Wisconsin office. Travel may be required up to 10%.

Requirements

Demonstrated experience with Guidewire PolicyCenter and integrated systems.
Demonstrated experience providing customer-driven solutions, support, or service.
Extensive experience in automation or software engineering, including in-depth knowledge of the insurance industry's technology landscape.
Extensive experience leading automation strategy in large, integrated systems.
Subject matter expertise in one or more automation frameworks.
Extensive understanding of cloud-based CI/CD, test environments, and coding or scripting languages.
Ability to think strategically and align testing initiatives with organizational goals.
Demonstrated experience evaluating and implementing new tools and technologies.
Extensive experience architecting scalable test solutions.
Extensive experience analyzing mockups and recommending changes to requirements or test case designs.
Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to convey complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
Extensive experience in test data management and data validation.
Demonstrated experience providing professional mentorship and training to others.

Nice To Haves

Experience with automation tools such as Playwright, Karate API, Selenium, or similar technologies.
Completion of Guidewire PolicyCenter certifications is preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

Define, execute, and evolve the Guidewire PolicyCenter functional and test automation strategy, aligning solutions with enterprise quality assurance goals.
Establish quality standards and best practices for framework design, versioning, and test environments.
Build consensus with cross-functional teams and leadership on technical decisions, quality standards, and strategic testing objectives.
Lead manual, automated, and performance test execution, readiness, and risk communications across multiple systems, including policy, sales and service, billing, claims, and data.
Research, evaluate, and implement innovations in testing tools and methodologies.
Coordinate regression coverage metrics and report automation health and return on investment to leadership.
Provide technical leadership and guidance to QA teams addressing complex system and environment issues, identifying lasting solutions through analytical thinking and code quality standards.
Provide professional mentorship and training to others.
Complete other assignments or participate in projects based on skills, achievements, or experience.