Lead Guidewire Software Engineer

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan•Lansing, MI

About The Position

Responsible for leading the design, development, configuration, integration, testing, deployment, and production support of Guidewire solutions for Property and Casualty insurance operations. Provides hands-on technical leadership across one or more Guidewire InsuranceSuite applications, including PolicyCenter, ClaimCenter, or BillingCenter, ensuring solutions align with enterprise architecture, security, quality, and performance standards. Partners with product owners, business stakeholders, architects, and delivery teams to translate insurance requirements into scalable technical solutions. Leads incident management, troubleshooting, root cause analysis, defect correction, release validation, and continuous improvement throughout the system development life cycle. The role provides technical direction to engineers, supports integrations with internal and third-party systems, and promotes Agile/Scrum and DevOps practices. It also includes maintaining technical documentation, mentoring engineers, monitoring Guidewire capabilities and industry trends, and using delivery tools and metrics to identify risks and support timely, budget-conscious delivery.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in information services or a related field; relevant combinations of education and experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
Minimum seven years of development and system design experience.
Extensive experience designing, configuring, developing, integrating, and supporting Guidewire applications in a Property and Casualty insurance environment.
Hands-on experience with at least one of PolicyCenter, ClaimCenter, or BillingCenter.
Strong knowledge of Property and Casualty insurance concepts, workflows, and data, including policy administration, underwriting, claims, and billing.
Expert knowledge of Guidewire configuration and development concepts, including data models, business rules, workflows, user interfaces, and application extensions.
Strong experience with Guidewire integration patterns and technologies, including APIs, web services, messaging, plugins, and batch processing.
Proficiency with Guidewire development tools and applicable programming technologies, including Gosu, Java, SQL, XML, and web technologies.
Strong understanding of object-oriented analysis and design, multi-tier architecture, design patterns, secure coding, and software engineering best practices.
Experience with relational databases, data analysis, query optimization, and troubleshooting application and integration issues.
Experience with source control, continuous integration, automated testing, deployment pipelines, environment management, and enterprise application release practices.
Ability to lead technical design discussions, conduct code reviews, mentor engineers, and communicate complex platform decisions to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, planning, interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment while taking ownership of delivery quality and team success.
Ability to understand business needs and conceptualize and implement information systems that support business strategies.
Experience working within an Agile framework such as a Scrum-based development organization.
Thorough knowledge of departmental procedures, processes, and workflows.
Knowledge of standard languages, coding methods, company coding standards, and quality requirements.
Ability to document and communicate software platform designs to all levels of staff, work constructively with technical experts, and exchange information clearly and concisely.
Demonstrated leadership abilities and ability to make competent, independent decisions.
Ability to use project management tools and techniques and comprehend, address, or refer problem situations for appropriate decision-making.
Ability to maintain confidentiality and perform assignments at locations outside the office.
Continuous learning, as defined by the Company’s learning philosophy, is required.

Nice To Haves

Certification or progress toward certification is highly preferred and encouraged.

Responsibilities

Serve as the lead technical expert for Guidewire-based applications supporting Property and Casualty insurance products and operations.
Lead solution design, configuration, development, integration, testing, implementation, and production support for PolicyCenter, ClaimCenter, or BillingCenter.
Partner with product owners and business stakeholders across underwriting, policy administration, claims, billing, and architecture to translate business needs into secure, scalable Guidewire solutions.
Provide technical direction to engineers, coordinate development assignments, review technical designs and code, and promote Guidewire implementation best practices.
Design and support integrations between Guidewire applications and internal or third-party systems using APIs, web services, messaging, and batch processes.
Troubleshoot application, integration, database, user interface, and performance issues across Guidewire environments.
Lead root cause analysis for production incidents, implement corrective actions, and validate application stability following releases and changes.
Work with product teams to refine developer-ready user stories, acceptance criteria, technical requirements, estimates, and implementation plans.
Implement Agile/Scrum and DevOps practices, including continuous integration, automated testing, source control, deployment automation, and release management.
Ensure Guidewire configurations, customizations, and integrations comply with enterprise architecture, security, data protection, coding, and quality standards.
Maintain technical documentation, including solution designs, integration specifications, support procedures, release notes, and production readiness materials.
Monitor Guidewire product capabilities and industry trends, recommend platform enhancements, and contribute to technical communities of practice.
Mentor engineers and support knowledge sharing related to Guidewire development, Property and Casualty insurance processes, software design, and delivery practices.
Use Agile project management tools and delivery metrics to identify risks, communicate status, and help deliver initiatives on time and within budget.
Manage technical services and software vendors.
Maintain confidentiality and perform other assignments at locations outside the office.