Manager Software Engineering - Quality

The Hartford•Columbus, OH

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

We’re determined to make a difference and are proud to be an insurance company that goes well beyond coverages and policies. Working here means having every opportunity to achieve your goals – and to help others accomplish theirs, too. Join our team as we help shape the future. The Manager with quality focus for Claims and Reinsurance plays a critical leadership role in elevating engineering discipline and software quality across the Claims IT landscape. This role leads Quality Engineering practices, coaches SDETs and VSQLs, strengthens automation maturity, and drives continuous improvement across Agile Release Trains supporting Claims applications—including Guidewire, Reinsurance, AI and digital claims solutions. The ideal candidate brings strong quality engineering expertise, proven coaching ability, and the ability to influence cross‑functional teams within a scaled Agile environment. This role will have a Hybrid work schedule, with the expectation of working in an office (Columbus, OH, Chicago, IL, Hartford, CT or Charlotte, NC) 3 days a week (Tuesday through Thursday).

Requirements

7+ years in Quality Engineering, Software Testing, or Test Automation.
Bachelor's Degree Required
Experience managing and developing a team of Quality Engineers, including coaching, performance management, and career development.
3+ years coaching or managing SDETs/QE professionals in an Agile environment.
Strong understanding of Claims systems, workflows, or P&C insurance technology.
Hands‑on experience with automation frameworks, CI/CD pipelines, BDD/TDD, and test strategy development.
Demonstrated success improving engineering quality metrics (defect density, automation %, DDP, etc.).
Strong communication, influencing, and leadership skills; able to coach without formal authority.
Candidate must be authorized to work in the US without company sponsorship.
The company will not support the STEM OPT I-983 Training Plan endorsement for this position.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Guidewire, Reinsurance platforms, or Claims modernization programs.
Insurance Domain experience
Master's Degree Preferred
Experience with Rally, Playwright, UTF, or similar test engineering tools.
Background in Scaled Agile (SAFe) environments.
Exposure to cloud modernization or DevOps transformation initiatives.

Responsibilities

Quality Leadership & Coaching
Coach and develop SDETs to strengthen test design, automation practices, CI/CD integration, and shift‑left quality.
Mentor VSQLs to elevate quality maturity, role consistency, and foundational QE practices across value streams.
Champion a deconstructive testing mindset to ensure teams validate upstream and downstream business processes effectively.
Quality Management & Governance
Own and evolve Claims IT test management and defect management processes, including Rally documentation, entry/exit criteria, and defect taxonomy.
Establish, maintain, and communicate the Quality Management framework across people, process, and technology.
Lead quality maturity assessments and translate findings into actionable PI‑level improvement plans.
Test Engineering & Automation Excellence
Drive in‑sprint automation, E2E automation maturity, and regression strategy optimization.
Guide framework optimization efforts, including suite refactoring and automation tooling best practices.
Ensure vendor SDETs align to Claims IT expectations and support innovation in automated testing.
Delivery Quality Oversight
Serve as the escalation point for quality risks, defects, test coverage gaps, and release readiness concerns.
Partner with Reliability Engineering on RCA quality, mitigation actions, and operational improvements.
Ensure a consistent “quality lens” is embedded in story refinement, feature planning, and delivery processes.
Metrics, Reporting & Insights
Develop and maintain ART‑level and consolidated dashboards for defect trends, automation progress, test coverage, and MOR reporting.
Improve defect detection ratio, defect injection ratio, and automation coverage through data-driven coaching.
Leverage code commit and productivity insights to drive higher engineering discipline across teams.
Cross‑Functional Partnership
Collaborate closely with RTEs, APMs, Tech Leads, Architecture, and Vendor Partners to ensure quality integration across the delivery lifecycle.
Support modernization initiatives (cloud, digital, platform upgrades) with appropriate test engineering strategies.
Foster a culture of learning, coaching, continuous improvement, and cross-team partnership.