Mgr, Engineering

Thrivent•Appleton, WI

18h

About The Position

The Insurance Application Fulfillment Product Group is seeking an Engineering Manager to help lead the modernization of the Insurance Application Issue process across Life, Health, and Annuity business lines. This role partners closely with Product, Stakeholders and Cross Portfolio teams to shape technology strategy, drive architectural decisions, build effective product teams and deliver solutions that are scalable, governed, and resilient in a highly regulated environment. The Engineering Manager position is designed to blend hands-on technical contributions with effective leadership of engineering teams. This role is ideal for an accomplished engineering leader who thrives in environments that present complex challenges. The successful candidate will be enthusiastic about engaging with both the business and technical aspects of projects, ensuring a deep understanding of context and requirements. Familiarity with product management principles and scrum methodologies is essential, as these practices support the delivery of high-quality solutions. In addition, the role requires a strong motivation to nurture and grow teams, fostering talent that consistently achieves business objectives through robust engineering practices.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or other technical field or equivalent work experience
8+ years of progressively responsible positions in Information Technology including 5+ years’ experience in IT discipline, e.g., customer relationship management, portfolio strategy and roadmap development.
3+ years of leadership experience in all aspects of a specific IT discipline, e.g. IT/LOB customer relationship management, portfolio strategy and/or demand management.
3+ years’ management/supervisory experience in specific IT functional area discipline, e.g. applications development or equivalent skills leading major technical projects with accountability for enforcing talent management needs and performance standards.
Demonstrated leadership and experience managing multidiscipline, high-performance work teams.
Strong competency in project management and execution of multiple or large projects.
Experience working with customers to develop solutions to complex business problems.
Proven ability to communicate effectively with internal/external stakeholders to support business initiatives.
Proven ability to function in an environment which requires flexibility, good judgment and intelligent decision making, often based on limited information and/or extreme conditions.
Ability to formulate, implement and evaluate plans, programs and procedures applicable to customer relationship and demand management.

Nice To Haves

MBA
Financial Services industry experience
Experience in IT planning and business relationship management
Experience working in a matrix management organization
Experience with product development and management

Responsibilities

Designing Solutions Review technical solution design and architecture and provide guidance and direction.
Take part in system design and architecture conversations with the team to land approaches to deliver solutions.
Review technical solution and supports the execution of the solution
Developing Software Has Developed software.
Can read code and stays up to date on best practices.
Ensure Code reviews are completed - Problem solving and analytical skills Learning and applying new techniques Promotes and empowers sharing ideas, best practices, etc.
They need to make space so teams can take time for these activities.
Anticipates and analyzes trends in technology and assesses the impact of emerging technologies on the business
Collaborating within team Supports the team agile practices and learning events / trainings Helps break down barriers for the team Engages in sprint demos; Understands the desired and actual outcomes as well as the technology delivered by the team Partner with Product Manager on Initiatives/ Features/ Epics and provides clarity on desired outcomes as well as technical expertise.
Collaborates with Product manager for strategies, operating plans, targets and measures for product groups Creating a positive team environment where individuals have psychological safety and work collaboratively while understanding, respecting, challenging and appreciating each other’s ideas
Collaborating across teams Supports and empowers teams to broker solutions across products Understands how the product integrates with other products and ensures consistency in approach to work towards a common goal / outcome.
Builds strong working relationships with peers across teams Proactively identifies cross team challenges and works to empower teams in solve collaboratively
Collaborating across the organization Align your team with the priorities of the company and the technology organization for a given product area Setting product/platform technology strategy Participates in setting the product and platform technology vision, strategies, initiatives, roadmaps , objectives and alignments Represents the business value of technology upgrades, etc. and influences prioritization in the product roadmap Empowers the team to select the right tool and platforms for the given product area.
Defining Engineering standards/patterns Collaborating with Engineers to ensure Engineering practices and be an advocate to bring the engineering disciplines.
Promoting engineering practices and continuous improvement such as develops and observability Contributes to the creation of enterprise frameworks and patterns DevOps Define and supports the development Lifecyle processes Supports the team and removes barriers to resolving production incidents/problems DevOps continuously evaluated through observability, monitoring and alerting Understands the health of technology products and promotes prioritization of work to maintain and continuously improve Serve as an escalation point in product level support for ongoing maintenance and production issues
Selecting & Managing Technology Vendors Be an advocate to the team to define criteria’s for selecting the right platform/technology Guides the team to build consensus on an approach and driving a build vs buy decision with the team.
In a buy decision, works with the team to decide on criteria and vendor selection.
Execute or manage the overall technology solutions, platforms for the product groups and associated vendor relationships.
Coaching Engineers Holding regular 1:1s with team members and team meeting, Provides constructive feedback, guidance and coaching to help engineers grow their skills and experience.
Provides career planning advice to engineers and creates development plans to help them achieve their career goals which leverages their skills and capabilities and provides them with learning opportunities.
Recruiting/building talent Leads the process of selecting and engaging the right consulting partners Planning in advance for future people needs for the product groups, collaborate with the other teams on the recruitment process Recruits, develops, and sustains a high-performing team while promoting a culture of shared accountability, operational excellence, and partnership across the organization.
Models Thrivent’s leadership competencies – courage, collaboration, and commitment by demonstrating resiliency, working together to make the best decisions, and holding yourself and others accountable.
Supports and/or develops an environment in which Thrivent employees and colleagues are focused on continuous improvement, exceptional employee engagement, and an unwavering commitment to our clients.
Shapes and/or supports a culture that represents the Thrivent purpose, promise and values, ensuring that Thrivent’s trust and reputation remain strong with its clients.
Manage a team of direct and indirect staff