Senior Manager, Software Engineering - Cloud Platform

Summary

Guidewire provides industry-leading software solutions for the property and casualty insurance sector. Our core applications enable insurers to manage product creation, policy sales, claim settlements, and billing. Through our SaaS offering, Guidewire Cloud, we empower clients to innovate swiftly, scale securely, and achieve measurable results. Our Application Platform and cloud infrastructure support internal teams and customers in developing advanced insurance applications, enhancing developer productivity, fostering a robust partner ecosystem, and integrating the newest cloud technologies.

Role Overview

As a Senior Manager in Software Engineering for the Platform team, you will take a pivotal leadership role within the Application Platform organization. Your main responsibilities include building and nurturing a high-performing Platform Engineering POD, emphasizing people leadership and operational excellence. Collaborating closely with senior engineering and product leadership, you will guide the technical strategy across our SaaS and platform services to deliver resilient, scalable cloud infrastructure (preferably on AWS). This platform supports a diverse suite of products generating over $1 billion in revenue annually and serves more than 400 enterprise customers globally. Your leadership will be instrumental in maintaining platform reliability, security, and a superior developer and customer experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and expand multiple Platform Engineering teams by providing clear guidance, mentorship, and career progression for engineers.
• Establish expectations, offer constructive feedback, and manage performance to foster an inclusive, accountable, and high-achieving team culture.
• Work alongside Staff and Principal Engineers to influence technical and architectural decisions, prioritizing scalability, reliability, and security.
• Oversee end-to-end delivery for Platform teams, including planning, prioritization, rollout, and continuous improvement efforts.
• Promote best engineering practices such as API-first design, test-driven development, behavior-driven development, GitOps, and observability across teams.
• Collaborate with Product Management, Security, and engineering peers to align platform initiatives with business goals and customer requirements.
• Identify risks proactively, resolve impediments, and ensure the POD consistently meets service level agreements and quality benchmarks.
• Foster a culture of curiosity, continuous learning, and responsible AI usage, encouraging team members to utilize AI and automation for enhanced productivity and outcomes.

Required Qualifications

• Proven capability to integrate AI into leadership and operational processes, leveraging data-driven insights to stimulate innovation and efficiency.
• At least 15 years of experience in software development, specifically with SaaS or PaaS product development in a product-focused environment.
• Extensive people management experience (generally 6 to 8+ years), including recruiting, performance oversight, coaching, and career growth facilitation for software engineers.
• Demonstrated leadership of a full Platform Engineering POD or an equivalent cross-functional platform team responsible for ensuring reliability, scalability, and developer satisfaction.
• Historical hands-on coding expertise in Java, Go, and Python, and ongoing ability to conduct code reviews and evaluate design solutions.
• Comprehensive understanding of SaaS cloud architectures—preferably AWS—covering multi-tenancy, high availability, and security principles.
• Strong familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and platform engineering tools such as Kubernetes, Docker, Terraform, OpenShift, and Git-based workflows.
• Solid grasp of system design and distributed systems concepts with emphasis on resilience, observability, and cost-effectiveness.
• Exceptional communication skills, capable of influencing and earning trust across engineering teams, colleagues, and senior leadership.
• A calm and pragmatic leadership approach under pressure, favoring decisive action and continual improvement.

About Guidewire

Guidewire is the trusted platform for property and casualty insurers seeking to engage customers, innovate rapidly, and grow efficiently. Our digital, core, analytics, and AI capabilities are delivered via a cloud platform utilized by over 540 insurance companies across 40 nations. We support our customers with deep industry expertise, having completed over 1600 successful implementations, backed by the largest dedicated R&D team and partner ecosystem in the sector. Our marketplace offers hundreds of applications to accelerate integration, localization, and innovation.

Additional Information

Guidewire Software, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer committed to diversity and inclusion. All applicants receive consideration regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity or expression, national origin, citizenship, marital status, age, sexual orientation, veteran status, or disability. Employment offers are contingent upon successful background checks when applicable.