Director Engineering IT - Guidewire

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.

Director, IT Engineering (Small Business IT)

Location: Hyderabad, India

Employment Type: Full-Time

Experience Level: 18-20 Years

About The Company

The Hartford is one of the largest insurers in the United States with many decades of expertise, this company is widely recognized for its service excellence, sustainability practices, trust and integrity. 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.          

Position Overview

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Director of IT Engineering to build and lead our Small Business IT team at the Global Capability Center in India. This leadership role will be responsible for mentoring talent and defining the long-term technical vision for a growing organization of 100+ IT professionals supporting all Small Business value streams, including Product, Underwriting, Acquisition, and Digital Services.

This position requires a strong blend of technical expertise, people leadership, an AI-driven innovation mindset, and operational excellence. The ideal candidate will lead end-to-end software development across a diverse technology landscape, oversee application maintenance and platform support, and establish scalable, high-performing team structures to enable future growth.

A key aspect of the role is building strong partnerships with US-based Small Business leadership, ensuring alignment on strategy, execution, and delivery outcomes while driving continuous improvement and innovation across the organization.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Technology Delivery

• Partner with U.S.-based value stream leaders and portfolio management to align offshore delivery with Small Business and Shared Commercial technology strategies and roadmaps.
• Provide strategic and hands-on leadership to deliver high-quality enhancements and AI-driven solutions aligned to business priorities.
• Design and scale a sustainable team structure in India, aligned to capability development and future business growth.
• Drive innovation, technical excellence, and process optimization across the software delivery lifecycle, with a strong focus on developer productivity.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, transparency, and customer-centric delivery.
• Lead end-to-end application development and maintenance, guiding teams through design, build, and release of enhancements across Small Business and Shared Commercial platforms.
• Ensure clear translation of business requirements into technical solutions; oversee full SDLC and application support across Product, Underwriting, Acquisition, Digital Services, Shared Commercial, and Reliability Engineering.
• Ensure strong execution of Agile delivery, DevOps practices, and secure coding standards.
• Collaborate with architecture, application owners, risk, and security teams to advance resiliency, platform modernization, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Operational Excellence

• Build and mentor high-performing engineering teams, promoting innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Lead incident management and problem resolution to minimize business disruption.
• Drive adherence to governance standards and Agile practices; track and report key metrics including budget, delivery timelines, risks, and business value.
• Contribute to monthly operating reviews, scorecards, and productivity metrics to enhance transparency and performance.

Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration

• Establish strong, transparent partnerships with onshore business and IT leadership.
• Serve as the primary liaison between India-based teams and global technology leadership to ensure alignment on priorities, expectations, and outcomes.

Required Skills & Experience

• 18–20 years of progressive IT leadership experience, preferably within a global/matrixed organization.
• Proven track record of leading multi-disciplinary development and support teams, ideally within Small Business domains (Product, Underwriting, Acquisition, Digital Services, Shared Commercial, Reliability Engineering).
• Strong expertise in modern technology stacks including full-stack development (Angular, React, .NET, Java, Python), AWS cloud services, containerization (Docker, Kubernetes, EKS/ECS), databases (SQL Server, Oracle), APIs, automation (UiPath), analytics (Tableau), and AI/Copilot-enabled developer productivity.
• Experience with Guidewire PolicyCenter (on-prem or SaaS) is highly preferred.
• Deep expertise in Agile methodologies, cloud platforms, DevOps, resilient architecture (HA/DR), and modern software engineering practices.
• Demonstrated ability to lead organizational change, develop talent, and build a culture of innovation and accountability.
• Experience building or scaling teams within a Global Capability Center (GCC) or shared services model.
• Exceptional stakeholder management, communication, and leadership skills.

Career Growth

This role offers the opportunity to play a pivotal part in shaping the India technology footprint of a growing, globally respected enterprise. High-performing candidates will be considered for expanded leadership responsibilities as the team and portfolio evolve.

What We Offer

• Collaborative and innovative work environment.
• Competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits.
• Continuous learning and professional development opportunities