Senior Manager, Applications Development

Role Description

As a Senior Manager of Software Engineering within the Technology and Operations organization, you will lead a team of developers responsible for building, enhancing, and supporting critical business applications. These systems include both custom-built and vendor-configured solutions that support Symetra’s core business functions.

In this high-impact role, you'll provide technical direction, oversee software delivery practices, and manage a team of skilled engineers. You’ll also cultivate strong relationships with internal customers and external partners, balancing leadership, architecture, execution, and collaboration.

What you will do

• Provide strategic and technical direction to the engineering team.
• Guide the adoption of modern technologies and drive system-wide improvements.
• Lead delivery across multiple projects, aligning resources with business priorities.
• Improve development processes, tools, and team scalability.
• Attract, develop, and retain top engineering talent through coaching and career planning.
• Foster a collaborative, accountable, and high-performing team culture.
• Partner with business leaders to align technology solutions with strategic goals.
• Ensure clear communication, manage expectations, and deliver high-quality outcomes.
• Combine strategic thinking with hands-on technical expertise.
• Mentor future leaders and promote continuous learning and innovation.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma is required.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field required; Master’s degree or equivalent experience preferred.
• 3+ years of industry experience, including 2+ years managing technical teams.
• Proven experience managing teams of 7+ software engineers, Quality Assurance, and Technical Program Managers (TPMs).
• Polyglot programmer with hands-on experience in C#/.NET, Java/Kotlin, TypeScript, and/or Python.
• Deep familiarity with cloud services—especially serverless functions, event handlers, and containerized services—with strong preference for AWS (GCP or Azure also acceptable).
• Experience integrating APIs with external SaaS platforms, particularly in the insurance domain; exposure to Vitech’s V3locity platform APIs is a significant plus.
• Practical experience developing and managing APIs throughout their lifecycle—including design, documentation, deployment, security, monitoring, and scaling—using API management platforms such as Apigee or equivalents.
• Strong data management skills, including SQL and NoSQL databases, operational data store deployment, and GraphQL APIs.
• Solid understanding of software architecture and application lifecycle management, with experience in modern microservices-based patterns such as Event-Driven Architecture.
• Experience establishing and leading Agile development teams, collaborating with multi-functional product stakeholders to deliver high-quality software via CI/CD pipelines like Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions.
• Exposure to AI/ML integration in software development, with familiarity using Generative AI tools such as GitHub Copilot and embedding AI-driven automation into modern digital solutions.
• Some minimal annual travel required (for people manager roles only).

Requirements

• All newly hired people leaders with direct reports are required to complete a comprehensive leadership development program within their first year. This program includes both virtual and in-person training.
• The in-person sessions will take place at Symetra’s corporate headquarters in Bellevue, Washington.
• Symetra covers all travel and accommodation expenses.

Benefits

• Flexible full-time or hybrid telecommuting arrangements.
• Plan for your future with our 401(k) plan and take advantage of immediate vesting and company matching up to 6%.
• Paid time away including vacation and sick time, flex days and ten paid holidays.
• Give back to your community and double your impact through our company matching.

Work Authorization

Employer work visa sponsorship and support are not provided for this role. Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States at hire and must maintain authorization to work in the United States throughout their employment with our company.

Identity Verification

Symetra is committed to fair and secure hiring practices. For all roles, candidates will be required (after the initial phone screen) to be on video for all interviews. Symetra will take affirmative steps at key points in the process to verify that a candidate is not seeking employment fraudulently, e.g. through use of a false identity.

Failure to comply with verification procedures may result in:

• Disqualification from the recruitment process.
• Withdrawal of a job offer.
• Termination of employment and other criminal and/or civil remedies, if fraud is discovered.