Head Software Engineering

Imagine being able to make the world more resilient to climate change, wars, disease or even natural catastrophes like earthquakes and floods? At Swiss Re, this is exactly our bold mission, and you can help make the difference as the Head of Software Engineering in Slovakia for our Property & Casualty (P&C) systems in the Reinsurance domain.

In this role, you will grow and lead the P&C Re software engineering team in Slovakia and develop mission-critical tools and systems for Swiss Re's P&C underwriters who protect our clients across the globe.

You will have the unique opportunity to shape the development teams in this area and facilitate their seamless collaboration with our external development partners. Your personality and leadership will be key in establishing an inspiring culture of trust, mastery and innovation, and your inclusive spirit will be essential for the teamwork with our architecture, infrastructure and security experts in the P&C underwriting area and the Swiss Re Group.

If you are passionate about engineering excellence and would like to lead a high-performance software engineering unit which makes the world more resilient, this could be the ideal role for you!

Key Responsibilities

• Team Development and Management: Build and oversee teams of software engineers with the necessary skills in application development, DevSecOps & infrastructure engineering in public cloud environments, application security and reliability engineering; cultivate a culture of trust, mastery and excellence; mentor, coach and train your team members on a continuous basis
• Application Development: Oversee the ongoing development activities within your application portfolio and establish a close collaboration with your technical architecture and product management peers; manage the execution of «business-as-usual» activities (like ongoing vulnerability management, run budget & infrastructure consumption planning, etc.) as well as strategic initiatives together with your development teams
• Application Operations: Ensure seamless operations of your application portfolio by following established DevSecOps principles and by fostering a strong discipline in security, stability and reliability engineering; own operational problems, ensure thorough root cause analyses and coordinate continuous improvement activities with our central architecture team
• Quality Assurance and Compliance: Ascertain consistent quality assurance and ensure the compliance of your application portfolio with all applicable standards & regulations
• Communication & Collaboration: Act as a communication interface for your application portfolio and ensure target group-adjusted communication with senior management and all other relevant internal stakeholders; establish aligned autonomy for your development teams by coordinating and streamlining the collaboration with internal Group Services and other development functions within the Reinsurance domain
• Change Management: Contribute to the establishment of our internal engineering culture by in-sourcing the critical engineering capabilities, by maintaining the trust and buy-in from our external development partners, and by establishing an inspiring culture of engineering excellence in your area of responsibility

What we need from you:

• Practical experience in leading, coaching & empowering software engineering teams with a high level of motivation, modesty and dedication, ideally in a corporate environment
• Passion and drive for engineering excellence, and interest in forming high performance teams by prioritizing collective over individual success
• Aptitude in building strong collaborative networks within both the IT and the business ecosystems
• Proficiency in application development (Java would be a plus) and software engineering practices at scale, ideally in a regulated industry
• Overview of contemporary technologies and solutions, including public cloud environments (ideally Microsoft Azure)
• Enthusiasm for operational excellence, and practical experience in stability & reliability engineering
• Prior knowledge of and exposure to the insurance or reinsurance industry would be a plus, but is not a compulsory requirement
• Pronounced leadership and people management skills
• Acting with highest levels of integrity and resilience, even under pressure
• Strong verbal and written communication abilities; adept in articulating complex concepts clearly and in a target audience-adjusted manner 

For Slovakia the base salary range for this position is between EUR 3,700 and EUR 6,100 per month (for a full-time role). The specific salary offered considers:

• the requirements, scope, complexity and responsibilities of the role,

• the applicant’s own profile including education/qualifications, expertise, specialization, skills and experience.

In addition to your base salary, you may be eligible for additional rewards and benefits including an attractive performance-based bonus.