Guidewire Software are hiring a

Director - User Experience - Guidewire Application Platform

Summary

Are you a visionary UX leader passionate about shaping exceptional experiences for developers? Do you thrive on building and nurturing talented teams, all while driving innovation in a dynamic cloud environment? If so, then we invite you to join Guidewire, the leading provider of software solutions for the P&C Insurance industry, as our next Director of User Experience for the Guidewire Application Platform!

At Guidewire, we know that staying at the forefront of our industry means continuously delivering incredible products and services. Thats where you come in. As our UX Director, youll be the guiding force behind the design and user experience strategy for our cutting-edge application platform. This platform empowers developers to extend Guidewires Insurance Suite with powerful cloud services like Workflow, Rules, Extensions, and Business Functions – and your expertise will ensure these interactions are intuitive, efficient, and truly delightful.

This isnt just a management role; its an opportunity to collaborate deeply with product directors, developers, and a diverse range of stakeholders. Youll lead and mentor a talented team of UX designers, guiding them through every stage of the design journey, from initial research and ideation to final implementation and testing.

As a vital part of our UX Management team, youll play a key role in defining and implementing UX best practices, managing exciting design initiatives, and strategically prioritizing design requests.

Job Description

This will be a hybrid role out of our Mississauga office with an expectation to be in the office 2 days per week.

What youll bring to the table and achieve in this role:

Team Leadership

Youll build, develop, and mentor high-performing UX design teams, fostering a truly collaborative and inclusive environment where creativity flourishes.

Strategic Vision

Youll be a key contributor to the overall product strategy and roadmap for our application platform, ensuring our designs are perfectly aligned with our business objectives.

User-Centered Design

Youll champion the user, ensuring that all design decisions are deeply informed by insightful user research, robust data analysis, and a profound understanding of our customers and users needs.

Collaboration

Youll partner seamlessly with product Directors, engineers, and other stakeholders, co-creating cohesive and impactful design solutions that truly make a difference.

Design Process Management

Youll oversee the entire design process with expertise, from sparking initial ideas and creating prototypes to thorough testing, seamless implementation, and tracking key user metrics.

Innovation

Youll constantly seek out exciting opportunities to elevate the user experience and drive groundbreaking innovation in the platforms design.

Communication

Youll articulate design vision, strategies, and progress with clarity and enthusiasm to a diverse audience of stakeholders.

Performance Management

Youll evaluate team performance, provide constructive feedback, and passionately support individual and team growth.

Advocacy

Youll be a passionate advocate for user-centered design principles and best practices, embedding them deeply within our organizations culture.

A glimpse into your day-to-day as a UX Director:

Youll provide expert oversight and guidance for the design and user experience strategy of our application platform.

Youll align closely with stakeholders and your UX team on design goals and execution.

Youll manage and mentor your team of UX designers, fostering a supportive and collaborative atmosphere.

Youll empower your design team to master the design process, from initial research and ideation all the way through to final implementation and testing.

Youll skillfully manage ongoing design initiatives and strategically prioritize design requests.

Youll ensure design decisions are rooted in solid user research, data analysis, and empathy for user needs, and drive measurable impact.

Youll support your designers in task estimation and sprint planning activities, ensuring smooth project flow.

Youll evaluate team performance, providing valuable feedback to fuel individual and team growth.

Youll champion user-centered design principles and best practices throughout the organization.

What will make you shine in this role:

• 7+ years of impactful experience as a UX designer, interaction designer, information architect, or a similar influential role.
• 5+ years as a senior manager or director of a UX team within a B2B product or enterprise cloud platform environment.
• A compelling portfolio that showcases your proven ability to lead design projects that solve complex business problems and deliver intuitive experiences for technical users (like business analysts and developers).
• A natural talent for building rapport, establishing mutual respect, and fostering close collaboration with Product Management and Engineering teams.
• A demonstrated ability to design cloud enterprise software solutions specifically for technical users.
• A strategic mindset, with the ability to grasp the big picture, understand connections across related programs with diverse stakeholders, and expertly balance UX team priorities.
• Exceptional communication, interpersonal, and analytical skills, including the power to present design concepts clearly and persuasively to colleagues, stakeholders, and senior executives.
• Program management and organizational skills, enabling you to successfully drive design activities across multiple, concurrently running programs.
• The ability to balance innovation with technical realities and user needs.
• Experience with sprint and Kanban ceremonies and tools (such as Jira) is a plus.
• A Bachelors or Masters (preferred) degree in design, human-computer interaction (HCI), or equivalent professional experience.

Join us at Guidewire and help us continue to shape the future of insurance technology with truly exceptional user experiences!

The Canadian CAD base salary range for this full-time position is $176,000 - $220,000. Your base pay will depend on your experience, skills, education, training, and location among other factors. All full-time positions or part-time roles working 30 hours or more a week at Guidewire are eligible for benefits that support their health and well-being including health, dental, and vision insurance, paid time off, and a company sponsored retirement plan. In addition, some roles may be eligible for the annual company bonus plan, commissions, and/or long term incentive awards which are contingent on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, company and employee performance.

About Guidewire

Guidewire is the platform P&C insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently. We combine digital, core, analytics, and AI to deliver our platform as a cloud service. More than 540+ insurers in 40 countries, from new ventures to the largest and most complex in the world, run on Guidewire.

As a partner to our customers, we continually evolve to enable their success. We are proud of our unparalleled implementation track record with 1600+ successful projects, supported by the largest R&D team and partner ecosystem in the industry. Our Marketplace provides hundreds of applications that accelerate integration, localization, and innovation.

Guidewire Software, Inc. is proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We are committed to an inclusive workplace, and believe that a diversity of perspectives, abilities, and cultures is a key to our success. Qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, marital status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, or disability. All offers are contingent upon passing a criminal history and other background checks where it is applicable to the position.