Technical Support Engineer

Job Description

POSITION OVERVIEW

Guidewire's Customer & Cloud Operations team is a pivotal part of Guidewire's success, has a start-up culture within a global public company, and is growing fast. We use our immense knowledge of Guidewire products (gained through company sponsored training), and our ability to read and write Java and SQL, to delight customers with our problem solving skills and customer service approach.

At Guidewire, we make software that offers Property and Casualty (P&C) Insurance companies the tools to take care of their customers when they need it the most, whether that’s a time of crisis, a natural disaster, an accident, or exposure to cyber risks. We build the core applications that insurance companies use to sell and underwrite policies, settle claims, and bill their customers. We also have a portfolio of innovative products serving the needs of P&C insurance companies in areas such as data management, digital online portals, and predictive analytics. We serve hundreds of insurance providers all over the world, helping them handle billions of dollars of business.

We are proud to be voted a Top Cloud Employer on Glassdoor by our own employees and positioned as a market leader by industry experts like Gartner. We have a fun work environment and a culture that lives by our core values of integrity, rationality, and collegiality.

We’re searching for people who are as passionate about working together to deliver quality products and support as we are. Join us and enjoy a career where you can make an impact. You’ll be inspired by those around you, and you’ll be trusted and empowered to go further.

Guidewire’s Customer & Cloud Operations (CCO) organization delivers 24x7 service to customers who are using Guidewire software both on-premise and in the Guidewire Cloud.

As a Technical Support Engineer on the First Responders team, you will own and solve incoming customer support cases covering the entire Guidewire product portfolio. You will develop deep expertise in one or more Guidewire products and provide triage and troubleshooting support using Guidewire knowledgebase and continuous learning to restore the affected production system.

The First Responders team is made up of thoughtful, creative, technically skilled problem solvers who learn quickly and pride themselves in identifying and solving problems to delight our customers. We live by our core principals of integrity, rationality, and collegiality. Your first responsibility is always to adhere to these principals in everything that you do.

Guidewire products are highly configured and highly integrated and work multi-threaded in a web services environment so our support engineers gain a vast knowledge of complex applications. You will receive broad overview training on all of Guidewire’s products and become a certified Specialist in one or more of those products.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Case Resolution

• Research, respond to and accurately resolve cases of moderate complexity, in a timely manner and in accordance with the First Responders Team standards
• Function as primary customer contact for all assigned support cases, meeting Guidewire’s contractual and internal goals for initial response and subsequent customer communication
• Provide expert solutions to customer problems to ensure customer satisfaction
• Write thorough and detailed case documentation to meet objectives for Case Quality and Customer Satisfaction scores
• Proactively take ownership and responsibility for support cases where and when required
• Collaborate with Application Engineers on more complex issues involving system integration and custom configurations
• Contribute to the development of internal tools that can be used during triage and issue restorations
• Escalate customer issues to the Support Manager as appropriate
• Participate in team projects that enhance the quality or efficiency of support
• Participate in after-hours and on-call support as needed

Knowledge Management

• Develop and maintain deep knowledge of Guidewire’s products
• Contribute to an environment that encourages information sharing, team-based resolution activity, cross training and an absolute focus on doing what is best for the customer
• Create knowledgebase articles and other informational documents to be shared with customers and teammates
• Play a lead role in the continued improvement of Guidewire’s operational processes
• Previous Knowledge Centered Service (KCS) experience a plus

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Education and Work Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related field
• Familiarity with software development lifecycle, Agile preferred
• 2+ years’ experience working directly with customers or key internal stakeholders; preference for experience in customer support for a B2B software company
• Experience troubleshooting software code and reporting progress; preference for experience with a commercial customer incident tracking or CRM system such as Salesforce.com
• Experience using a software defect tracking system such as JIRA preferred
• Advanced exposure to broad technical skills such as Object-Oriented programming (Java, C#, or similar), relational databases (data modeling/SQL), web UI (design and development), XML, application architecture, and the Linux operating system
• Knowledge of front-end web technologies (JavaScript and AngularJS) or similar
• Ability to read and interpret application server thread dumps, Oracle AWR reports, and other log files

Personal Qualities

• Outstanding troubleshooting skills; ability to think critically and display an aptitude for problem solving
• Ability to prioritize work effort based on a dynamic work environment
• Employ sound business judgment when making business decisions
• Use creative and innovative ways to solve problems
• Display a strong work ethic and do whatever it takes to get the job done
• Demonstrate strong follow-through and consistently keep commitments to customers and employees
• Display an understanding of the customer’s needs and a strong commitment to customer satisfaction
• Ensure that each and every customer is handled with a consummately professional attitude and the highest possible level of service

Other Requirements

• Ability to read, write, and speak fluent English
• You will score bonus points if you can also read, write, and speak another language such as French or German
• You will be part of a team that works together at one of our company offices (working remotely is not an option)
• Your standard working hours will be 8:00am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday (except in Dublin or Madrid, where your standard working hours will be 7:00am to 4:00pm Monday through Friday, which includes a 1-hour break for lunch)
• We provide 24x7 support to our customers, so we expect you to take turns with your teammates being on-call for after-hours production emergencies
• Travel – Expect occasional travel (less than 5%) to other Guidewire offices for training and meetings

What’s In It for You?

• You’ll be working with the best. Guidewire team members are smart, talented, team oriented, and put their hearts into their job every day.
• You’ll be learning something new day one, and it doesn’t stop there. You will be encouraged to continually learn and grow your technical, interpersonal, and customer skills and apply them in an agile environment.
• You’ll have the opportunity to solve really challenging problems for customers who love Guidewire and our products.
• You’ll have a stake in the company with our Long Term Incentive programs.
• You’ll have a chance to develop your career within or outside of Customer & Cloud Operations.