Manager - Product Development Engineer

MetLife - Cary, NC

Full-time - Manager

Cary, NC

Insurance Carriers and Related Activities

About the position

The US Business represents 60% of company earnings and is viewed as a primary growth engine for MetLife. This role will primarily support the US Group Benefits Business as a development manager. The development manager will be responsible for leading a team that executes multiple technology initiatives aimed at improving and supporting Group Benefits, particularly focusing on Enrollments and various interfaces. This position will involve creating and executing a multi-year roadmap to modernize mainframe applications that support this area, with a strong emphasis on developing and upskilling engineering talent to facilitate mainframe modernization, API enablement, and the delivery of complex projects. The role is critical in shifting the culture towards a more engineering-focused approach, building talent in-house, and modernizing technology through DevSecOps capabilities using an agile delivery model. Initially, the development manager will focus on the Eligibility processing within the Group Benefit IT ecosystem, leading technical teams of over 20 resources, including both employees and onshore/offshore partner teams. Responsibilities include the modernization of mainframe and data-transfer applications through API enablement, MIPS optimization, re-hosting to the cloud, and rewriting applications in modern technologies. The manager will partner with stakeholders to ensure smooth execution of Group Insurance annual member enrollments and actively participate in strategic planning, business process reviews, and business-technology roadmaps to improve operational and technology objectives. The role also involves creating solutions and proofs of concept to enhance business processes and legacy modernization, influencing business with emerging technology trends, and leading product software delivery through a continuous focus on software development and maintenance metrics. The development manager will advocate for user-centric design and agile development life cycles, enabling productivity by fostering cross-team communication, empowerment, and accountability. They will partner with Audit, Application Security, and Architecture to plan for potential risks associated with products and processes, ensuring the team possesses the technical competencies needed to meet product capability requirements aligned with customer needs. Full people management responsibility includes hiring, firing, promotions, performance management, career development, and training. The manager will also establish and enforce best practices in software development, including code management, security, performance, testing, DevOps practices, application maintainability, and reliability.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical teams of 20+ resources, including employees and onshore/offshore partner teams.
• Modernize mainframe and data-transfer applications through API enablement, MIPS optimization, re-hosting to cloud, and rewriting applications in modern technologies.
• Partner with stakeholders for smooth execution of Group Insurance annual member enrollments.
• Participate in strategic planning, business process reviews, and business-technology roadmaps for improving operational and technology objectives.
• Create solutions and proofs of concept to improve business processes and legacy modernization.
• Influence business with emerging technology trends and capabilities that align with the product portfolio.
• Lead product software delivery through continuous focus on software development and maintenance metrics and KPIs.
• Advocate for user-centric design and agile development life cycle.
• Enable productivity by fostering cross-team communication, empowerment, and accountability.
• Partner with Audit, Application Security, and Architecture to plan for potential risks associated with products and processes.
• Ensure the team has the technical competencies to meet product capability needs aligned to the customer.
• Full people management responsibility for the direct product team, including hiring, firing, promotions, performance, career and compensation management, and training & development.
• Establish and enforce best practices in software development, including code management, security, performance, testing, DevOps practices, application maintainability, and reliability.

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience as a leader in Software development engineering.
• 5+ years of leadership experience in agile or lean software development, architecture, and platform engineering teams.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to convert complex technical concepts into contextual stories for business stakeholders and executive leadership.
• Experience managing effective teams through development opportunities, recognition, and feedback for both onshore and offshore teams.
• Proven track record of delivering successful, large-scale, performance-critical multimillion-dollar software projects on time, on budget, and with quality and security.
• Experience in agile/iterative life cycle development processes with direct Business Owner partnership.
• Experience delivering continuous cycle solutions and enhancements, with demonstrated success in supporting demanding service level agreements.
• Cross-functional leadership skills to organize, motivate, and lead those outside of the team.
• Ability to create technical designs and other technical documents.

Nice-to-haves

• SAFe Certified.
• Experience with DevOps practices for CI/CD, release management, and automation using Azure DevOps or equivalent.
• Ability to guide teams in detailed analysis, pattern recognition, and diagnosis of issues.
• 3+ years of experience in managing technology for group insurance's business.
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems or related field.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health plan including medical/prescription drug and vision, dental insurance, and no-cost short- and long-term disability.
• Company-paid life insurance and legal services.
• Retirement pension funded entirely by MetLife and 401(k) with employer matching.
• Group discounts on voluntary insurance products including auto and home, pet, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and accident insurance.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and digital mental health programs.
• Parental leave and volunteer time off.
• Tuition assistance.