Application Engineering Director

Be Here. Be Great. Working for a leader in the insurance industry means opportunity for you. Great American Insurance Group's member companies are subsidiaries of American Financial Group. We combine a "small company" culture where your ideas will be heard with "big company" expertise to help you succeed. With over 30 specialty and property and casualty operations, there are always opportunities here to learn and grow.

At Great American, we value and recognize the benefits derived when people with different backgrounds and experiences work together to achieve business results. Our goal is to create a workplace where all employees feel included, empowered, and enabled to perform at their best.


This position is not eligible for employment visa sponsorship. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for current or future sponsorship.

P&C IT Services provides professional services to help our business units and corporate functions use technology to create, manage, and optimize information and business processes.  IT Services can include a wide range of activities such as: software development, data management, Cloud services, IT security, network security, technical support, establishing and overseeing access rights, procuring and maintaining equipment or software, managing the infrastructure, and defining security procedures,  The overall goal of IT Services is to provide technology solutions that increase efficiency, reduce costs, and give our company a competitive advantage over our competitors.

Great American’s culture is built on connection, shared learning, and strong relationships. This is a hybrid role that combines in-office and remote work. Employees are expected to maintain a meaningful on-site presence to support collaboration, relationship building, and business success.

The Application Engineering Manager serves as the accountable leader for Application Engineering within the OneTeam delivery model, responsible for the end-to-end health, delivery, and continuous improvement of application assets supporting EHS and IT Services. Partners closely with Delivery Leaders, Technical Product Managers, Architects, and Business Stakeholders to align development efforts with enterprise priorities and drive successful delivery outcomes.

This individual leads and develops high-performing development teams while ensuring adherence to established SDLC practices, security baselines, and operational standards. Accountable for both execution and continuous improvement—driving efficient delivery, optimizing workflows, and ensuring applications are scalable, reliable, and aligned to evolving business needs.

Champions a collaborative, cross-functional environment that bridges development, operations, and business teams to enable predictable, high-quality delivery. Promotes adoption of modern development practices, including AI-enabled capabilities, to enhance productivity, improve insights, and accelerate value delivery across the portfolio.

  

Essential Job Functions and Responsibilities:

• Oversees the Application Development team operations, optimizing workflows and ensuring high productivity on behalf of EHS and IT Services
• Oversees strategic planning and execution to align application development initiatives with organizational goals and objectives, ensuring long-term success and innovation.
• Oversees the design, implementation, and deployment of software applications and systems supporting various business and insurance processes.
• Ensures that application and infrastructure performance meet complex and evolving business requirements and user expectations. Conducts regular performance assessments and implements improvements.
• Leads strategic planning and execution of process improvements to align application development initiatives with organizational goals and objectives.
• Provides expert technical support to end-users and team members, addressing and resolving application-related issues.
• Cultivates a highly collaborative environment, bridging development, operations, and other key stakeholders to streamline workflows and enhance efficiency.
• Continuously evaluates, adopts, and implements industry-leading best practices to maintain a competitive edge and drive technological advancements.
• Ability to see the big picture while focusing on delivering the details
• Ability to work cross-functionally and collaboratively across multiple disciplines
• Performs other duties as assigned.

• Leverage AI-powered tools to assist with all aspects of SDLC
• Use AI responsibly to improve efficiency in process analysis, data interpretation, and preparation of business artifacts
• Apply AI capabilities to identify patterns, gaps, and opportunities
• Adhere to company policies related to data privacy, security, and responsible AI usage

 

Scope of Job/Qualifications:

• Implements policies, procedures, and strategies.
• Leads and mentors employees of various backgrounds and experience, ensuring they excel in their roles.
• Responsible for identifying and implementing process improvements to enhance and ensure the efficiency and quality of application services.
• Offers expert consultancy on the organization's business and technology operations.
• Demonstrates expert understanding of machine learning concepts and their software engineering implications.
• Responsible for managing staff performance and coaching, making decisions regarding talent selection, development, and performance management.
• Plans and ensures that the team meets budget and performance targets.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills
• Experience documenting requirements, process flows, and acceptance criteria
• 3-5 years of leading software development teams either using the Scrum, Kanban or XP methodology

 

Experience: Generally, a minimum of 10 years of experience in software development and/or application development, including a minimum of 4 years of leadership experience. 

 

 

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field/experience

Preferred/Bonus Qualifications:

• Direct experience with Self-Funded insurance products
• Experience documenting requirements, process flows, and acceptance criteria
• Exhibits expert proficiency in multiple programming languages, cloud platforms, and modern development frameworks
• Insurance or healthcare domain experience
• Experience using Rally or similar Agile Development tracking tools
• Experience with GitHub Copilot, Claude, Open AI
• Experience with Snowflake, Azure, AWS, EFS/EBS, SQL Server, Oracle, and/or similar database technologies
• Experience with Java, Python, .NET, and/or other programming languages
• Experience with API development and related tooling

 

Business Unit:

Property & Casualty IT Services

Benefits:

We offer competitive benefits packages for full-time and part-time employees*. Full-time employees have access to medical, dental, and vision coverage, wellness plans, parental leave, adoption assistance, and tuition reimbursement. Full-time and eligible part-time employees also enjoy Paid Time Off and paid holidays, a 401(k) plan with company match, an employee stock purchase plan, and commuter benefits.

 

Compensation varies by role, level, and location and is influenced by skills, experience, and business needs. Your recruiter will provide details about benefits and specific compensation ranges during the hiring process. Learn more at http://www.gaig.com/careers.

 

*Excludes seasonal employees and interns.