Automation Engineer Ii

Who are we?

Western National Insurance Group is a private mutual insurance company with over 120 years of experience serving customers' property-and-casualty insurance needs in the Midwestern, Northwestern, and Southwestern United States. Known as “The Relationship Company®,” we define success as a measure of the relationships we’ve built over time. In everything that we do, we know that delivering a friendly and helpful interaction makes for a better experience for everyone involved. That’s the power of “nice”. At Western National, nice is something we work to bring to every person and organization with whom we partner and serve.

Does this opportunity interest you?

Western National is seeking an Automation Engineer II to join our team!

The individual in this role will have the opportunity to help with the collaborative implementation, testing, and validation of deployments of software application modifications.

What are the responsibilities and opportunities of this role?

• Collaborates with product team to test and deploy application modifications of mixed impact and risk based on collaboratively defined requirements.
• Participates in work refinement and estimation processes with product team.
• Prepares and executes testing on all new and modified code per team / product / organization standards.
• Works with product and change control teams to ensure quality deliverables that provide customer value.
• Creates and maintains documentation that the product team or company has defined as important (e.g., support processes, team processes, system documentation, decisions / discussions).
• Ensures timely delivery of projects and tasks and communicates delays and roadblocks with team and leadership as needed.
• Flexes to non-core responsibilities as needed to ensure timely work delivery to the customer (e.g., analysis, testing, deployment, meeting facilitation).
• Develops, executes, and contributes test automation using a variety of languages, frameworks, tools, and techniques.
• Understands and identifies inclusion of testability during design and development phases.
• Solicits and performs code review per team / product / organization standards.
• Identifies opportunities for process improvement and shares during process improvement conversations at product team level.
• Identifies defect-prone areas in product design and provides test coverage.
• Actively participates in test defect resolution process and provides defect descriptions, documentation, and recommendations for resolution.
• Participates in troubleshooting, resolution, and communication of urgent production issues.
• Performs special projects and other duties as assigned.

What are the must-have qualifications for a candidate?

• Experience coding with Java or JavaScript.
• Experience with TestCafe, Cypress, or Selenium.
• Experience with developing features, test scenarios, and step-definition for BDD (behavior driven development) using Cucumber (Gherkin).
• Experience with version control tool Git and Git branching models.
• Experience on either GitLab, Bitbucket, or GitHub.
• Experience with CI / CD platforms like Jenkins or TeamCity.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively both verbally and in writing to technical and non-technical audiences.

What will our ideal candidate have?

• Demonstrated intermediate organizational and prioritization skills; ability to accomplish multiple priorities of low-to-average impact and risk within specified timeframe.
• Proven ability to collaborate effectively with all product team members.
• Demonstrated basic knowledge and application of relevant Agile testing methodologies at product team level.
• Property-and-casualty insurance industry experience / education.
• Jira or similar issue-tracking software is preferred.
• Xray or similar testing tool software experience is preferred.
• Guidewire certification preferred.
• Insurance knowledge is preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred.

Compensation overview

The targeted hiring range for this role is $88,110 - $102,795 annually. However, the base pay offered may vary depending on the job-related knowledge, skills, credentials, and experience of each candidate as well as other factors such as the scope and location of the role. Candidates looking for compensation outside of the posted range are encouraged to apply and will be considered based on their individual qualifications and/or may be considered for other positions.

Culture and Total Rewards

Western National has long been known as “The Relationship Company®” and caring for our employees is part of that relationship commitment. We value connectiveness, empowerment, and accountability, and we believe that our employees are our biggest asset.

Currently ranked as the 37th largest private company by revenue in Minnesota (Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal), Western National has earned accolades year-over-year as an employer of choice and garnered multiple awards for wellness in the workplace. Western National was also named a Star Tribune Top Workplace in 2021, 2022, and 2023. In addition, the Group is consistently recognized as a Ward’s 50 property-and-casualty insurance company for its outstanding financial results.

Western National offers full-time employees a significant Total Rewards Package, including:

• Medical insurance plan options and other standard employee benefits, including dental insurance, vision benefits, life insurance, disability insurance, and more!
• Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• 401(k) Plan (plus company match)
• Wellbeing Program, including onsite fitness studio
• Paid Time Off – including holiday, vacation, and volunteer
• 100% company-paid tuition reimbursement for approved job-relevant coursework and access to The Institutes (Risk and insurance education)
• Paid parental leave
• Bonus opportunities

Western National believes in supporting balance between work and life by providing a flexible work environment, which includes a variety of hybrid and remote work arrangements designed to balance individual, job, department, and company needs.

Western National provides employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

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