AVP of Application Development

Responsibilities

• Lead a large, complex development organization of 30+ developers, including individual contributors and engineering managers
• Manage the Guidewire and P&C legacy application development team
• Drive meaningful transformation and legacy modernization across a multi-line portfolio including Life, Retirement, BCG, and Supplemental and Group
• Translate business goals into a clear, prioritized application development roadmap
• Act as a change agent to challenge the status quo and drive AI and low-code adoption
• Communicate investment cases for modernization and AI to senior business and technology stakeholders

Requirements

• Experience leading 30+ person development organizations with a mix of ICs and managers
• Deep expertise in modern application architecture, cloud platforms, and software engineering best practices
• Proven track record of leading large-scale legacy modernization and technical debt reduction
• Hands-on experience designing and delivering AI-powered applications
• Experience navigating organizational complexity and managing through ambiguity
• Strong ability to develop, coach, and elevate leadership capability in managers

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with Guidewire or comparable P&C insurance platforms
• Familiarity with insurance systems and data (policy, claims, billing) across P&C and Life lines
• Experience with finance and commissions systems
• Proficiency with modern low-code/no-code platforms (e.g., Microsoft Power Platform, OutSystems, Mendix)
• Experience with AI tooling, frameworks, and integration patterns (Generative AI, LLMs)

About the Company

Horace Mann was founded in 1945 to provide quality, affordable insurance for educators. Today, the company serves more than 4,100 school districts nationwide, is publicly traded on the NYSE (HMN), and manages more than $12 billion in assets.