Job Description

Are you an Insurance industry professional with deep SME knowledge in Japan market general insurance products with demonstrable expertise in insurance operations?

Do you have some cross-over technical skills and capability?

Do you have great interpersonal skills, the ability to dig into detail and a focus on customer value?

Are you looking for a new challenge?

Then join us at Guidewire Software and help build the next generation of insurance solutions for the Japan market.

The Product Owner is responsible for bringing our key market content strategy to life by collaborating with cross-functional teams, ensuring that enabling business solutions and requirements align with strategic and business outcomes.

The Product Owner plays a critical role fleshing out the end to end solution which includes defining user stories, acceptance criteria, and facilitating communication between other stakeholders needed to bring this to life.

Key capabilities:

• An Insurance industry professional with deep operational and subject matter knowledge in Japan general insurance products and demonstrable expertise in insurance operations [direct and deep carrier experience in intermediate to senior roles]

• Some cross-over technology technical skills and capabilities

• Well-honed interpersonal skills,

• The ability to uncover customer value drivers and articulate this clearly

• Someone looking for a new challenge

The Product Owner plays a critical role fleshing out the end to end solution which includes defining user stories, acceptance criteria, and facilitating communication between other stakeholders needed to bring this to life.

THis role also links business and customer value to the features and capabilities enabled by the technology

Key Work and focus for this role:

• Development / assist in new initiatives: Lead/Assist with development of new initiatives, features and product enhancements including impact analysis and feasibility assessments

• Business Design: Lead / facilitate business design sessions with exec/senior business owners to understand business objectives, required capabilities and measurable outcomes

• Define the end to end solution: Work closely with Product Managers, Technology leads and architects, Business Analysts and development teams to refine the product backlog and define user stories with clear acceptance criteria. This includes data, workflow, and system interaction requirements and working with quality teams to ensure requirements are testable and meet business expectations.

• Manage the prioritisation: Prioritise the backlog – ensures the development team focuses on the most impactful tasks first; defines what gets built next based on product goals and business needs.

• Solution delivery

• Team collaboration – Works closely with internal stakeholders, including the Scrum Master, to keep development on track.

• Bridging communication – Serves as the key link between the customer and the development team, ensuring alignment.

• Support Agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, backlog grooming, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives and assist in identifying process improvements.

• Work with other key roles to ensure traceability across the product development lifecycle

• Define data, workflow, and system interaction requirements as needed.

• Validate solutions by performing user acceptance testing (UAT) for key/critical functionality and assisting in the resolution of defects.

We have a work environment that encourages individual initiative, experiments with new ideas for continuous improvement, and lets great people do great work by minimizing the hassles of hierarchy and bureaucracy. You must be self-motivated and able to work with minimal supervision while collaborating in a team environment

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• Educational Background:

  • Business related degree &/or Insurance related qualification / certification would be advantageous but not essential

• Experience:

  • 3+ years of experience in a Product Owner or similar role within an Agile development environment and within a General Insurer [Property & Casualty]

  • 5+ years of supervisory experience in a front-line insurance operational role - underwriting, claims, policy administration.

• Technical Skills:

  • Strong understanding of software development life cycle (SDLC) and Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, etc.).

  • Experience with tools like Aha, Jira, Confluence, and other Agile project management tools.

  • Experience with process and workflow management including Business Process Management [BPMN]

• Business & Analytical Skills:

  • Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.

  • Ability to translate desired business outcomes into enabling functional requirements and implementable user stories.

  • Strong attention to detail with a focus on delivering high-quality solutions.

  • Intermediate Excel analysis skills

• Soft Skills:

  • Good communication and stakeholder management skills.

  • Ability to work collaboratively in a cross-functional team.

  • Facilitation and negotiation skills.

  • Self-motivated, proactive, and adaptable to change.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Certification in Agile methodologies (e.g., Certified Scrum Master, Certified Scrum Product Owner, PMI-ACP, IIBA Agile Analysis Certification).

• Familiarity with UI/UX principles and customer-centric design methodologies.

This role is ideal for professionals who thrive in dynamic, fast-paced environments and are passionate about delivering high-quality software solutions that meet both business and user needs.

About Guidewire

Guidewire is the platform P&C insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently. We combine digital, core, analytics, and AI to deliver our platform as a cloud service. More than 540+ insurers in 40 countries, from new ventures to the largest and most complex in the world, run on Guidewire.

As a partner to our customers, we continually evolve to enable their success. We are proud of our unparalleled implementation track record with 1600+ successful projects, supported by the largest R&D team and partner ecosystem in the industry. Our Marketplace provides hundreds of applications that accelerate integration, localization, and innovation.

For more information, please visit www.guidewire.com and follow us on Twitter: @Guidewire_PandC.

Guidewire Software, Inc. is proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We are committed to an inclusive workplace, and believe that a diversity of perspectives, abilities, and cultures is a key to our success. Qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, marital status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, or disability. All offers are contingent upon passing a criminal history and other background checks where it's applicable to the position.