Application Administrator II

Description

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 Application Administrator II to join our team!

The individual in this role will have the opportunity to manage intermediate application administration tasks, including advanced configurations, monitoring, and security alignment for Guidewire Cloud. They will ensure the application is optimized for business use while maintaining compliance.

What are the responsibilities and opportunities of this role?

• Creates system configuration specifications, training manuals, and other internal system documentation.
• Designs and completes training modules, as needed.
• Creates ad-hoc reports and custom dashboards based on current initiatives and trends in usage and adoption.
• Analyzes identified issues to determine whether a system change can mitigate repeated problems.
• Ensures applications meet the security needs of the organization.
• Maintains documentation of system integrations.
• Monitors and analyzes application logs to identify issues and works with the team to resolve them.
• Proactively solicits feedback and requirements from end users and identifies and recommends potential system modifications or enhancements in the system to meet the evolving needs of business partners.
• Establishes and refines processes to track and implement system changes.
• Participates in, makes recommendations for, and supports internal technology development and system integration efforts as system subject matter expert.
• Identifies new and creative opportunities to leverage systems to support additional business processes or functions.
• Sees relationships between problem components and works with the product owners to prioritize resolution of the problems.
• Utilizes knowledge, experience, and available resources to identify and implement solutions and formulates recommendations for complex problems.
• Consistently acts according to our customer experience standards, including responding quickly, maintaining a positive attitude, building rapport, demonstrating empathy, managing the customer’s expectations, using the proper communication channel for the situation, and taking ownership to ensure the customer’s issue is resolved.
• Actively participates in on-call rotations, responding to routine evening and weekend incidents independently and escalating complex issues as needed.

Requirements

What are the must-have qualifications for a candidate?

• Demonstrated aptitude for identifying and resolving problems.
• Demonstrated ability to take ownership of technical decisions and provide project and team guidance.
• Demonstrated ability to administer system applications.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly and effectively both verbally and in writing to technical and nontechnical audiences.
• Advanced ability in various core systems, office and computer equipment, and software packages.
• Advanced ability to incorporate new information into existing processes.
• Advanced ability to work with a user to understand their process and build a process design.
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science; experience in lieu of a degree acceptable.

What will our ideal candidate have?

• Demonstrated ability to effectively train users on system usage and issue resolution.
• Strong attention to detail and quality.
• Demonstrated ability to work creatively and analytically in a problem-solving environment.
• Demonstrated ability to organize deliverables to accomplish multiple priorities within a specified timeframe.
• Demonstrated ability to work with appropriate team(s) to implement server changes and to anticipate and mitigate potential issues.
• Demonstrated ability to upgrade systems and processes, as necessary, for enhanced functionality and security issue resolution.
• Demonstrated knowledge and application of specific project methodologies.
• Demonstrated knowledge of Guidewire Cloud applications, such as PolicyCenter and BillingCenter.

Compensation overview

The targeted hiring range for this role is $74,200 - $102,080, 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.

Western National Insurance Group reserves the right to fill this position at a level above or below the level included in this posting.

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 41st 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 has also been named a Top Workplace by the Star Tribune for consecutive years. 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 (participants are eligible for 100% matching on the first 6% of their contributions)
• 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. 

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

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.