Cloud Go-Live Manager

Summary

Guidewire Software is a leading provider of software solutions for the insurance industry. Our mission is to help insurance companies successfully respond to customer needs in a world where technology and risk are changing dramatically. We deliver our platform as a cloud service to the P&C industry for over 450 customers in 34 countries.
Founded in 2001, Guidewire is headquartered in San Mateo, California, and has offices around the world. We put our values of Integrity, Rationality, and Collegiality first, harboring a culture of honesty and openness that our people never want to lose. And we each bring a little quirkiness—and genius—to the table. As the landscape of our industry continues to shift, we respond with flexibility and skill.
We’re braving uncharted territory, pushing past the conventional with our products, partners, and people. Never has there been a more exciting time to join!
As a Cloud Go-Live Manager, you will build and maintain strong relationships with our Guidewire Customers, providing firm guidance and leadership support. Cloud Go-Live Managers focus on the “Path to Production” and initial Go-Live of a Guidewire Cloud customer’s journey. In this capacity you will serve as the primary liaison between the customer team and the various Guidewire teams necessary for a successful Guidewire Cloud release. Through the journey, you will evaluate the production readiness of our customers by managing the planning and execution from “Build” to “Run.” You’ll ensure that both Guidewire and the customer are prepared for a successful transition to production. On a day-to-day basis, you will be involved in areas such as Deployment Plan development, Dry Run scheduling, resource coordination and execution of the Deployment Plan. No matter what task you face on a given day, you will collaborate closely with an impressive team of peers whose primary goal is our customer’s success. Finally, during post-production, you’ll act as a thought expert for internal Guidewire teams on cutover and deployment questions.
This customer-facing role emphasizes exceptional service, including professional communication, timely responses, and a strong sense of urgency in customer success.

Job Description

Responsibilities:

• Serve as an expert resource for customers and partners on deployment planning, Dry Runs, and Go-Live activities, providing guidance on templates, resource needs, and best practices.
• Collaborate with Implementation Teams (Guidewire Delivery Services, SI Partners, and customer teams) to develop, refine, and execute Deployment Plans through multiple Dry Runs.
• Coordinate knowledge transfer to Guidewire Global Support and DBA teams for production execution.
• Confirm resourcing (Guidewire and non-Guidewire) and finalize Go-Live (Deployment) Plans with stakeholders.
• Work with customers to establish Go-Live communication plans and partner with Guidewire Technical Account Managers and Implementation Teams to ensure smooth execution.
• Act as an internal subject-matter expert on cutover and deployment processes.
• Continuously improve deployment practices by capturing and analyzing process data.
  

Qualifications & Skills

• Technical expertise: Strong knowledge of cloud migration processes and customer readiness for Go-Live; experience with SaaS vs. on-premise deployments; familiarity with customer/support systems such as Salesforce, Jira, Google Workspace, and Confluence. Fundamental AWS and DevOps knowledge is a plus.

• Communication: Proven ability to clearly educate and set expectations with customers on Deployment Plans, Dry Runs, and resourcing; strong stakeholder communication skills across technical and executive levels.
  
• Collaboration & leadership: Effective at building relationships with customers, partners, and internal teams; able to influence and guide both operational and executive stakeholders
  
• Detail orientation: Skilled at managing complex Deployment Plans, Dry Runs, and production operations in time-sensitive environments.
  
• Continuous improvement: Identifies trends and drives improvements in deployment processes using Agile methodologies and problem-solving skills.
  
• Knowledge sharing: Demonstrated ability to educate and upskill both customer groups and internal Guidewire teams on deployment-related issues.
  
• Adaptability: Comfortable in a dynamic role that evolves with solution offerings; able to quickly triage issues and prioritize tasks.

Language Requirement:

• Japanese: native or near‑native fluency, able to communicate confidently with customers and internal stakeholders in Japanese (written and spoken).

• English: business‑level proficiency to collaborate with internal Guidewire teams.

Preferred Experience

• 2+ years of applied project experience with Guidewire Core applications (PolicyCenter, ClaimCenter, BillingCenter, Digital, Cloud Data Management).
  
• Program Management experience within IT or consulting (Guidewire projects preferred).
  
• Customer Success Management or leadership experience in Customer Support organizations focused on production operations.
  
• Applied Project Management experience with Agile methodologies.
  
• Experience working in cloud-based enterprise applications or SaaS environments.
  

Other Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree (B.S./B.A.) or equivalent.
  
• Authorized to work in the U.S. and Japan.
  
• Primarily a remote role; up to 10% on-site work at Guidewire locations may be required as conditions evolve. Occasional travel outside the region (1–2 times per year) may be necessary for corporate or organizational events.
  
• Flexibility to adjust working hours based on customer location; availability to support up to one weekend per month for Production Go-Lives.

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.