Lead Engineer - IT

Guardian Life Insurance; Chennai District; On-site; INR 3,000,000 - 6,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Guardian Life Insurance is seeking a Lead Engineer in Chennai to design, develop, and deliver scalable enterprise applications. You will drive full-stack solutions, API and microservices, and AI-assisted development while coordinating with cross-functional teams to ensure production-ready, high-performing software.

The role emphasizes strong architectural judgment, code quality, CI/CD adoption, and collaboration across product owners, architects, and QA to translate business needs into robust

Qualifications

• >8+ years of engineering experience across full-stack development and API-driven architecture.
• >Strong experience with Java/Spring Boot, ReactJS, NextJS and scalable RESTful APIs.
• >Proficient in cloud (AWS), containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and CI/CD pipelines.
• >Experience with AI-assisted development tools for code generation, testing, and refactoring.
• >Focus on performance, accessibility, security, and responsive design.

Responsibilities

• Contribute and design end-to-end full-stack solutions across frontend and backend systems.
• Review engineers’ PRs and mentor on coding standards, scalability, and best practices.
• Collaborate with UX/design teams for consistent, responsive UI/UX.

Skills

8+ years experience

Java Spring Boot

React JS

Next JS

SSR/SSG

RESTful APIs

Microservices

AI-assisted tools

AWS

Docker Kubernetes

CI/CD

Git

Web performance

Tools

Claude Code

GitHub Copilot

Cursor

ChatGPT

Job description

Job Description:

Lead Engineer

Job Profile Summary

We are seeking a Lead Engineer with strong hands-on engineering experience in designing, developing, and delivering scalable enterprise applications. This role requires solid technical expertise across full-stack development, API-driven architecture, cloud-enabled delivery, automation quality practices, and the ability to contribute to reliable, secure, and high-performing solutions.

The Lead Engineer will contribute to solution design, develop quality engineering deliverables, support code reviews, and collaborate closely with Technical Leads, Product Owners, architects, developers, QA engineers, and cross-functional stakeholders to translate business needs into robust technology solutions. The role is expected to support architecture alignment, code quality, API and integration development, CI/CD adoption, production readiness, and continuous improvement within the delivery team.

Key Skills

• At least 8+ years of engineering experience
• Strong communication skills, with passion for quality and attention to detail
• Experience working across teams and driving alignment across multiple stakeholders
• Significant experience with Java (Spring Boot preferred), React JS , Next JS.
• Strong knowledge of server-side rendering (SSR), static site generation (SSG), and API-driven development
• Significant experience designing and building scalable RESTful APIs and microservices
• Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tools such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, ChatGPT, or similar platforms to support code generation, refactoring, test creation, debugging, documentation, and developer productivity.
• Ability to use AI coding assistants responsibly, including validating generated code, following secure coding practices, maintaining code review discipline, writing effective prompts, and protecting confidential information.
• Strong understanding of web performance optimization, accessibility, and responsive design.
• Experience building applications from concept/design → architecture → development → production deployment
• Strong understanding of design patterns and architectural approaches such as MVC, MVVM, layered architecture, microservices, and event-driven architecture
• Experience with authentication/authorization (OAuth, JWT, SSO)
• Good in cloud platforms (AWS) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices
• Use/Integrate with Observability tools – App D, Splunk etc.
• Strong knowledge of database technologies (SQL/NoSQL – PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, etc.)
• Proficient understanding of code versioning tools (Git)

Domain Experience (Added Advantage)

Experience working with US Insurance domain (Group Benefits, Billing, Claims, Enrolment, etc.)

Familiarity with platforms or business processes related to MetLife, Sun Life or similar insurers will be a strong advantage Understanding of regulatory, compliance, and customer experience aspects in insurance systems

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Contribute and design end-to-end full-stack solutions across frontend and backend systems
• Review engineers’ pull requests and mentor them on coding standards, scalability, and best practices
• Collaborate with UX/design teams to ensure consistent, intuitive, and responsive UI/UX patterns
• Design and develop scalable, secure APIs and backend services
• Build and maintain high-performance React/Next.js applications
• Lead development of server-side rendering and SEO-friendly web applications
• Manage application deployments across environments including Dev, QA, UAT, and Production
• Define and implement CI/CD pipelines for web applications
• Responsible for production support (PROD support) on a rotational/on-demand basis, ensuring system stability and quick issue resolution
• Ensure high test coverage (unit, integration, and UI tests) and enforce quality gates.
• Ability to guide and influence test automation via AI.
• Lead the adoption of coding standards, architectural guidelines, and best practices
• Champion the adoption of AI-assisted development practices using tools such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, ChatGPT, and similar platforms to improve code quality, automation, refactoring, documentation, productivity, and engineering consistency
• Evaluate and recommend new frontend/backend technologies and frameworks
• Design solutions for security, scalability, and high availability
• Work closely with cross-functional teams to deliver complex technical initiatives
• Work shift: Work in overlapping time zones with US teams on the East coast as required

Location:

This position can be based in any of the following locations:

Chennai