Lead Software Engineer; Hybrid

About Us

At Selective, we don't just insure uniquely, we employ uniqueness.

Selective is a midsized U.S. domestic property and casualty insurance company with a history of strong, consistent financial performance for nearly 100 years. Selective's unique position as both a leading insurance group and an employer of choice is recognized in a wide variety of awards and honors, including listing in Forbes Best Midsize Employers in 2025 and certification as a Great Place to Work in 2025 for the sixth consecutive year.

Employees are empowered and encouraged to Be Uniquely You by being their true, unique selves and contributing their diverse talents, experiences, and perspectives to our shared success. Together, we are a high-performing team working to serve our customers responsibly by helping to mitigate loss, keep them safe, and restore their lives and businesses after an insured loss occurs.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the United States. Selective will not sponsor or assume the sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.

Note for NJ candidates:
This role will be located at our future headquarters in Short Hills, N.J. Until the new headquarters is operational, the successful candidate will be offered the ability to work in our Branchville, N.J. location during this interim period.

As Lead Software Engineer, you will drive technical direction and execution for robust, scalable, and maintainable enterprise software solutions within our cloud-first environment. You will champion engineering discipline by enforcing coding standards, architectural principles, and best practices throughout the development lifecycle. This role is pivotal in guiding engineers, conducting thorough code reviews, leading by example in modern engineering practices, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement and technical excellence.

You will also architect and integrate AI-powered features using Azure AI Services, helping deliver intelligent solutions that align with our business objectives.

• Lead the design, development, and deployment of cloud-native, full-stack applications with .NET and Azure, ensuring scalability, performance, and reliability.
• Establish and enforce coding standards, design patterns, and architectural guidelines across software projects.
• Champion best practices in automated testing, CI/CD pipelines, Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform, Bicep, ARM), and rigorous documentation.
• Architect and integrate AI capabilities using Azure AI Services (Cognitive Services, ML, OpenAI, Bot Services) for predictive analytics, NLP, and intelligent automation.
• Conduct code reviews, provide constructive feedback, and mentor engineering talent in cloud-native, AI, and agile delivery practices.
• Collaborate with product, QA, and cross-functional teams to clarify requirements, refine technical solutions, and deliver features aligned to business needs.
• Continuously evaluate and adopt new technologies, tools, and methodologies to improve productivity, quality, and security.
• Ensure adherence to enterprise software quality, performance, and compliance requirements.

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 7+ years of hands-on experience in software engineering and architecture, with deep knowledge of .NET (C#, ASP.NET Core) and Azure cloud services.
• Advanced proficiency in Azure AI Services for developing and deploying enterprise AI-driven solutions.
• Expertise in microservices, API-first design (REST/Graph
  
  QL), event-driven systems, and container orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Proficiency in Dev Ops, CI/CD, Infrastructure-as-Code, and Agile/Scrum/SAFe methodologies.
• Strong code review, testing, problem-solving, and leadership skills.
• Experience integrating AI features via REST APIs or SDKs into business applications.
• Business Process Management (BPM) implementation experience, especially with Pega, is a plus.
• Experience in regulated industries (e.g., Property & Casualty insurance) preferred.

Nice to Have

• Experience with Python, and familiarity with machine learning/deep learning frameworks such as Tensor Flow and PyTorch.
• Hands…