Lead Product Consultant - Guidewire

As a Lead Product Consultant at Cognizant, your primary responsibilities will include planning and conducting requirements workshops, creating user stories and documentation for Guidewire configurations, and being the liaison between functional leads, development teams, and support teams. Additionally, you will support user acceptance testing and work with the QA team to ensure comprehensive test coverage, all while maintaining a focus on agile methodologies.

To qualify for the Lead Product Consultant position at Cognizant, candidates should possess a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, have extensive knowledge of the Guidewire Suite—particularly the Policy-Center and Advanced Product Designer—and demonstrate strong skills in writing user stories and use cases. Familiarity with the insurance business and previous experience in cross-functional team environments are essential for success in this role.

Cognizant offers a comprehensive benefits package for the Lead Product Consultant role, which includes medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, paid holidays and time off, a 401(k) plan with contributions, and long-term/short-term disability coverage. Employees also enjoy paid parental leave and access to an Employee Stock Purchase Plan, ensuring a well-rounded work-life balance.

Experience with agile methodologies is crucial for the Lead Product Consultant role at Cognizant. This role involves working closely with cross-functional teams in a fast-paced environment where iterative development and quick feedback loops are essential. Your understanding of agile principles will help streamline processes and improve collaboration across departments.

The salary range for the Lead Product Consultant position at Cognizant is between $88,690 and $155,000, depending on experience and qualifications. Additionally, this role is eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, which rewards performance and contributions to the company’s success.

In your answer, detail your hands-on experience with Guidewire applications, particularly focusing on the Policy-Center and Advanced Product Designer. Highlight specific projects or tasks you’ve worked on, emphasizing how you contributed to the product’s success and adapted to client requirements.

To answer this question effectively, mention your experience in conducting requirements workshops and using stakeholder feedback to prioritize needs. Discuss your approach to balancing immediate business needs with long-term project goals, and how you utilize agile techniques to ensure stakeholders are aligned.

When answering, point out the importance of conducting thorough workshops and utilizing techniques like interviews and surveys. Explain how you document findings and ensure clarity by validating requirements with stakeholders before passing them to the development team.

Use this opportunity to share a specific example of a complex integration challenge you encountered. Highlight your problem-solving process, any tools or frameworks you utilized, and how you collaborated with your team to arrive at an effective solution.

Discuss your role during UAT processes, emphasizing your collaboration with business users to ensure that test cases are comprehensive and accurately reflect user needs. Share how you gather feedback and iterate on solutions based on those findings.

Explain any specific tools such as JIRA or Rally that you have experience using to document user stories, track progress, and manage collaboration. Describe how these tools help you maintain organization and facilitate communication among cross-functional teams.

In your response, highlight your communication skills and ability to negotiate consensus among departments. Share examples of how you’ve successfully mediated conflicting requirements and kept projects moving forward while maintaining strong relationships within the team.

Discuss how you focus on user-centric stories that clearly outline the user’s perspective and needs. Explain how you collaborate with team members to define detailed acceptance criteria that ensure the user stories are tested effectively and align with project goals.

Here, you should emphasize your understanding of the various functional areas within the insurance industry, possibly touching on underwriting, claims, or policy management. Describe how this knowledge enhances your ability to develop effective solutions using Guidewire.

Mention proactive strategies you use, such as attending industry webinars, participating in relevant forums, or engaging with the Guidewire community. Highlight your commitment to continuous learning and how it benefits your contributions at Cognizant.