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Zurich Insurance

Global insurer providing property, casualty, life

Project Management Specialist

IT Project ManagementUpdated on Nov 14
Full-timeTokyo, JapanNo salary listedIn-person

About the Job

Requirements

  • A four-year university degree or higher is required.
  • Fluent-level Japanese is required.
  • Fluent-level English is required; advanced-level English is also accepted.
  • Ability to communicate with end users is required.
  • Ability to analyze data, such as system-development and operations key performance indicator data, is required.
  • Ability to create and manage schedules for assigned work is required.
  • At least five years of development work experience from development through production release, including experience managing development vendors and offshore centers, is required.
  • Experience in team building and the ability to communicate flexibly are required.
  • A thorough understanding of the system development life cycle process is required.
  • Ability to organize priorities appropriately is required.
  • At least five years of practical project management experience is required, including management of medium- to large-scale projects lasting approximately six months to two years.
  • At least three years of practical experience with agile development is required.
  • Six to eight years of practical system development life cycle experience is required, including at least one year creating or reviewing requirements deliverables such as business requirements and system requirements specifications.
  • At least one year of practical experience designing solution architecture based on requirements-phase deliverables is required.
  • At least two years of practical experience producing basic and detailed designs based on requirements-phase deliverables is required.
  • At least one to two years of practical experience developing and testing systems based on design deliverables is required.
  • At least one to two years of experience designing, creating, or reviewing test scenarios and test cases based on design deliverables is required.
  • At least three years of experience in one or more of the following areas is required; experience across multiple areas may be combined: web application development in any programming language; development using relational databases; implementation and development of cloud services; implementation of test automation; or maintenance and operations at a user company, including incident response.

Responsibilities

  • Deliver projects that transform IT system infrastructure based primarily on the business and technology strategies of the Direct Business Division and Claims Services Division, taking responsibility from project initiation through execution and release operations adoption while managing stakeholder expectations and leading teams of internal business and IT stakeholders and partner-company members.
  • Launch projects by consolidating sponsor and user expectations and initiating the project.
  • Plan and execute project work.
  • Close projects by documenting lessons learned, evaluating the project, and completing its closure.
  • Manage resources, including vendors, and build teams.
  • Manage communications and create and maintain a supportive working environment.
  • Propose and evaluate solutions.
  • Manage cost forecasts and actuals, and manage procurement.
  • Manage risks and issues.
  • Analyze and resolve problems.
  • Support program management by assisting with project portfolio management, including prioritization of projects, and preparing internal project governance reports.
  • Initiate projects by preparing project charters and obtaining approval to start.
  • Define and obtain agreement on project objectives, and estimate project benefits.
  • Select, evaluate, and decide on solutions; estimate resources and costs; and develop project schedules.
  • Assess risks, consider improvement measures, and incorporate them into project plans.
  • Acquire and manage resources and procurement.
  • Prepare project execution plans and obtain authorization to execute projects; develop, manage, and execute project plans.
  • Manage and resolve project risks and issues; prepare and distribute project reports; build and manage teams; track forecast and actual costs; close projects; document lessons learned as organizational assets; and measure post-release outcomes.
  • Understand business requests and assess the validity of business requirements.
  • Consider and select suitable solutions based on user needs and other conditions.
  • Use system-development knowledge and experience to prepare system-development plans.
  • Analyze system-development quality issues and promote improvement activities.
  • Transfer deliverables, such as applications and operational changes, to IT operations.
  • Support vendors as a project manager across development activities, from preparing the development environment through production release; track progress on vendor-contracted work; and support project-management reviews of deliverables such as designs and test results.
  • For issues primarily arising after project release, investigate the impact of system incidents and prepare recovery plans; support incident-cause analysis and solution development as a project manager; and respond to end-user questions.
  • Take opportunities to promote evaluation and adoption of advanced technologies, including agile development, DevOps, cloud, and AI.
  • Proactively plan improvement activities to enhance employees’ working conditions and promote creation of a more supportive work environment.

Desired Qualifications

  • At least three years of experience developing and maintaining systems for financial institutions, particularly insurance systems.
  • Implementation or management experience with open-platform policy administration systems such as Guidewire.
  • Practical development or management experience with CRM platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics or Salesforce.
  • Deep knowledge or practical experience with application servers, database servers, and related technologies.
  • Practical development or management experience with AWS or Microsoft Azure, particularly implementation using serverless architecture.

About the Company

Zurich Insurance

Global insurer providing property, casualty, life

Zurich Insurance Group provides global multi-line insurance for individuals, families, small and mid-sized businesses, public entities, and multinational corporations in more than 200 countries. Its Property & Casualty arm covers personal lines like car and home, plus a wide range of commercial coverages (property, casualty, motor fleet, marine, construction, energy, financial lines, international programs); its Life business offers protection, savings, retirement, and unit-linked products. The Farmers Group manages Farmers Exchanges in the United States. The company also provides risk engineering and prevention services to help customers reduce risk and build climate resilience, with products sold through agents, brokers, bank partners, and direct channels. Its goal is to provide financial protection and risk management solutions that help customers manage uncertainty and build resilience over the long term.

Company size
10,001+
Company stage
IPO
Headquarters
Zurich, Switzerland
Founded
1872

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