Performance QA Lead

Job Title: Performance QA Lead

Job ID: POS-18724

Primary Skill: Performance testing

Contractor Intake Form – Performance & Reliability Engineer (Guidewire Platform)

Role Summary

We are establishing a Sustaining Engineering team focused on improving performance, stability, reliability, and observability of the Guidewire platform (PolicyCenter, BillingCenter, and integrations).

We are seeking a contractor who operates at the intersection of performance engineering, system reliability, and integration testing, with the ability to diagnose and validate improvements across distributed system flows.

Engagement Overview

Role Type: Contract - SOW

Team: Sustaining Engineering

Work Model: Cross-team, platform-focused

Reporting Structure:

Reports into Sustaining Engineering

Dotted line to internal Performance Engineer

Primary Goal: Improve overall system health through root cause identification and measurable validation of fixes

Key Objectives

Support remediation of Guidewire Platform Health findings (performance, integration, stability)

Establish or enhance performance and reliability testing strategy

Baseline, measure, and track:

Latency

Throughput

Error rates

Integration success/failure rates

Batch/job stability and success rates

Validate that fixes result in measurable improvements in system health

Contribute to a repeatable, scalable performance and reliability testing practice

Core Responsibilities

Performance & System Testing

Design and execute:

Performance, load, and stress tests

End-to-end system tests across PolicyCenter and BillingCenter

Validate system behavior under normal and peak conditions

Integration & Distributed System Validation

Test and analyze:

API interactions

Asynchronous processing / messaging flows

Cross-system data movement (PC BC)

Identify and diagnose integration failures and inconsistencies

Batch & Work Queue Stability

Validate:

Batch job execution and performance

Work queue processing and failure handling

Identify retry issues, bottlenecks, and backlog risks

Root Cause Analysis

Analyze:

Application-layer bottlenecks

JVM/thread behavior

Database query performance

API latency and failure points

Distinguish root causes vs symptoms

Observability & Error Analysis

Analyze system logs and monitoring outputs

Identify:

High-noise vs actionable errors

Gaps in logging and monitoring

Recommend improvements to observability

Engineering Collaboration

Partner with developers to address:

Query optimization

Code-level performance issues

Integration reliability

Error handling improvements

Translate findings into clear, actionable recommendations

Validation & Reporting

Provide before/after metric validation for fixes

Support sprint/release reviews with quantifiable improvements

Help establish consistent reporting on system health

Required Skills & Experience

Technical Capabilities

Strong experience in performance and reliability testing in distributed systems

Hands-on experience with performance testing tools:

JMeter, Gatling, LoadRunner, or similar

Experience testing system integrations:

APIs (REST/SOAP)

Async processing / messaging systems

System Analysis Skills

Ability to analyze:

JVM / thread behavior

Database queries and performance

API latency and throughput

Batch/job execution patterns

Experience diagnosing:

Integration failures

High error volumes and log noise

Systemic vs localized issues

Working Style

Strong root cause analysis mindset (not just defect identification)

Ability to translate technical findings into actionable insights

Comfortable working in cross-team, platform-level environments

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with Guidewire (PolicyCenter and BillingCenter strongly preferred)

Insurance domain knowledge (policy and billing flows)

Experience with:

Batch processing / job scheduling systems

Observability tools (e.g., DataDog)

Background in:

SRE (Site Reliability Engineering)

Platform engineering

Systems-level QA

Success Criteria

The contractor will be successful if they demonstrate:

Measurable improvements in:

System performance (latency, throughput)

Integration reliability (reduced cross-system failures)

Batch/work queue stability

Reduction in error noise and improved observability

Consistent ability to identify true root causes across system layers

Clear contribution to sustained system health improvements

Establishment of repeatable performance and reliability testing practices

Job Description:

Work on Performance Test Strategies/Test Plans

Identify Performance Test Requirements/Test Scenarios

Define and Validate Workload Models with the Project Teams

Create Test Case Workflow/Performance Test Scripts

Validate Monitoring tools

Validate Test Environments are ready, available, accurate, etc.

Define, communicate and plan test schedule/windows

Execute test per planned windows and analyze executed tests

Document defects in Microfocus Quality Center

Review Test Results

Create Results Report

Mandatory skills:

Experience in Performance testing, monitoring and analysis with excellent reporting Skills

Experience in Test Strategy, Test Design, Test Plan report

Experience in creating performance test scripts using different protocols like Web (HTTP/HTML), TruClient, Web Services, REST and .Net applications

Experience in creating different type of scenarios to simulate different load and users pattern for Stress Test, Peak Load Test, Endurance Test, Volume test and other different type tests

Experience in tools like Loadrunner, Jmeter, AppDynamics, Splunk ( or other APM Tools) for Web/App and DB layers

Good experience on Performance testing of the Web (HTTP/HTML), TruClient, Web Services, REST and .Net applications

Proficiency in one or more general purpose programming languages.

Good understanding of agile methodologies and agile performance testing.

Knowledge of Storm Runner tool

Ability to work in team in diverse/ multiple stakeholder environment

Good communication skills

Good Analytical skills

Experience and desire to work in a Global delivery environment

Desired Skills:

Experience in WAS tuning, JVM tuning, PL SQL tuning experience.

Working knowledge in debugging of performance scripts, identification of performance bottlenecks using drill down analysis using monitoring tools; Interaction with various stake holders for performance issue resolution

Development performance testing solution for small services in Devops world.

Strong understanding of techniques such as Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery, Test Driven Development, Cloud Development, application resiliency and security

Experience in working for cloud-based application performance testing and tuning

Experience in CI/CD pipeline for performance testing.

About the Company:

Founded in 2000 with the core belief that impactful change comes from deep commitment, ValueMomentum specializes in delivering measurable results across the P&C value stream. For more than 25 years, we have empowered more than 100 carriers to reimagine their businesses with AI and emerging technologies, navigate market shifts, unlock speed to value, and become future-ready. We help insurers in the US, Canada, and Europe stay ahead with sustained growth and high performance to enhance stakeholder value and foster resilient societies. For more information, visit ValueMomentum

We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities and applicants throughout the recruitment process, in accordance with applicable laws.

Benefits:

We at ValueMomentum offer you a congenial environment to work and grow in the company of experienced professionals. Some benefits that are available to you are:

Competitive compensation package.

Career Advancement: Individual Career Development, coaching and mentoring programs for professional and leadership skill development.

Comprehensive training and certification programs.

Performance Management: Goal Setting, continuous feedback and year-end appraisal. Reward & recognition for the extraordinary performers.