Principal Software Engineering Lead AI-Driven Development (Insurance)

CGI is a global IT and business consulting services firm delivering end-to-end services across consulting, systems integration, and managed services. With thousands of professionals worldwide, CGI partners with clients to drive measurable outcomes through innovation, collaboration, and industry expertise. We are seeking an experienced AI-Augmented Engineering Lead to drive modern software delivery through the adoption of AI-assisted development practices. This role blends deep technical leadership with hands-on engineering and emerging AI tooling to improve developer productivity, code quality, and delivery speed. You will play a critical role in transforming engineering practices into an AI-first model while supporting complex insurance domain solutions. This position serves as the onshore technical anchor within a global delivery model, leading offshore teams while also contributing to business development, pre-sales activities, and client engagements. Preferred location is Knoxville, TN; however, candidates located near any CGI office will be considered. Eastern Time Zone working hours are required. Key Responsibilities AI-Assisted Software Development . Use GitHub Copilot/Gemini Code Assist/Cloud AI to accelerate code generation, refactoring, and documentation. . Optimize prompts and workflows to improve AI-generated code quality. . Integrate AI coding assistants into daily development practices. . Monitor and Report Team's efficiency gain in use of AI tools. . Use of AI tool in code review, Quality Assurance. Technical Leadership . Serve as the onshore technical expert for architecture, design, integration patterns, and development quality. . Provide handson development expertise using Java, RESTEasy, SOAP, XML/JSON, and enterprise integration patterns. . Lead design reviews, code reviews, and solution walkthroughs to ensure scalability, maintainability, and compliance with standards. . Perform application performance tuningincluding JVM tuning, thread optimization, profiling, and resolving performance bottlenecks. . Troubleshoot complex issues across hybrid architectures (onprem + cloud). Insurance Domain Expertise . Translate insurance-specific business requirements into scalable technical designs. . Support solutions related to policy lifecycle, underwriting, and integrations with rating engines and data providers. . Ensure designs align with insurance industry regulatory, data, and security requirements. Onshore-Offshore Coordination . Provide daily technical guidance and clarity to offshore engineers. . Work closely with offshore leads on sprint planning, task breakdown, quality control, and technical governance. . Maintain momentum by removing technical blockers and reinforcing engineering standards. Business Development & PreSales Support . Support sales and business development teams with technical insight during RFP/RFI responses and client engagements. . Deliver technical demonstrations, product walkthroughs, and PoC discussions with prospective clients. . Assist in crafting architectural proposals, estimates, and solution approaches for new business opportunities. . Build and maintain demo environments and reusable assets to support sales enablement. Solution Delivery & Governance . Oversee end-to-end development from design to deployment. . Provide hands-on development support for complex components. . Ensure solutions meet performance, security, compliance, and insurance domain requirements. . Drive CI/CD best practices, including automation, testing strategy, and build pipeline reliability. Stakeholder Communication . Serve as the primary onshore technical interface for business teams, architects, product owners, and leadership. . Provide clear, timely updates on delivery status, risks, impacts, and technical decisions. . Ensure alignment between business objectives, solution architecture, and development execution. Required Skills & Experience Technical Skills . 1+ years of experience implementing AI-assisted development workflows . 7+ years of professional software engineering experience, including 2+ years in a technical lead or team lead role. . Strong proficiency in Java and development of REST APIs using RESTEasy. . Deep experience with SOAP services, XML, schemas, and service contracts. . Strong skill set in performance optimization, including troubleshooting and tuning Java/JVMbased applications. . Experience working with both on-prem systems and cloud platforms (AWS or Azure). . Solid understanding of Git, CI/CD tooling, Maven/Gradle, Jenkins, and automated test frameworks. . Familiarity with relational databases and SQL fundamentals (e.g., SQL Server, PostgreSQL). Insurance Industry Background . Experience delivering solutions in one or more insurance domains: . Understanding of insurance data flows, regulatory considerations, and thirdparty data sources. Leadership & Collaboration . Experience guiding or coordinating offshore/remote development teams. . Excellent communication and clientfacing presentation skills. . Ability to mentor developers, enforce coding standards, and uphold engineering discipline. . Proficiency in Agile/Scrum methodologies. Preferred Qualifications . AWS, Google or Azure cloud developer certifications . Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, or other container technologies. . Experience with caching tools such as Redis or Elasticache. . Experience with data science-adjacent languages like Python or R. . Familiarity with API gateways (Apigee, Kong, MuleSoft, Azure API Management). . Knowledge of microservices, event-driven frameworks, and messaging platforms (Kafka, JMS, RabbitMQ). . Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience). Success Factors The ideal candidate will: . Confidently lead technical efforts while supporting offshore development execution. . Communicate clearly and effectively with clients, stakeholders, and delivery teams. . Be comfortable in pre-sales scenariosdemonstrating solutions and influencing technical decisions. . Possess strong insurance domain understanding and the ability to architect solutions around industryspecific processes. . Balance hands-on problem solving with strategic technical leadership.