Looking for a few Great Web and Flex Developers!

We have a couple of different IT opportunities that I wanted to make folks aware of. The IT market in Denver is relatively small and has tightened up considerably from just a couple of months ago. Candidates in IT, and increasingly in other career areas as well, are finding more opportunities than have been available in the last several years. There are a lot of great IT shops in Denver and we think we are among those that can offer a lot to folks interested in exploring opportunities. We are currently looking for some great Web Developers and Flex Developers to join our IT team. 

One of the advantages Pinnacol has is that our corporate headquarters are based here in Denver. What that means is that we have all the corporate support resources, including our IT shop, located at our Lowry offices. This allows all the support functions, including our IT staff to interact and collaborate very closely with the business users who depend on them. Pinnacol has only about 600 employees so over time people really do get to know each other and develop close working relationships. More than one out of every 10 Pinnacol employees works in IT which highlights our commitment to, and recognition of, the changes taking place every day in technology.

Our IT staff work in an Agile environment and we use and adopt software that makes good business sense. IT folks know that their world is in a constant state of change - the hot tools of today will likely not be the same they will use tommorrow. As the old adage goes, if you are not moving ahead you are falling behind, and our IT staff recognizes that Agile is not just a tool but a philosophy.

In the following video Dave Hoffman, our Associate Vice President of Application Services, shares some insights about the Web Developer role and also gives his thoughts on where IT at Pinnacol is heading, and what it's like to work in our IT shop:  




Pinnacol Assurance is looking for a talented web developer with a passion for creating great products to help our customers do what they love. Our current technology stack includes HTML5, jQuery, Ruby (some on Rails, some not), Oracle, Passenger, Apache and nginx, and even a little bit of C.

As I mentioned, our IT team works in an Agile environment with an emphasis on fast turnaround to get customers what they need quickly. On the Web Developer side we're looking for "full-stack" developers who can be a jack of all trades and can quickly learn a new technology they are not readily familiar with.

Some of the must have skills we are looking for include:

• HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript
• jQuery
• SQL
• Unix
• Proficiency in one or more Object Oriented languages (Ruby preferred but will consider PHP, java, etc.)

Other skills it would be nice to have include:

• Ruby
• Rails
• UI/UX design skills
• HTML5
• Sass
• CoffeeScript
• jQueryUI
• C/C++
• Oracle
• Phusion Passenger
• Apache or nginx
• git/github

Our Flex Developers develop and maintain multiple-tier application programs, with a heavy emphasis on advanced sophistication of the user interface and user-facing application logic, using technologies such as Adobe Flex, HTML, Javascript, CSS, and XML. They collaborate on assignments with the Product Team while working under the guidance of the Application Resource Manager or Application Technology Manager to meet our Customer needs.
 
Some of the things we are looking for include:

• The ability to utilize FlashBuilder and Flex SDK to design and build graphical user interfaces for web applications used by internal business users.

• Able to work in a team setting utilizing agile development processes to produce software products.

• Experience using modular and object oriented approaches to building Flex applications. (sub-applications, custom components, custom skinning)

• Experience using test driven development methodologies to produce software applications which support automated unit and regression testing. (FlexUnit, continuous integration)

• Experience using the various forms of Flex frameworks as needed to standardize and organize code in large projects. (Swiz, Robotlegs)

If you are interested in exploring further these opportunities with Pinnacol Assurance we invite you to complete an application via our company website.

External Reporting Manager Opportunity!

Due to a recent promotion we have another unique opportunity on our Finance team. We are looking for an External Reporting Manager who will be responsible for the preparation of Company financial information, including preparation of financial statements and regulatory filings.

This position oversees investment accounting including monthly reconciliation of related accounts and is responsible for the relationship with Pinnacol's external actuary, reserve accounting and reporting. Reporting to the Assistant Controller, this position also oversees accounting functions for reinsurance and various programs and coordinates regulatory and external financial audits. 

Successful candidates will bring a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting along with a minimum of seven years accounting experience with management experience preferred. CPA certification is required unless you have a minimum of five years of insurance accounting experience. Insurance experience is preferred. For immediate consideration, please apply on-line!

Accountant II opportunity on our Finance Team...

We have a new opening for an Accountant II on our Finance team. While not an entry level position, this is a great opportunity for someone with the right background to join one of our teams that doesn't have a lot of openings. I met with Kathy who heads up this group to find out what she is looking for. As you might guess from the title - Accountant II - this position generally handles more difficult & complex areas of accounting including:

-The review and approval of specific journal entries and specific reconciliations
-Researching applicable accounting guidance
-Assisting with significant Finance special projects, such as system conversions
-Coordinating, processing, reconciling, and implementing transactions
-Compiling and preparing monthly reports for management
-Preparing specific sections of NAIC (National Association of Insurance Commissioners) quarterly and annual statements and preparing related footnotes
-Reconciling balances between general ledger and back-up reports on a monthly basis
-Various general ledger reconciliations and accounting
-Preparing regular monthly journal entries
-Analysis of specific areas of accounting
-Balance sheet reconciliations requiring independent judgment

Kathy also shared with me that the primary responsibilities for this position will be:

Investment accounting and reporting
Premium receivable and bad debt
Fixed Assets
Internal Structured Settlement accounting
Backup duties for our Internal Structured Settlement program

The ideal candidate for the Accountant II position will have a strong background in company or public accounting and be someone who can analyze or build a process as opposed to simply following a procedure. As you might expect, a Bachelors Degree in Accounting (or equivalent professional experience) is required. To be considered for this level of position candidates will bring a minimum of 3-6 years related accounting experience. Insurance experience and a CPA is also a plus. To be considered for this opportunity please submit an application via our company website at www.pinnacol.com/careers.

Customer Service Representative opportunity now open!

We have approximately 38 different teams at Pinnacol Assurance. They all serve important functions but one of them serves an especially critical role. Our Customer Service team provides the answers and information to most of the phone calls and queries we receive on a daily basis. Due to a recent promotion within the team we are now seeking a customer oriented individual to join our customer service group.

Our Customer Service Representatives provide answers to customer questions via phone, internet, fax, and mail. While not a typical large call center environment (our representatives typically handle between 60-100 calls a day with average talk times of 2-3 minutes) we are looking for candidates who have some call center or related customer service experience along with strong PC/software skills, and excellent communication and customer service skills. Bilingual capability (Spanish/English) is a plus and candidates must have basic math skills and the ability to type 35 accurate words per minute.

If this sounds like you please complete our application via our company website!