Embedded Senior Engineering for Vermont Mutual's Quote Platform

Summary

Vermont Mutual is one of the oldest mutual property and casualty insurers in the United States, known for security, reliability, and excellent service for end-users and insurance brokers alike.

The Challenge: the right technology, and the right person to lead it

Vermont Mutual was rebuilding its property and casualty quote application, moving from an off-the-shelf product to a custom solution that would give the company more control and give its brokers a better experience. The back-end was in place. What the team needed was front-end expertise it didn't have in-house, for a build that had to integrate with existing web services, transactional databases, and third-party services.

They also needed something subtler: a partner who could work inside their team, not around it. The new front-end would be built alongside Vermont Mutual's own engineers, so collaboration mattered as much as code.

The Solution: advice first, then an embedded engineer

The engagement started with a decision, not a build. Vermont Mutual was leaning toward Angular. Rather than build with the default, we ran a structured evaluation of React, Vue, and Angular: complexity, learning curve, ecosystem strength, and the practical question that off-the-shelf comparisons skip, which framework makes it easiest to recruit and retain engineers. We recommended React, and we showed the work behind the recommendation.

Then we embedded. A senior Gnar engineer joined Vermont Mutual's team as the lead React engineer, onboarded through a designated product manager, with the role defined clearly before day one. Vermont Mutual's prep work (detailed user flows and screen designs) meant our engineer was shipping from the first week.

Accountability was built into the structure:

• weekly one-on-ones between our engineer and their project manager
• monthly check-ins with our Head of Client Service to track progress and exchange feedback in both directions

Beyond the code: a process upgrade that outlasted the project

Embedding a senior engineer brings more than a skill set; it brings perspective from dozens of engagements across companies, industries, and technologies. Working with Vermont Mutual's product manager, our engineer helped re-engineer the company's development process in a more agile direction as the organization adopted the new technology.

The Results

Vermont Mutual's insurance agents get a user-friendly, web-based quote application built on the right framework for the company's future hiring and growth. The engineering organization keeps an agile process it now runs itself. That's the standard we hold Embed to: the team should be stronger after we leave than the day we arrived.