Application Developer - Mainframe

Leveling Note: This role is scoped for a mid-to-senior practitioner-strong hands-on developer who collaborates and owns deliverables with increasing autonomy, but not an architect/lead role.

Position Summary

The Mainframe Developer will design, develop, test, and support enhancements to existing mainframe applications used across State of North Dakota programs. The role is primarily hands-on development with COBOL, Natural, JCL, and databases such as ADABAS and DB2 (Oracle familiarity is a plus). The ideal candidate translates business requirements into practical technical solutions, produces clear documentation, collaborates in Agile teams, and participates in a shared on-call rotation.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Analysis & Design (mid-to-senior scope)

• Analyze requirements and produce practical technical designs for moderate to complex changes within established patterns/standards.
• Create and update design documentation (program specs, data mappings, flow diagrams) and walk through with stakeholders for approval.
• Recommend incremental improvements that align with existing architecture (no enterprise architecture ownership).

Coding & Configuration

• Develop and maintain programs using COBOL and/or Natural.
• Author and troubleshoot JCL for batch processes, job streams, and error handling.
• Build test scenarios and perform unit, system, and acceptance testing; document results.
• Participate in peer code reviews and apply feedback to improve quality.
• Maintain runbooks, deployment notes, and solution documentation.
• Provide production support in a rotational 24 7 on-call model; perform root-cause analysis and implement fixes.

Project & Team Collaboration

• Provide time and effort estimates for assigned work items and small enhancements; assist on estimates for moderate projects.
• Actively participate in Agile ceremonies (stand-ups, planning, reviews, retros).
• Document tickets, decisions, and work acceptance in team tools.
• Mentor peers informally on standards and procedures as needed (no formal people leadership).

Required Skills & Qualifications

Technical

• Proficient in COBOL (maintenance and net-new development).
• Proficient in Natural (maintenance and net-new development).
• Strong working knowledge of JCL (batch authoring, scheduling handoff, troubleshooting).
• Experience with ADABAS and DB2 (queries, data analysis, understanding of performance basics).
• Familiarity with Oracle concepts and SQL tooling (e.g., PL/SQL Developer or equivalent).
• Comfortable with tools such as QMF, Visio (or equivalents) for data and design work.
• Solid testing discipline and defect management.

Communication & Delivery

• Strong technical writing (design docs, runbooks, change notes).
• Ability to explain technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
• Detail-oriented, organized, and dependable follow-through.

Experience

• 5+ years of mainframe development in enterprise settings (or equivalent).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Natural/ADABAS in public sector or large enterprise environments.
• Exposure to mainframe CI/CD and change tools (e.g., Endevor, ChangeMan, ISPW).
• Familiarity with job scheduling platforms (Control M, CA 7, TWS).
• Integration experience (e.g., MQ, file-based interfaces, service layers).
• Prior participation in rotational on-call support.
• Informal mentorship or focal-point experience.
• State government or regulated industry experience.

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field