Pay Rate: $70-$75/hour
Schedule: Hybrid, 2-3 days onsite per week
Employment Type: Contract
About the Opportunity
We are seeking an experienced Systems Programmer Analyst to support business-critical applications, data analysis, system enhancements, and modernization initiatives. This position will work across legacy and modern environments, analyzing applications, databases, batch processes, integrations, and system workflows.
The ideal candidate will bring a strong combination of COBOL/mainframe experience, advanced SQL expertise, and Systems Analyst experience. You will partner closely with business stakeholders, developers, database administrators, QA teams, and other technical resources to analyze requirements, troubleshoot issues, validate system changes, and support ongoing modernization efforts.
Key Responsibilities
- Analyze business and system requirements and translate them into clear functional and technical specifications.
- Perform systems analysis across applications, databases, batch jobs, interfaces, reports, and operational processes.
- Write, modify, troubleshoot, and optimize complex SQL queries and scripts for data analysis, reconciliation, reporting, validation, and issue resolution.
- Analyze relational databases, data structures, database relationships, source-to-target mappings, and application logic.
- Work with COBOL-based applications and mainframe/legacy systems to analyze existing functionality, troubleshoot issues, and support system enhancements and modernization efforts.
- Support application conversions, integrations, system enhancements, production troubleshooting, and legacy modernization initiatives.
- Create and maintain requirements documentation, functional specifications, process flows, data mappings, test scenarios, validation results, and implementation materials.
- Collaborate with business users, developers, DBAs, QA teams, architects, and project teams to clarify requirements and support successful system changes.
- Support testing activities by reviewing application logic, validating system outputs, creating test data, documenting defects, and confirming business rules.
- Assist with production implementations, post-deployment validation, troubleshooting, and remediation efforts.
- Communicate technical findings, risks, recommendations, and project updates to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Information Systems, or a closely related field.
- Minimum of 3 years of progressively responsible IT experience involving systems analysis, application support, requirements documentation, data analysis, SQL development, application development, or related technical work.
- Hands-on COBOL experience is required, including experience analyzing, supporting, troubleshooting, or working with COBOL-based applications in a mainframe or legacy environment.
- Strong Systems Analyst experience, including requirements gathering, functional analysis, process analysis, technical documentation, stakeholder coordination, testing, and implementation support.
- Advanced SQL proficiency, including writing, modifying, debugging, optimizing, executing, and validating complex SQL queries and scripts.
- Experience working with relational databases, data models, stored procedures, source-to-target mappings, data quality issues, and batch/application processing logic.
- Experience supporting application development, system enhancements, conversions, or modernization initiatives.
- Ability to partner with developers and technical teams to analyze application logic, validate outputs, troubleshoot issues, and support technical design decisions.
- Strong analytical, troubleshooting, problem-solving, communication, and documentation skills with excellent attention to detail.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with Java, Spring, stored procedures, scripting, batch processing, or report development.
- Experience supporting legacy-to-modern application migrations, including parallel-run, validation, and cutover activities.
- Experience designing or supporting automated data comparison and parity validation processes to reduce manual report-by-report validation.
- Experience working in environments with a combination of legacy mainframe and modern application technologies.
Key Must-Haves
- COBOL experience in a mainframe/legacy environment
- Advanced SQL skills
- Strong Systems Analyst experience
- Experience supporting application enhancements, conversions, or modernization initiatives
- Strong experience with data analysis, testing, troubleshooting, and technical documentation
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