Role: Senior Mainframe Developer / Mainframe Modernization Consultant
Location: Remote
Duration: Long Term
Experience: 20+ Years
Position Summary
We are seeking a highly experienced Senior Mainframe Developer to support, enhance, modernize, and document enterprise-critical mainframe applications. This individual will serve as a technical subject matter expert (SME) for legacy COBOL environments while partnering with business and technical teams to drive system modernization, data migration, process improvements, and knowledge transfer initiatives.
The ideal candidate will possess extensive experience with COBOL development, DB2, VSAM, JCL, Oracle databases, and large-scale conversion efforts within insurance, financial services, pension, or government environments. Experience documenting legacy applications for modernization efforts and mentoring development teams is highly desired.
Responsibilities
Mainframe Development & Support
Design, develop, test, and maintain enterprise COBOL applications.
Analyze and troubleshoot production issues within mission-critical mainframe environments.
Create and maintain JCL, batch processing jobs, interfaces, and reporting solutions.
Develop and support applications utilizing DB2, VSAM, Oracle PL/SQL, and Stored Procedures.
Perform impact analysis and implement system enhancements while minimizing operational risk.
Mainframe Modernization
Analyze and document legacy COBOL applications to support modernization initiatives.
Produce business rules, use cases, process flows, and data dictionaries.
Assist organizations in migrating legacy code and functionality to modern platforms.
Identify opportunities for automation, process efficiency, and technical debt reduction.
Data Conversion & Integration
Lead large-scale data conversion and migration projects.
Develop and validate data mapping specifications.
Support data extraction, transformation, and loading activities.
Ensure data quality, reconciliation, and post-conversion validation.
Technical Leadership
Serve as a COBOL and Mainframe Subject Matter Expert.
Mentor and train junior developers and technical teams.
Guide modernization efforts and best practices.
Collaborate with business stakeholders, architects, and project managers to align solutions with business objectives.
Project & Process Improvement
Participate in project planning, estimation, and delivery.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives that improve operational efficiency.
Document processes and knowledge artifacts for long-term maintainability.
Support testing, implementation, and post-production stabilization activities.
Required Qualifications
10+ years of experience in Mainframe Development (preferred 20+ years).
Extensive experience with:
Strong experience supporting financial services, insurance, government, or pension systems.
Experience performing legacy system analysis and documentation.
Experience leading data conversion and modernization projects.
Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills.
Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience leading technical teams and mentoring developers.
Experience with Agile/Scrum methodologies.
Certified Scrum Master (CSM).
Experience integrating legacy systems with modern technologies.
Experience supporting enterprise reporting and data analytics solutions.
Knowledge of Java migration projects and modernization frameworks.
Technical Environment
Languages
COBOL
Micro Focus COBOL
Oracle PL/SQL
SQL
Databases
Platforms
IBM Mainframe
MVS/VM
Windows
Tools
JCL
Microsoft Project
Visio
Excel
PowerPoint
Access
Ideal Candidate Profile
The successful candidate will be a senior-level mainframe professional with deep COBOL expertise, experience modernizing legacy applications, leading conversion initiatives, documenting complex systems, and mentoring technical teams. They will thrive in environments where business-critical systems require both operational support and strategic modernization.
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