COBOL Mainframe Developer

Role Overview

We are seeking a highly experienced Senior COBOL Developer to join our technology team at a large retail bank. This role is primarily focused on hands-on development and enhancement of mission-critical mainframe applications supporting core banking operations. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in COBOL, CICS, and DB2, along with a strong understanding of high-volume transactional systems. This individual will play a key role in modernizing and maintaining legacy systems while ensuring stability, performance, and regulatory compliance. This is a one-year contract-to-hire opportunity, with the intent to convert qualified candidates into full-time employees. Because this is a contract-to-hire role with permanent hiring goals, candidates requiring visa sponsorship or who are not eligible for permanent employment cannot be considered.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, and maintain mainframe applications using COBOL, CICS, and DB2
• Support high-volume, mission-critical banking systems with a focus on performance and reliability
• Analyze business and technical requirements to deliver scalable and efficient solutions
• Perform code reviews, debugging, and performance tuning of existing applications
• Collaborate with business analysts, architects, and cross-functional teams to translate requirements into technical solutions
• Participate in release management, deployment activities, and production support as needed
• Ensure adherence to enterprise standards, security protocols, and regulatory requirements
• Document technical designs, processes, and system changes

Required Qualifications / Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Information Systems, Finance, Healthcare Administration, or related field.
• 10+ years of experience in mainframe application development
• Strong proficiency in:
  • COBOL
  • CICS
  • DB2 (SQL, stored procedures, performance tuning)
  • Operating systems: IBM z/OS, AIX,
    Mainframe: COBOL, CICS, DB2, JCL, VSAM, TSO/ISPF, Easytrieve, Endevor , CA7, Control M, BMC AMI DevX Code Pipeline
    Relational databases: DB2, Oracle
• Experience working in large-scale enterprise or banking environments
• Solid understanding of batch and online processing frameworks
• Proven ability to troubleshoot complex production issues
• Strong communication skills with the ability to work across technical and business teams
• Strong experience in COBOL development in a mainframe environment.
• Hands-on experience with mainframe technologies and legacy enterprise systems.
  Proven ability to support and enhance mission-critical applications in a regulated or large-scale enterprise environment.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative team setting while also operating independently when needed.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills for internal technical collaboration.

Preferred Qualifications

• Banking domain expertise especially ACH/Payments domains.
• Experience with Fiserv integrations
• Familiarity with ZEOS Connect API development
• Exposure to modernization efforts (e.g., API enablement, mainframe integration strategies)
• Experience working in regulated financial environments
• Support ACH solution engineering and mainframe application development efforts in a banking environment.
• Design, enhance, maintain, and troubleshoot COBOL-based mainframe applications.
• Work closely with technical teams and business stakeholders to support enterprise payment processing solutions.
• Analyze existing legacy system functionality and implement enhancements or fixes as needed.
  Participate in code reviews, testing, debugging, and production support activities.
• Assist in modernization and retirement-transition efforts as institutional knowledge is transitioned from legacy team members.
• Collaborate with internal engineering and delivery teams to ensure stable, scalable, and compliant system solutions.
• Contribute to future-state planning as additional retirement-driven openings become available.

Location:Pittsburgh, PA

About Techstra Solutions

Techstra Solutions is a certified woman-owned (WBENC) management consulting firm specializing in strategy, technology, and implementation services for large organizations undergoing digital and talent transformation. Our experienced team partners with clients to co-create innovative solutions in applications, data, AI, and automation that accelerate measurable, sustainable change. From advisory consulting through technical execution, we are dedicated to driving world-class business solutions that fit your strategic requirements and deliver results. For more information: www.techstrasolutions.com