Mainframe Developer

COBOL Programmer / Business Systems Analyst

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced COBOL Programmer who can serve as both a technical developer and business analyst. This individual will work directly with clients and internal stakeholders to understand custom business requirements, document functional and technical specifications, design solutions, develop COBOL programs, perform testing, and support implementations.

The ideal candidate possesses strong analytical and communication skills, is comfortable engaging directly with clients, and can translate business needs into effective technical solutions within a mainframe and legacy application environment.

Key Responsibilities

Client Consultation & Requirements Gathering

• Meet directly with clients and business stakeholders to understand custom business requests and operational challenges.
• Facilitate discovery sessions and requirement-gathering workshops.
• Analyze existing business processes and identify gaps or opportunities for system enhancements.
• Document business, functional, and technical requirements.
• Create user stories, use cases, process flows, and solution documentation.
• Collaborate with project managers, developers, QA teams, and business partners throughout the project lifecycle.

Solution Design

• Analyze impacts to existing applications, databases, files, copybooks, and interfaces.
• Design technical solutions that meet client objectives while adhering to organizational standards.
• Create design specifications, program documentation, and implementation plans.
• Estimate development effort and identify project risks.

COBOL Development

• Develop, modify, and support COBOL programs and batch processes.
• Work with JCL, DB2, VSAM, CICS, and related mainframe technologies.
• Create and maintain copybooks, file layouts, and program specifications.
• Perform code reviews and ensure adherence to coding standards.
• Troubleshoot and resolve production issues.

Testing & Quality Assurance

• Develop unit test plans and test scenarios.
• Execute and support system, integration, user acceptance, and regression testing.
• Validate results against documented business requirements.
• Coordinate defect resolution and production readiness activities.

Production Support & Client Engagement

• Support deployments and production implementations.
• Investigate and resolve client-reported issues.
• Provide technical consultation and recommendations.
• Maintain system and process documentation.

Required Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Systems, Business, or related field; or equivalent work experience.

Experience

• 5+ years of COBOL development experience.
• Experience gathering and documenting business requirements.
• Experience working directly with clients and business stakeholders.
• Experience supporting custom software development projects.
• Experience with the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).

Technical Skills

• COBOL
• JCL
• DB2 and SQL
• VSAM
• CICS
• File processing and batch applications
• Mainframe debugging and problem resolution
• Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)

Business Analysis Skills

• Requirements elicitation and documentation
• Process analysis and workflow design
• Functional specification development
• User story and use case creation
• Stakeholder management
• Project estimation and solution planning

Preferred Qualifications

• Financial services, banking, payments, or credit union industry experience.
• Experience with Agile methodologies.
• Experience with Jira and Confluence.
• Experience creating technical design documents and implementation plans.
• Knowledge of data conversion, integrations, and reporting solutions.

Core Competencies

• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to translate technical concepts into business language.
• Strong customer focus and relationship management skills.
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple priorities.
• Attention to detail and commitment to quality.

Success Profile

The successful candidate will be able to:

• Understand a client's business problem and desired outcome.
• Translate business needs into clear requirements and technical specifications.
• Design and develop COBOL-based solutions.
• Test and validate that the solution meets client expectations.
• Communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Own a project from requirements gathering through implementation and support.