Job Purpose
Responsible for designing, developing, testing, and maintaining COBOL-based applications on mainframe platforms that support card products (credit and debit cards). Ensures secure, efficient transaction processing and collaborates with IT teams, business stakeholders, and vendors.
Key Accountabilities
- Development & Maintenance: Build and maintain COBOL programs for card systems.
- System Integration: Integrate applications with internal systems and external interfaces.
- Testing & QA: Conduct unit, integration, and regression testing with compliance focus.
- Production Support: Troubleshoot and resolve production issues.
- Requirements Analysis: Translate business needs into technical solutions.
- Documentation & Compliance: Maintain technical documentation and adhere to IT/regulatory standards.
- Performance Optimization: Optimize COBOL code and processes for efficiency.
- Knowledge Sharing: Mentor peers and suggest improvements.
Education
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, IT, Software Engineering, or related field.
- Equivalent technical certifications/diplomas in mainframe technologies may be considered.
Experience
- Acceptable ranges: 3–5 years, 6–10 years, or 10+ years depending on depth of expertise.
Certifications (Optional/Advantageous)
- IBM Certified Specialist – COBOL Programmer
- IBM Mainframe certifications (z/OS, CICS, DB2)
- Recognized certifications in software development, system integration, or banking IT
Skills & Competencies
- Proficiency in COBOL, JCL, CICS, DB2, IMS, VSAM
- System integration skills
- Performance tuning & optimization
- Problem-solving & troubleshooting
- Banking & enterprise systems knowledge
- Effective communication with stakeholders
- Willingness to learn emerging technologies
Decision-Making Authority
- Independent: Technical approach, performance improvements, debugging priorities, coding practices, testing methods.
- With Manager Approval: Major architecture changes, adoption of new tools, system upgrades, compliance-impacting changes.
Key Challenges
- Managing large, complex COBOL applications.
- Balancing stability with modernization.
- Tight timelines for troubleshooting.
- Adapting to evolving regulatory requirements.
- Limited COBOL expertise in the market.
Stakeholders
- Internal: IT project managers, business analysts, testers, support teams, system admins, other dev teams.
- External: Vendors, regulatory/compliance bodies.
Success Profile
- Deep COBOL knowledge (COBOL, JCL, CICS, DB2).
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- High quality, accuracy, and compliance in coding/testing.
- Flexibility with changing priorities and modernization efforts.
- Effective teamwork and communication.
