Mainframe Application Developer - (remote)

Knowledge Services•Bismarck, ND

2d•Remote

About The Position

Knowledge Services is seeking a remote Mainframe Application Developer for a 12-month contract, with potential for extension, supporting the State of North Dakota Department of Information Technology. The role designs, develops, tests, and supports enhancements to existing mainframe applications used across state programs. It is primarily hands-on development using COBOL, Natural, JCL, ADABAS, and DB2; Oracle familiarity is a plus. Applicants with prior state government experience are strongly preferred. The position translates business requirements into practical technical solutions, creates clear documentation, collaborates with Agile teams, and participates in a shared rotational 24×7 on-call model. Work includes technical analysis and design for moderate to complex changes within established patterns and standards; coding and configuration; testing and defect management; production support and root-cause analysis; and collaboration on estimates, team ceremonies, and work documentation. The role may include informal peer mentoring but has no formal people leadership responsibilities.

Requirements

At least 5 years of mainframe development experience in enterprise settings, or equivalent.
Proficiency in COBOL for maintenance and new development.
Proficiency in Natural for maintenance and new development.
Strong working knowledge of JCL, including batch authoring, scheduling handoff, and troubleshooting.
Experience with ADABAS and DB2, including queries, data analysis, and understanding of performance basics.
Familiarity with Oracle concepts and SQL tooling such as PL/SQL Developer or equivalent.
Comfort with tools such as QMF and Visio, or equivalents, for data and design work.
Solid testing discipline and defect management.
Strong technical writing skills for design documents, runbooks, and change notes.
Ability to explain technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
Detail-oriented, organized, and dependable follow-through.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Natural/ADABAS in public sector or large enterprise environments.
Exposure to mainframe CI/CD and change tools such as Endevor, ChangeMan, or ISPW.
Familiarity with job scheduling platforms such as Control M, CA 7, or TWS.
Integration experience, such as MQ, file-based interfaces, or service layers.
Prior participation in rotational on-call support.
Informal mentorship or focal-point experience.
State government or regulated industry experience.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.
Prior state government experience is strongly preferred.
Oracle familiarity.

Responsibilities

Design, develop, test, and support enhancements to existing mainframe applications used across State of North Dakota programs.
Analyze requirements and produce practical technical designs for moderate to complex changes within established patterns and standards.
Create and update program specifications, data mappings, and flow diagrams, and review them with stakeholders for approval.
Recommend incremental improvements aligned with existing architecture.
Develop and maintain programs using COBOL and/or Natural.
Author and troubleshoot JCL for batch processes, job streams, and error handling.
Build test scenarios; perform unit, system, and acceptance testing; and document results.
Participate in peer code reviews and apply feedback to improve quality.
Maintain runbooks, deployment notes, design documentation, and other solution documentation.
Provide production support in a rotational 24×7 on-call model, perform root-cause analysis, and implement fixes.
Translate business requirements into technical solutions and explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
Provide time and effort estimates for assigned work items and small enhancements, and assist with estimates for moderate projects.
Participate in Agile stand-ups, planning, reviews, and retrospectives.
Document tickets, decisions, and work acceptance in team tools.
Informally mentor peers on standards and procedures as needed.