Mainframe Application Developer - (remote)

Knowledge Services•Bismarck, ND

23h•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 position is 100% remote. Applicants with prior state government experience are strongly preferred. The developer will design, develop, test, and support enhancements to existing mainframe applications used across State of North Dakota programs. The work is primarily hands-on development with COBOL, Natural, JCL, and databases such as ADABAS and DB2; Oracle familiarity is a plus. The role calls for recent, relevant subject matter expertise in Natural programming. The developer will translate business requirements into practical technical solutions, produce clear documentation, collaborate in Agile teams, and participate in a shared 24×7 on-call rotation. The technical scope includes analysis and design of moderate to complex changes within established patterns and standards, without enterprise architecture ownership or formal people leadership.

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.

Responsibilities

Analyze requirements and produce practical technical designs for moderate to complex changes within established patterns and standards.
Create and update program specifications, data mappings, flow diagrams, and other design documentation, and walk through designs with stakeholders for approval.
Recommend incremental improvements that align 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, and solution documentation.
Provide production support in a rotational 24×7 on-call model, perform root-cause analysis, and implement fixes.
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.