Senior Mainframe COBOL Developer

State of Washington•Thurston County – Olympia, WA

20h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Office of Financial Management (OFM) is seeking a Senior Mainframe COBOL Developer to support the critical statewide mainframe accounting system, Agency Financial Reporting System (AFRS), and Capital Asset Management System (CAMS). This role is crucial for ensuring AFRS and CAMS remain operational, compliant with legislative requirements, and updated with business changes. The developer will independently design, develop, test, maintain, and support enterprise-level mainframe accounting applications written in COBOL, CICS, and JCL. Responsibilities include implementing system changes, resolving complex production issues, and translating business and legislative requirements into technical solutions. This position requires strong analytical skills, disciplined testing practices, and the ability to sustain high-availability, mission-critical environments. The role is ideal for a technical professional who thrives in complex computing environments and values meaningful impact, offering both challenge and purpose in solving complex problems and delivering resilient solutions.

Requirements

Recent application development experience in a mainframe environment using COBOL, JCL, CICS, VSAM, IBM z/OS.
Expertise in COBOL (batch and online programs), including debugging and performance tuning.
Strong experience with structured programming and legacy code maintenance.
Advanced ability to write, modify, and troubleshoot JCL.
Strong ability to manage batch jobs, datasets, and utilities.
Strong understanding of job scheduling concepts.
Ability to develop and maintain CICS online transactions.
Understanding of VSAM and file handling – KSDS, ESDS, RRDS file structures, file definitions, and access methods.
Strong mainframe environment knowledge (z/OS Operating System – Dataset management, ISPF usage, etc.; Utilities and Tools – SORT utilities, File-AID, etc.; Job Scheduling Tools – CA-7, etc.; Source Management - Endevor).
Ability to perform unit, integration, regression testing, and code reviews.
Ability to independently perform after-hours standby support.
Advanced ability to problem-solve in legacy environments.
Strong analytical skills/ability to research issues and find root cause.
Strong documentation experience.
Strong verbal and written communications.
Ability to learn complex processes and information quickly.
Demonstrated commitment to teamwork, customer service, and working under tight deadlines.
The ability to take action to learn and grow.
The ability to meet the needs of others.

Nice To Haves

Degree in Computer Science or related area (Mathematics, Engineering, Database Design).
Washington State mainframe environment experience.
Knowledge of the Agency Financial Reporting System (AFRS).
Understanding of DB2 for z/OS – stored procedures, query optimization and indexing, handling cursors, and transaction management.
Knowledge and ability to develop in non-COBOL technologies such as .Net, C#, Angular, Entity Framework, SQL, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.
Experience using a defect tracking tool.
Knowledge of security and/or performance/stress/load testing.
Experience using Microsoft Office Suite.
Knowledge of accounting and/or transaction-based applications.
Financial and/or state government knowledge.

Responsibilities

Provide expert consultation and specialized analysis, design, development, programming, testing, troubleshooting, and/or problem resolution for the AFRS mainframe application.
Develop and maintain batch and online applications.
Develop and maintain JCL (Job Control Language) and support CICS-based online applications.
Work with IBM z/OS environments, DB2 and/or VSAM file structures.
Advise teams on the readiness of software applications for production implementation and assess the impact of modifications on related systems.
Analyze all technical system change decisions, identify probable outcomes, and provide feedback.
Solve software/hardware problems, including defining and analyzing the problem, performing impact analysis, identifying and testing solutions, implementing the best solution, documenting changes, and evaluating the outcome.
Develop and implement standards, methods, tools, procedures, and processes.
Review, monitor, and report development progress and results.
Serve as a technical mentor to other system developers in resolving complex technical issues.
Use bug tracking tools such as Azure DevOps, Excel, and Microsoft Word to create spreadsheets, log issues and bugs, and create documentation.
Produce and ensure that internal technical and procedural documentation is current.
Follow IT change and release management processes.
Analyze business requirements and translate them into technical solutions.
Modify existing programs to enhance functionality or resolve defects.
Take independent action to correct problems encountered during systems operations, 24/7.
Provide level 2/3 support, monitor, and resolve production incidents.
Work closely with System Analysts to resolve customer-reported production issues.
Troubleshoot batch failures and performance issues.
Participate in after-hours standby rotation.
Perform unit testing and support integration/system testing.
Participate in defect resolution and root cause analysis.
Ensure adherence to coding standards and secure coding practices.