Mainframe Developer
Cognizant’s Digital Engineering practice is seeking a highly qualified Mainframe Developer with 8+ years’ experience developing and building high-performing, scalable, enterprise applications. You will be part of a digital software team that works on high-demand applications. Our engineers have a passion for high-quality, reliable, and maintainable code. You will work side by side with product managers, designers, and clients, making decisions together to quickly deliver valuable working software to clients and their users. Our engineers are agile and retrospective, and not afraid to identify what we’re doing wrong, so we can fix it, and what we’re doing right, so we can improve on it. Above all, we judge success by the success of our team and the happiness of our customers.
Cognizant Digital Engineering If you’re like us, you’ve got big ideas. At Cognizant, we’re exploring new ideas every day. We help industry leading companies reinvent their business models and innovate products that create new value—by connecting people with things, insights, and experiences. Cognizant digital engineering designs, engineers and delivers digital products and experiences that drive digital-first business models. We offer the most comprehensive digital engineering expertise and client-centric methodology for sustainable innovation.
Location: New Jersey, NJ, USA (Onsite)
You must be legally authorized to work in the USA without the need for employer sponsorship, now or at any time in the future.
Roles/Responsibilities:
· Design, develop, test, and maintain mission-critical banking applications using COBOL, CICS, JCL, DB2, and VSAM
· Build and support CICS online transactions for core banking functions such as account management, fund transfers, and loan processing
· Write and tune DB2 SQL queries, stored procedures, and perform explain plan analysis for high-volume financial data
· Create, maintain, and troubleshoot JCL batch jobs supporting end-of-day, end-of-month, and regulatory reporting cycles
· Diagnose and resolve production issues, system failures, and performance bottlenecks in a zero-downtime banking environment
· Conduct code reviews, enforce coding standards, and mentor junior developers
· Collaborate with business analysts, architects, and compliance teams across the full SDLC — from requirements to deployment
· Support mainframe modernization initiatives including integration with digital banking platforms and REST APIs
· Ensure all development adheres to banking regulations, audit controls, and security standards (SOX, PCI-DSS, FFIEC)
· Maintain thorough technical documentation including design specs, runbooks, and change management records
Required Qualifications:
· 10+ years of hands-on IBM mainframe development experience, preferably in banking or financial services
· Expert-level proficiency in COBOL and CICS transaction programming
· Strong command of JCL, z/OS utilities (SORT, IDCAMS, IEBGENER), and batch processing
· Deep knowledge of DB2 — SQL optimization, bind/rebind, and performance tuning for large financial datasets
· Solid experience with VSAM file structures and access methods
· Familiarity with REXX/CLIST scripting for automation
· Understanding of banking domain concepts — core banking, payments (ACH, SWIFT, Fedwire), GL, and reconciliation
· Exposure to mainframe-to-distributed integration (MQ, APIs, Web Services) is a plus
· Knowledge of DevOps for mainframe tools like Zowe, IDz, or DBB is highly desirable.
Salary and Other Compensation:
The annual salary for this position is between $ 60,000– $ 99,000 USD depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.
This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.
Benefits: Cognizant offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:
Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance
Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off
401(k) plan and contributions
Long-term/Short-term Disability
Paid Parental Leave
Employee Stock Purchase Plan
Disclaimer: The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.
Why Choose Cognizant?
It takes a lot to succeed in today’s fast-paced market, and Cognizant Technology Solutions has become a leader in the industry. We love big ideas and even bigger dreams! We stand out because we put human experiences at the core. Our associates enjoy robust benefits and training opportunities from our industry-recognized, award-winning Academy team. You will have access to hundreds of technical trainings to keep your skillsets fresh and have opportunities to acquire certifications on the newest technologies.
Everything we do at Cognizant we do with passion—for our clients (fortune 100 companies), our communities, and our organization. It’s the defining attribute that we look for in our people.
If you love ambiguity, excited by change, and excel through autonomy, we’d love to hear from you!
About Cognizant Digital Engineering
Well-designed software transcends digital technology, going beyond the fulfillment of basic requirements to focus instead on human needs. Within Cognizant Digital Engineering, we help clients develop software products that transform human insights into tangible, production-ready digital solutions. We also work with our clients to scale their native cloud applications. Using insights from the lived experiences of our consumers, we seamlessly replace traditional service strategies with engaging, precise, and direct digital applications. Designing phenomenal software is vital to success in the digital economy—and we understand that a human-centric approach is key to this design.
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What we offer
- The chance to work with impact. Here, you’re empowered to bring your biggest thinking to help our company and clients improve everyday life.
- Ownership over your career. Stay at the top of your game through our award-winning learning and development ecosystem. And when your ambitions change or we offer new opportunities, we help you pivot by providing reskilling, on-the-job learning and guidance to find new roles that might be a better fit.
- The opportunity to thrive on a high caliber team with heart. We celebrate each other’s experiences and perspectives and promote a sense of belonging through our affinity groups and diversity and inclusion initiatives.
- A comprehensive total rewards package, including a competitive salary and a pension plan with matching contributions.
- Flexible health and financial benefits to support you and your eligible dependents—from day one.
- True work-life balance. Be at your best through paid time off, flexible work arrangements, volunteering opportunities, social events, and so much more.
About us
Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) is an AI Builder and technology services provider, building the bridge between AI investment and enterprise value by building full-stack AI solutions for our clients. Our deep industry, process and engineering expertise enables us to build an organization’s unique context into technology systems that amplify human potential, realize tangible returns and keep global enterprises ahead in a fast-changing world. See how at www.cognizant.com or @cognizant.
Other employment-related information
Cognizant is an equal opportunity employer. Your application and candidacy will not be considered based on race, color, sex, religion, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by federal, provincial or local laws.
If you have a disability that requires reasonable accommodation to search for a job opening or submit an application, please email [email protected] with your request and contact information.
Language requirements vary depending on roles, but we ask that all candidates have basic English proficiency for company-wide communications purposes. For roles based in Quebec, professional English proficiency is required, as you’ll deliver services to and collaborate with stakeholders outside the province who may not speak French.
