Senior COBOL Engineer & AI Innovator

NextLink Group; Brussel Hoofdstad; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

NextLink Group is seeking a Senior COBOL Engineer & AI Innovator to join the EmployeeBenefits department in Bruxelles. The role focuses on VELO, a core platform for managing group insurance contracts, with development, analysis, and production support in a MF EnterpriseServer/COBOL environment.

You will bridge legacy systems with modern AI concepts, mentor colleagues, and explore Generative AI for improved testing, documentation and code quality.

Qualifications

• Bachelor degree or equivalent through relevant experience.
• Minimum 10 years of experience.
• Strong SQL/DB2 or SQL Server knowledge, including performance considerations.
• Technical analysis, solution design, debugging and troubleshooting.
• Testing, deployment and production support.
• Understanding of application modernisation and integration with other technologies.
• Ability to evaluate AI use cases for analysis, documentation, testing and code quality.
• Proven ownership of critical applications, incidents and production processes.
• Structured testing and test automation concepts.

Responsibilities

• Design effective, maintainable and performant technical solutions in collaboration with functional designers.
• Take ownership of important applications, batch processes, incidents and technical improvements.
• Ensure correct deployment across the different environments and validate solutions through testing.
• Maintain the quality of the technical patrimony and anticipate the impact of new developments.
• Identify and resolve issues in technical implementations, including production and performance problems.
• Coach less experienced colleagues and share knowledge within the team.
• Contribute to modernisation initiatives and the future direction of the application landscape.
• Explore and evaluate the use of Generative AI and Microsoft Copilot for analysis, documentation, testing, code quality and developer productivity.
• Help translate promising AI concepts into pragmatic, secure and measurable improvements in a real business context.

Skills

Technical analysis

Problem solving

Planning & deadlines

Coaching mindset

Autonomous working

Communication

AI evaluation

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor degree or equivalent

Tools

COBOL

SQL Server

DB2

Generative AI tools

Microsoft Copilot

Job description

Bruxelles, Belgium | Posted on 11/02/2026

There are 3 major departments in thecompany, Life, Non-Life and Employee Benefits.

The candidate will join the EmployeeBenefits department and become part of a team of experts that support andexpand our key application called VELO.

VeLo is a strategic application formanaging contracts and coverage for group insurance and

The platform supports key businessprocesses and plays a central role in AG’s insurance

application landscape. It continuouslyevolves to address new legislation, market developments and

changing customer needs. With its strongconnections to other applications, VeLo offers varied projects andopportunities for collaboration across teams.

You will work alongside experiencedcolleagues to further develop a business-critical platform that directlyimpacts the services we provide.

The mission combines development,technical analysis, production support and maintenance with an activecontribution to the future evolution of the application landscape.

VELO runs in a Micro Focus EnterpriseServer environment and is developed mainly in COBOL, using

SQL Server and online and batchprocessing. This is not a classic COBOL assignment: the candidate will act as asenior expert, mentor and bridge builder between proven legacy technology andinnovation.

The candidate will investigate how AI canimprove development, testing, documentation and application modernisation, incollaboration with architects, business and data experts.

As Senior COBOL Engineer & AI Innovator, the candidate willhelp ensure the reliability and continuity of

VELO while contributing to its future evolution. The candidatewill:

• Design effective, maintainable and performant technicalsolutions in collaboration with functional

designers.

• Take ownership of important applications, batch processes,incidents and technical improvements.

• Ensure correct deployment across the different environments andvalidate solutions through

appropriate testing.

• Maintain the quality of the technical patrimony and anticipatethe impact of new developments.

• Identify and resolve issues in technical implementations,including production and performance

problems.

• Coach less experienced colleagues and share knowledge within theteam.

• Contribute to modernisation initiatives and the future directionof the application landscape.

• Explore and evaluate the use of Generative AI and MicrosoftCopilot for analysis, documentation,

testing, code quality and developer productivity.

• Help translate promising AI concepts into pragmatic, secure andmeasurable improvements in a real business context.

Profile:

• Bachelor degree orequivalent through relevant professional experience
• Minimum 10years of experience
• Strong SQL/DB2 or SQL Server knowledge, including performance considerations
• Technical analysis, solution design, debugging and troubleshooting
• Testing, deployment and production support
• Understanding of application modernisation and integration with othertechnologies
• Ability to evaluate AI use cases for analysis, documentation, testing and codequality
• Working in a large IT organisation with transversal stakeholders
• Analysing complex business processes and translating them into reliabletechnical solutions
• Proven ownership of critical applications, incidents and production processes
• Functional analysis knowledge for IT projects
• Structured testing and test automation concepts
• Database and data model design
• Logical and methodical insight
• Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting skills
• Able to work autonomously and as part of a team
• Structured, proactive, pragmatic and result-oriented
• Good communication skills and a coaching mindset
• Able to take ownership and follow up of running requests
• Able to plan work within agreed deadlines and priorities
• Able to deal with punctual stress situations
• Curious about new technologies and willing to challenge existing waysof working

Bonus :

• Practical experience with Generative AI, Microsoft Copilot, GitHub Copilot orIntelligent Automation
• Experience with AI-assisted software development