Senior Software Engineer

Manulife John Hancock; Southwestern Ontario; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Manulife John Hancock is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to join the Affinity Life technology team. In this hands-on role, you will design, develop, modernize, and support enterprise mainframe applications running on IBM z/OS.

You will bridge COBOL/mainframe expertise to modern stack, contribute to API integration, automation, DevOps practices, and modernization. You will also mentor others and ensure secure, reliable production systems.

Qualifications

• Significant software engineering experience building, maintaining, and supporting enterprise-scale mainframe applications.
• Strong knowledge of COBOL, JCL, DB2, CICS, and IBM z/OS.
• Experience with VSAM or related mainframe data technologies.
• Experience delivering mission-critical production systems and incident analysis.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, unit test, and integrate features for enterprise mainframe apps.
• Build and maintain COBOL/JCL/DB2/CICS-based solutions on IBM z/OS.
• Troubleshoot production issues, perform root-cause analysis, and improve reliability and security.
• Lead technical design and implementation of complex back-end solutions.
• Contribute to modernization, API integration, and connectivity with distributed systems.
• Conduct architecture reviews focusing on scalability and quality.
• Apply CI/CD, automated testing, and modern engineering practices.
• Collaborate with leaders and stakeholders to deliver meaningful business outcomes.
• Promote Agile practices and contribute to engineering quality.
• Mentor engineers through guidance and code reviews.

Skills

Mainframe dev

COBOL

JCL

DB2

CICS

z/OS

API integration

Agile

CI/CD

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related

Tools

GitHub

Jenkins

Endevor

Zowe

IDz

Job description

We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join our Affinity Life technology team. In this hands-on role, you will design, develop, modernize, and support mission-critical enterprise applications running on IBM z/OS.

You will work at the intersection of proven mainframe technology and modern software engineering, helping evolve critical applications through API integration, automation, DevOps practices, and modernization. You will also play an important role in production support and operational reliability, ensuring our applications remain secure, resilient, performant, and available.

This opportunity is well suited to an experienced engineer who is able to bridge COBOL/mainframe expertise to modern stack , enjoys solving complex production issues, and is motivated by modernization, technical collaboration, and mentoring others!

Position Responsibilities

• Design, develop, unit test, and integrate new features and enhancements for enterprise mainframe applications.
• Build and maintain solutions using COBOL, JCL, DB2, CICS, and IBM z/OS technologies.
• Support mission-critical production applications, troubleshoot complex issues, perform root-cause analysis, and improve system reliability, security, resiliency, and performance.
• Lead the technical design and implementation of complex backend and mainframe solutions.
• Contribute to application modernization, API integration, and connectivity between mainframe applications and distributed systems.
• Conduct architecture, design, and code reviews with a focus on scalability, reliability, maintainability, and engineering quality.
• Apply modern engineering practices, including automated testing, source control, continuous integration, continuous delivery, and continuous improvement.
• Partner with engineering leaders, architects, product owners, software engineers, and business stakeholders to design solutions that deliver meaningful business outcomes.
• Promote Agile principles and contribute to quality-focused engineering practices within the team.
• Mentor engineers through technical guidance, knowledge sharing, code reviews, and collaborative problem-solving.
• Maintain clear technical, deployment, operational, maintenance, and support documentation throughout the software development lifecycle.

Required Qualifications

• Significant software engineering experience building, maintaining, and supporting enterprise-scale mainframe applications.
• Strong knowledge and/or experience with COBOL, JCL, DB2, CICS, and IBM z/OS.
• Experience with VSAM or related mainframe data technologies.
• Experience developing and supporting high-volume, mission-critical production systems, including incident troubleshooting, performance tuning, root-cause analysis, and reliability improvements.
• Experience with application modernization, API integration, or connectivity between mainframe and distributed systems.
• Understanding of Agile development practices and end-to-end software development lifecycle delivery.
• Experience with source control, CI/CD, and modern mainframe development tools. Familiarity with technologies such as GitHub, Jenkins, Endevor, Zowe, or IBM Developer for z/OS (IDz) is beneficial.
• Experience contributing to solution design, technical decision-making, architecture or code reviews, and engineering quality.
• Ability to communicate technical concepts clearly and collaborate effectively with engineering and business stakeholders.
• Experience mentoring engineers and sharing technical knowledge across a team.

Preferred Qualifications

• A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience contributing to or leading mainframe modernization or digital transformation initiatives.
• Experience integrating mainframe applications with distributed platforms using technologies such as REST APIs or z/OS Connect.
• Experience with modern mainframe development or AI-assisted engineering tools, including Zowe, IDz, GitHub integration, or comparable technologies.
• Experience working with Life Insurance applications, products, or business processes.
• Exposure to mainframe-to-cloud integration or migration initiatives.

When you join our team

• We'll empower you to learn and grow the career you want.
• We'll recognize and support you in a flexible environment where well-being and inclusion are more than just words.
• As part of our global team, we'll support you in shaping the future you want to see.

About Manulife and John Hancock

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, helping people make their decisions easier and lives better. To learn more about us, visit https://www.manulife.com/en/about/our-story.html .

Manulife is an Equal Opportunity Employer

The role being advertised is an existing vacancy.