Mainframe developer- 5-da Work from office-Chennai, Pune, Kolkata

Cognizant; Pune District, Chennai District; Hybrid; INR 3,500,000 - 5,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognizant in Pune, India seeks an experienced Mainframe Lead to own end-to-end Cobol/CICS/DB2 solutions. You will translate business needs into efficient Cobol programs, optimize DB2 schemas, and ensure robust CICS configurations for high reliability and scalability.

You will oversee coding standards, perform thorough reviews, and mentor junior engineers while collaborating with analysts and stakeholders to balance cost, risk, and maintainability in a hybrid work setting.

Qualifications

• 8–12 years of enterprise mainframe experience with Cobol/CICS/VSAM/JCL/DB2 in production.
• Advanced Cobol programming with structured coding and performance-oriented logic.
• Strong CICS knowledge: transaction setup, maps, screen handling and tuning.
• VSAM file structures design, access paths and tuning for large data sets.
• Deep DB2 experience: normalized schemas, query optimization and integrity rules.
• Expertise with JCL for batch processing and restart strategies.
• Proven ability to communicate clearly and work in hybrid teams.
• Preferred IBM CICS and IBM DB2 certifications.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end technical ownership of mainframe apps to ensure reliability and scalability.
• Translate requirements into Cobol programs and optimized DB2/CICS configurations.
• Oversee coding standards and peer reviews to reduce defects and incidents.
• Coordinate integration of batch and online components using JCL, CICS, VSAM.
• Provide deep mainframe troubleshooting for abends and bottlenecks.
• Drive modernization by refactoring legacy Cobol/CICS components.
• Collaborate with analysts and stakeholders to clarify requirements and estimates.
• Support deployments with implementation plans and validated JCL changes.
• Maintain comprehensive Cobol, CICS maps, VSAM layouts, and DB2 docs.
• Mentor junior engineers on mainframe concepts and best practices.
• Work with QA to define tests and automate mainframe components.

Skills

Cobol

CICS

VSAM

JCL

DB2

Performance tuning

Batch processing

Data integrity

Mentoring

Cross-team collaboration

Tools

JCL (tool)

Job description

Job description

• Lead end to end technical ownership of mainframe applications built on Cobol CICS VSAM JCL and DB2 to ensure high reliability performance and scalability for critical business services.
• Guide detailed solution design by translating business requirements into efficient Cobol programs optimized DB2 schemas and robust CICS and VSAM configurations that align with long term platform strategy.
• Oversee code development and review activities by enforcing coding standards reusability practices and thorough peer reviews so that defects and production incidents are substantially reduced.
• Coordinate integration of batch and online components using JCL CICS transactions and VSAM data structures to maintain seamless interaction across upstream and downstream systems.
• Provide deep mainframe troubleshooting expertise by analyzing abends performance bottlenecks and resource contention issues and implementing sustainable corrective actions.
• Drive incremental modernization initiatives by identifying legacy Cobol and CICS components suitable for refactoring or optimization while maintaining stability of existing business processes.
• Collaborate closely with business analysts and product stakeholders to clarify requirements estimate effort and propose technical options that balance cost risk and long term maintainability.
• Support deployment activities in day time shifts by preparing implementation plans validating JCL changes and coordinating with operations teams to achieve error free releases.
• Maintain comprehensive technical documentation for Cobol modules CICS maps VSAM file layouts and DB2 objects so that future maintenance audits and onboarding are streamlined.
• Ensure strong focus on data quality and integrity by designing robust DB2 constraints VSAM file structures and validation logic inside Cobol programs to prevent downstream data issues.
• Mentor junior engineers on mainframe concepts such as CICS transaction design JCL best practices and efficient VSAM usage empowering them to take ownership of complex tasks over time.
• Partner with quality engineering teams to define test strategies test data needs and automation approaches for mainframe components improving overall coverage and reducing regression risk.
• Contribute to continuous improvement by analyzing incident trends and change outcomes proposing actionable enhancements in design tooling or process that strengthen platform resilience.

Qualifications

• Possess solid professional experience of eight to twelve years working on enterprise scale mainframe solutions using Cobol CICS VSAM JCL and DB2 in production environments.
• Demonstrate advanced proficiency in Cobol programming including structured coding techniques file handling error management and performance oriented logic design.
• Exhibit strong practical knowledge of CICS including transaction setup map and screen handling resource definition and performance tuning for high volume workloads.
• Show hands on experience with VSAM including design of file structures access paths and tuning strategies suitable for large data sets and fast response requirements.
• Apply deep understanding of JCL including job setup scheduling parameters utilities usage and restart strategies to support reliable batch processing operations.
• Use extensive DB2 experience including design of normalized schemas query optimization and implementation of robust data integrity rules for complex application domains.
• Demonstrate clear communication abilities and collaborative working style suitable for hybrid work arrangements supporting coordination across onsite and remote team members.

Certifications Required

Preferred certifications include IBM Certified Specialist CICS and IBM Certified Database Administrator DB2.