Mainframe Lead Software Engineer - Cobol, CICS, DB2, VSAM

Testing Site - JPMC; Jersey City (NJ); On-site; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

JPMorganChase is seeking a Lead Software Engineer in the Commercial & Investment Technology Mainframe team in Jersey City. You will lead design, development, and maintenance of complex mainframe applications using COBOL, CICS, DB2, and VSAM, while guiding a team to deliver scalable, secure software in an agile environment.

The role emphasizes technical leadership, delivery of high-impact solutions, and mentoring junior developers to ensure alignment with business objectives.

Qualifications

• Formal training or certification on software engineering concepts.
• Hands-on experience delivering system design, development, testing, and operational stability.
• Experience with mainframe technologies (COBOL, CICS, DB2, VSAM).
• Strong project management and delivery experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and maintenance of complex mainframe applications using COBOL, CICS, DB2, VSAM.
• Oversee project planning, execution, and delivery within scope and time constraints.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to junior developers.
• Develop secure, high-quality production code and review others' work.
• Drive remediation and automation to improve stability and reliability.

Skills

Mainframe development

COBOL

DB2

CICS

VSAM

CI/CD

Leadership

Agile

Education

Software engineering certification

Tools

Mainframe tools suite

Job description

We have an opportunity to impact your career and provide an adventure where you can push the limits of what's possible.

As a Lead Software Engineer at JPMorganChase within the Commercial & Investment Technology in Mainframe technology team, youare an integral part of an agile team that works to enhance, build, and deliver trusted market-leading technology products in a secure, stable, and scalable way. As a core technical contributor, you are responsible for conducting critical technology solutions across multiple technical areas within various business functions in support of the firm’s business objectives. The ideal candidate will drive the delivery of high-impact solutions, mentor team members, and ensure alignment with business objectives.

Job responsibilities

• Executes creative software solutions, design, development, and technical troubleshooting with any of these. Ability to think beyond routine; conventional approaches to build solutions; break down technical problems
• Lead the design, development, and maintenance of complex mainframe applications using COBOL, CICS, DB2, VSAM, and related technologies.
• Oversee project planning, execution, and delivery, ensuring projects are completed on time and within scope.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to junior developers and team members.
• Develops secure high-quality production code, and reviews and debugs code written by others
• Identifies opportunities to eliminate or automate remediation of recurring issues to improve overall operational stability of software applications and systems
• Leads evaluation sessions with external vendors, startups, and internal teams to drive outcomes-oriented probing of architectural designs, technical credentials, and applicability for use within existing systems and information architecture
• Leads communities of practice across Software Engineering to drive awareness and use of new and leading-edge technologies
• Adds to team culture of diversity, opportunity, inclusion, and respect

Required qualifications, capabilities, and skills

• Formal training or certification on software engineering concepts and 5+ years applied experience
• Hands-on practical experience delivering system design, application development, testing, and operational stability
• Advanced in one or more programming language(s) - Experience in software development, with a focus on mainframe technologies.
• Extensive experience in mainframe development, including proficiency in COBOL, CICS, DB2, and VSAM.
• Demonstrated experience in project management, including planning, execution, and delivery of technology initiatives.
• Proficiency in automation and continuous delivery methods. Proficient in all aspects of the Software Development Life Cycle
• Advanced understanding of agile methodologies such as CI/CD, Application Resiliency, and Security
• Practical cloud native experience

Preferred qualifications, capabilities, and skills

• Experience in the financial services industry, with a strong preference for post-trade processing.
• Experience with additional mainframe tools and technologies.
• Exposure to non-mainframe programming languages or platforms (such as Java, .NET, Python, etc.) is a plus, but not required.
• Prior experience in people management or team leadership roles.