Senior Application Programmer - Mainframe Systems

Job Description

Job Description

Title: Senior Application Programmer – Mainframe Systems

Employment Type: Contract (12–24+ months)

Compensation: $60–$75 per hour

Location: Cerritos, CA 90703

Work Model: Initially onsite Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m., gradually transitioning to a hybrid schedule with up to two telework days per week based on project requirements.

Industry: Government / Public Sector

Work Authorization: Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States for any employer. Sponsorship is not available for this position.

Company Overview

A large public-sector organization supports a broad range of departmental services through shared technology infrastructure and enterprise applications. This assignment contributes to the reliability and ongoing development of complex mainframe systems used in government operations.

Position Summary

Support the full lifecycle of complex mainframe applications, from requirements and design through development, testing, implementation, and ongoing support. This senior individual contributor role combines hands-on programming with technical leadership, user collaboration, and responsibility for software quality.

Key Responsibilities

• Translate business and system requirements into application designs and working prototypes.
• Design application architecture, interfaces, data structures, and reusable components.
• Develop, debug, modify, and maintain mainframe application code.
• Plan and execute testing with users to verify functionality and resolve defects.
• Implement application changes and support reliable production operation.
• Improve application performance, scalability, reliability, and maintainability.
• Integrate application software with supporting systems and infrastructure.
• Maintain design, program, testing, and support documentation.
• Apply information security and quality standards throughout the software lifecycle.
• Evaluate development technologies and recommend improvements appropriate to the operating environment.

Skills Required

• Application design, development, testing, implementation, and production support for complex enterprise software.
• Systems analysis and architecture, reusable component design, database structures and transaction processing, and performance optimization.
• Ability to apply information security practices, document technical work, communicate clearly, and collaborate with business and technical stakeholders.

Skills Preferred

• No additional preferred skills specified.

Experience Required

• At least seven years of electronic data processing systems design and programming in a mainframe environment.

Experience Preferred

• No additional preferred experience specified.

Additional Experience Required

• Hands-on experience with one or more of IMS, DB2, COBOL, or CICS within the seven-year mainframe programming background.

Additional Experience Preferred

• No additional preferred experience specified.

Education Required

• Bachelor’s degree in an IT-related field or Computer Science. Additional qualifying experience may substitute for the degree on a year-for-year basis.

Education Preferred

• No additional preferred education specified.