Senior Software Engineer (Mainframe/COBOL)

Our Purpose

Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re helping build a sustainable economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential.

Title and Summary

Senior Software Engineer (Mainframe/COBOL)

Overview

Mastercard’s Core Payments team is seeking a Senior mainframe engineering leader who can operate as a technical expert, modernization advocate, and stakeholder partner.

This role requires strong hands-on experience in mainframe technologies combined with the ability to translate modernization strategy, influence senior stakeholders, and guide the evolution of legacy systems into modern platforms.

What You’ll Do

• Lead development and modernization initiatives across Core Payments (Authorization, Clearing, Debit) systems

• Serve as a technical liaison between legacy mainframe systems and modern platform teams

• Partner with senior leadership to drive modernization strategy and roadmap execution

• Influence cross-functional stakeholders and push back where needed to ensure technical integrity and scalability

• Design and deliver high-performance, mission-critical applications in a regulated payments environment

• Translate business and technical requirements into scalable solutions across mainframe and distributed systems

• Drive automation, CI/CD adoption, and quality improvements across legacy platforms

• Lead coordination across global teams and vendors

What You Bring

Core Technical Experience

• Strong hands-on experience with COBOL, DB2, CICS, JCL

• Experience with z/OS / IBM System z platforms

• Experience with Microfocus COBOL, DB2 LUW, and TWS Scheduler

Modernization and Platform Experience

• Experience modernizing or integrating mainframe systems with cloud or distributed systems

• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and automation frameworks

• Exposure to API-based integrations

Leadership and Influence

• Proven ability to communicate effectively with senior leadership

• Ability to influence stakeholders across engineering and business teams

• Ability to translate complex technical concepts into business impact

• Confidence to push back constructively on technical decisions

Execution and Ownership

• Experience driving technical roadmaps

• Experience leading quality and automation initiatives

• Strong coordination skills across global teams

Nice to Have

• Experience in payments, cards, or financial systems

• Exposure to cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)

• Experience in mainframe modernization programs

Mastercard is a merit-based, inclusive, equal opportunity employer that considers applicants without regard to gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, disabled or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We hire the most qualified candidate for the role. In the US or Canada, if you require accommodations or assistance to complete the online application process or during the recruitment process, please contact View email address on click.appcast.io and identify the type of accommodation or assistance you are requesting. Do not include any medical or health information in this email. The Reasonable Accommodations team will respond to your email promptly.

Corporate Security Responsibility

All activities involving access to Mastercard assets, information, and networks comes with an inherent risk to the organization and, therefore, it is expected that every person working for, or on behalf of, Mastercard is responsible for information security and must:

• Abide by Mastercard’s security policies and practices;

• Ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the information being accessed;

• Report any suspected information security violation or breach, and

• Complete all periodic mandatory security trainings in accordance with Mastercard’s guidelines.

In line with Mastercard’s total compensation philosophy and assuming that the job will be performed in the US, the successful candidate will be offered a competitive base salary and may be eligible for an annual bonus or commissions depending on the role. The base salary offered may vary depending on multiple factors, including but not limited to location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Mastercard benefits for full time (and certain part time) employees generally include: insurance (including medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, disability, life insurance); flexible spending account and health savings account; paid leaves (including 16 weeks of new parent leave and up to 20 days of bereavement leave); 80 hours of Paid Sick and Safe Time, 25 days of vacation time and 5 personal days, pro-rated based on date of hire; 10 annual paid U.S. observed holidays; 401k with a best-in-class company match; deferred compensation for eligible roles; fitness reimbursement or on-site fitness facilities; eligibility for tuition reimbursement; and many more. Mastercard benefits for interns generally include: 56 hours of Paid Sick and Safe Time; jury duty leave; and on-site fitness facilities in some locations.

Pay Ranges

O'Fallon, Missouri: $115,000 - $184,000 USD