Lead Software Engineer - Mainframe

Overview: Responsible at the expert level for mainframe software engineering, technical solution delivery, and technical requirements gathering. Serves as an individual-contributor technical lead for critical mainframe applications and platforms, completing work in alignment with banking technology standards and contributing to the overall stability, resiliency, modernization, and operational excellence of banking technology within the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) while also coaching others.

Primary Responsibilities

Develop and coach other team members while also working independently on mainframe applications within the boundaries of approved Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) processes, including identification and recommendation of metrics to solve business needs and minimize risks to the Bank through clean, secure, maintainable, and resilient code. Lead technical design, development, enhancement, troubleshooting, performance tuning, and support of mainframe applications across batch and online processing while ensuring SDLC governance and enterprise standards are followed. Own technical decisions and delivery quality for assigned mainframe platforms, workstreams, application domains, or technical initiatives. Review and approve the designs and proposals of pull requests, code changes, peer reviews, source control practices, deployment readiness, and change management execution. Design processes for peer review and coach others on code reviews, code quality, secure development practices, maintainability, performance, resiliency, and continuous improvement. Author organized, clean, efficient, and secure source code at the expert level in mainframe technologies while coaching team members on appropriate data structures, algorithms, and engineering approaches to solve business problems. Oversee source control management activities, including code merges into the production deployment path, GitLab practices, change management, and CI/CD pipeline management where applicable. Review testing methodology, code coverage, batch validation, regression testing, data reconciliation, performance checks, implementation verification, and automation opportunities to ensure comprehensive testing is accomplished. Drive implementation adherence with patterns and practices for performance testing, resiliency, restart/recovery, optimization, monitoring and production readiness within the assigned domain. Review and approve requirement plans on behalf of the team in alignment with delivery partners and ensure requirements, solution designs, and implementation plans are complete, accurate, feasible, scalable, secure and aligned with business and technical standards. Serve as a key partner with business, product, architecture, infrastructure, security, operations, risk, audit, and other technology groups; suggest continuous process improvement spanning organizational boundaries where technical or architectural concerns require it. Contribute technical requirements where appropriate in support of delivery, maintenance, modernization, integration, resiliency, and operational solutions within the assigned domain. Guide architecture, integration patterns, modernization efforts, engineering processes, and technical decision-making across mainframe and connected platforms. Drive mainframe modernization through API enablement, data integration, DevOps adoption, technical debt reduction, incremental refactoring, platform resiliency, and responsible use of AI-assisted engineering and automation where appropriate. Own technical health by improving resiliency, reducing defects, addressing technical debt, and guiding remediation plans for assigned applications or platforms. Understand and effectively communicate architecture, technical decisions, progress, risks, blockers, and challenges to business and technical stakeholders and teams. Translate complex mainframe constraints into business, delivery, risk, and operational impacts while helping resolve technical blockers. Contribute ideas and recommendations to application architectural design work, engineering practices, modernization opportunities, and pattern changes, and present at architecture peer group and architecture review board meetings within the assigned domain. Present team work at internal meetings with peers, architecture forums, knowledge-sharing sessions, and other stakeholder discussions as needed. Influence technical decisions across teams without direct authority through technical expertise, documentation, standards, collaboration, and clear communication. Maintain documentation supporting design decisions, operational readiness, support procedures, technical standards, production stability, and risk remediation. Understand and adhere to the Company’s risk and regulatory standards, policies, and controls in accordance with the Company’s Risk Appetite. Identify and elevate risk-related issues as needed. Ensure technical changes comply with company risk, regulatory, policy, change management, security, data protection, access control, and operational risk standards. Promote an environment that supports a culture of belonging and reflects the M&T Bank brand. Maintain M&T internal control standards, including timely implementation of internal and external audit points together with any issues raised by external regulators, as applicable. Complete other related duties as assigned.

Scope of Responsibilities

Serves as an individual-contributor technical lead accountable for technical direction, design quality, code review, modernization guidance, delivery quality, operational readiness, risk remediation, and production stability for assigned mainframe applications, platforms, workstreams, or domains. Influences engineers, architects, product, operations, security, infrastructure, risk, audit, and business partners through technical expertise, documentation, standards, and collaboration.

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities

No supervisory responsibilities.

Education and Experience Required

Associate’s degree and a minimum of 7 years’ systems analysis and/or application development work experience or Bachelor's degree and a minimum of 5 years' systems analysis and/or application development work experience. In lieu of a degree, a combined minimum of 9 year’s education and/or relevant work experience, including a minimum of 5 years’ system analysis and/or application development work experience. Expert proficiency in a minimum of 1 relevant programming language and professional proficiency in a minimum of 1 additional relevant programming language. Expert proficiency with mainframe software engineering and application development. Experience with IBM z/OS, COBOL, CICS, JCL, VSAM, DB2 for z/OS, TSO/ISPF, SDSF, and Easytrieve+. Experience with GitLab or similar tools for source control, change management, and CI/CD pipeline management. Experience with mainframe debugging and analysis tools such as File-AID, Abend-AID, Xpediter, InterTest, or equivalent. Experience with batch scheduling and enterprise integration tools such as CA7, Control-M, MQ, or equivalent. Expert analytical skills specific to software engineering and application development. Experience leading technical initiatives, project deliverables, or engineering workstreams as an individual-contributor technical lead. Experience reviewing solution designs, technical requirements, code changes, testing approaches, and implementation plans. Strong understanding of SDLC, testing, deployment, resiliency, security, change management, and production support practices.

Education and Experience Preferred

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical discipline. Experience supporting mainframe modernization through z/OS Connect, ZDIH, API enablement, event or data integration, technical debt reduction, and platform resiliency. Experience with mainframe DevOps, release readiness, automation testing, CI/CD practices, and AI-assisted engineering tools where appropriate. Experience improving production stability, defect reduction, application resiliency, and engineering productivity. Experience working in a team environment. Ability to work autonomously. Ability to multitask on multiple complex projects. Strong organizational skills. Strong time management skills. Advanced verbal and written communication skills. Experience driving project milestones and delivery dates. Proven experience leading a project, initiative, platform workstream, or technical modernization effort. Experience partnering with and presenting to multiple stakeholders within technology and business departments. Experience influencing technical decisions across teams without direct authority. Experience working within Agile delivery frameworks.

M&T Bank is committed to fair, competitive, and market-informed pay for our employees. The pay range for this position is $116,400.00 - $194,000.00 Annual (USD). The successful candidate’s particular combination of knowledge, skills, and experience will inform their specific compensation.

Location Buffalo, New York, United States of America Great companies have an enduring sense of purpose. At M&T, our purpose is a simple one: make a difference in people’s lives and uplift the communities we serve. M&T Bank Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. M&T’s affiliates offer advice, guidance, expertise and solutions across the entire financial spectrum, combining M&T Bank’s traditional banking services with the wealth management and institutional capabilities offered by Wilmington Trust. M&T Bank has a network of over 1,000 branches and 2,200 ATMs that span 12 states from Maine to Virginia and Washington, D.C. For more than 165 years, M&T has strived to take an active role in our communities and build long-lasting relationships with our customers. We are a bank for communities—combining the capabilities of a large bank with the care of a locally focused institution. As an employer of choice, we are proud to offer competitive benefits ranging from medical and retirement to forty hours of paid volunteer time, each year. Our core values – integrity, ownership, collaboration, curiosity, and candor – drive the work we do. We seek to further build upon our record of success by bringing in top talent and fresh skill sets while continuing to support the growth and development of all our team members. View M&T’s Human Capital Report to learn more.

M&T Bank is unwavering when it comes to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, age, disability, citizenship, pregnancy, veteran status, military status, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state or local laws.

M&T Bank Corporation has policies and procedures in place to promote a drug free workplace.