Mainframe Consultant - COBOL / JCL

Mainframe Consultant – COBOL / JCL

Location: McLean, Virginia / Milford, Ohio

Duration: Full Time

Job Description:

Must Have Technical/Functional Skills:

• Strong hands-on experience in COBOL (preferably Enterprise COBOL / VS COBOL II)
• Strong hands-on experience in JCL
• Mainframe environment expertise: z/OS, TSO/ISPF
• File handling knowledge: VSAM, sequential files, SORT utilities (e.g., Syncsort/DFSORT)
• Solid debugging and incident resolution skills for batch processing and abends
• Good understanding of SDLC (Waterfall/Agile) and production support processes

Preferred / Nice-to-Have Skills:

• DB2 (SQL, SPUFI/QMF, stored procedures exposure is a plus)
• Online processing exposure: CICS (preferred), IMS (plus)
• Tools: File-Aid, Abend-AID, Expeditor/IBM Debugger
• Version/Change management: Endevor, Changeman, PANVALET
• Scheduling: Control-M or CA7
• Mainframe modernization exposure (e.g., Micro Focus, migration, refactoring) is a plus
• Banking domain experience (cards, loans, payments, deposits) preferred

Key Responsibilities:

• Analyze business requirements and translate them into technical specifications and solution designs.
• Develop, enhance, and maintain COBOL programs (batch and/or online).
• Create and modify JCL jobs, procedures, and utilities to support batch processing.
• Perform unit testing, support system/integration testing, and participate in implementation activities.
• Troubleshoot and resolve batch failures/job abends, performance issues, and production incidents within SLAs.
• Work with datasets and file processing involving VSAM and sequential files.
• Interact with DBAs/Support teams for DB2 (or other databases) access, SQL tuning, and issue resolution.
• Utilize scheduling and monitoring tools such as Control-M/CA7 (as applicable).
• Ensure adherence to coding standards, documentation practices, and change management procedures.