{"id":2558298,"url":"https://alion.io/job/cognizant-lead-developer-mainframe","title":"Lead Developer – Mainframe","company":{"id":85,"name":"Cognizant","domain":"cognizant.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/cognizant","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"services","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Cognizant Careers","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":84,"open_postings":100,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.84,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":19,"computed_at":"2026-10-14T06:34:16Z"}},"role":"Enterprise Apps","role_family":"Enterprise Apps","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Dallas, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":65447,"max":117000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":117000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":8,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"COBOL","optional":false},{"name":"Db2","optional":false},{"name":"JCL","optional":false},{"name":"VSAM","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-14T11:10:47Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-14","last_verified_at":"2026-10-15T03:21:09Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":0,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":0},"description":"We are seeking a highly skilled Lead Developer - Mainframe to design, develop, and optimize enterprise-scale mainframe applications supporting critical Cards and Payments platforms. The ideal candidate will possess strong expertise in COBOL, DB2, VSAM, and JCL, with a proven track record of delivering high-performance, resilient financial systems. This role will be responsible for leading the development lifecycle, enhancing transaction processing capabilities, ensuring system stability, and driving continuous improvements within a hybrid work environment.\nIn this role, you will:\n· Lead the design, development, and enhancement of mainframe applications using COBOL, DB2, VSAM, and JCL for large-scale financial transaction processing systems.\n· Analyze business requirements and translate them into scalable technical solutions that improve transaction accuracy, system performance, and operational efficiency.\n· Design and optimize batch and online processing components supporting high-volume Cards and Payments transactions.\n· Review and enhance existing application architecture, COBOL programs, DB2 queries, and VSAM file structures to improve maintainability and performance.\n· Develop and maintain efficient JCL processes, including job scheduling, recovery mechanisms, error handling, and performance optimization.\nWork model:\nWe believe hybrid work is the way forward as we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role’s business requirements, this is a hybrid position requiring 3 days a week in a client or Cognizant office in Dallas, TX. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance though our various wellbeing programs.\nThe working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. These may change based on the project you are engaged in, as well as evolving business and client requirements. We will always be transparent about role expectations.\nWhat you need to have to be considered\n· 8+ years of hands-on experience in Mainframe application development within large-scale financial or transaction processing environments.\n· Strong expertise in COBOL, DB2, VSAM, and JCL, including performance tuning, batch processing, and database optimization.\n· Proven experience supporting Cards and Payments systems, including transaction processing, authorization, clearing, settlement, and dispute management.\n· Strong troubleshooting, debugging, and root-cause analysis skills with the ability to provide sustainable solutions for production issues.\nSalary and Other Compensation:\nThe annual salary for this position is between $ 65447 to $ 117000 depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate. This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.\nBenefits: Cognizant offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:\nMedical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance\n\nPaid holidays plus Paid Time Off\n\n401(k) plan and contributions\n\nLong-term/Short-term Disability\n\nPaid Parental Leave\n\nEmployee Stock Purchase Plan\n\nDisclaimer: The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.","description_format":"text","description_chars":3409,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":8,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Hybrid work","Life insurance","Parental leave"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["IT Consulting & Digital Transformation","IT Outsourcing & Dedicated Teams","Engineering Services","Cloud Consulting & Migration"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-14T19:51:49Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":0,"expected_fill_days":17,"reasons":["conf:1","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-15T04:32:22Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":117000,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/cognizant-lead-developer-mainframe","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/cognizant-lead-developer-mainframe.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-15T04:32:22Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":6587,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-16T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":85},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=85"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fcognizant-lead-developer-mainframe"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fcognizant-lead-developer-mainframe"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fcognizant-lead-developer-mainframe"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/cognizant-lead-developer-mainframe\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fcognizant-lead-developer-mainframe"}]}