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Mainframe Programmer Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

The IBM System Programmer will be responsible for installing, maintaining, and troubleshooting IBM ... The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in mainframe environments, particularly with z ...

The IBM System Programmer will be responsible for installing, maintaining, and troubleshooting IBM ... The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in mainframe environments, particularly with z ...

Our client is seeking a Senior DataStage Engineer to design, develop, and maintain enterprise ETL ... Modernize legacy mainframe batch processes by translating existing COBOL/JCL logic into DataStage ...

Java Full Stack Developer Senior

Reston, VA · On-site

$54.50 - $70.50/hr

The legacy mainframe application is used for non-performing loans and will be replaced with multiple applications for specific functions. Requirements * Project requires a Senior Full Stack Developer ...

Able to do analysis and make code changes to the DataStage ETL, Mainframe and Unix jobs. Basic Requirements: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Engineering or equivalent working experience At ...

Locals Only Urgent Need ETL Datastage Developer

Mclean, VA · On-site

$51.50 - $67.50/hr

Able to do analysis and make code changes to the DataStage ETL, Mainframe and Unix jobs. Required: * Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Engineering or equivalent working experience * At least 6 ...

The UiPath RPA Developer will design, build, test, and maintain automations that reduce manual ... mainframe/terminal emulators, Microsoft 365, and REST/SOAP APIs. • Deploy, schedule, and monitor ...

Strong experience with Data Conversion, mapping rules and validation, ETL design, Programming logic is required. Teradata experience is required. Experience with Mainframes, DB2 is preferred.

Showing results 41-60

Mainframe Programmer information

See Virginia salary details

$38

$53

$66

How much do mainframe programmer jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 14, 2026, the average hourly pay for mainframe programmer in Virginia is $53.65, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $46.73 and $62.69 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a mainframe programmer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Mainframe Programmer, you need a solid understanding of COBOL, JCL, DB2, and general mainframe architecture, often supported by a degree in computer science or related experience. Familiarity with tools like IBM z/OS, TSO/ISPF, and source control systems such as Endevor or Changeman is typically required. Strong problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and effective communication set top performers apart in this role. These abilities are critical for maintaining legacy systems, ensuring data integrity, and supporting business-critical operations in large organizations.

What are some common challenges mainframe programmers face when working on legacy systems?

Mainframe Programmers often encounter challenges such as understanding complex, decades-old codebases written in languages like COBOL or Assembler, and integrating these systems with modern technologies. Documentation may be sparse or outdated, requiring strong problem-solving and analytical skills to decipher business logic. Additionally, coordinating with cross-functional teams—including business analysts, testers, and infrastructure specialists—is essential to ensure smooth system updates and migrations. Adaptability and effective communication are key to overcoming these obstacles and supporting mission-critical applications.

What is a mainframe programmer?

Mainframe Programmers are specialized software developers who design, write, test, and maintain code for mainframe computer systems. These professionals primarily work with legacy programming languages such as COBOL, JCL, and sometimes Assembler, to ensure critical business applications run smoothly and securely. They are often employed in industries like banking, insurance, and government where mainframe systems remain essential for processing large volumes of transactions. Mainframe Programmers also troubleshoot system issues, optimize performance, and may assist in system upgrades or migrations.

Is a mainframe programmer in demand?

Mainframe programmers are still in demand in industries such as finance, insurance, and government that rely on legacy systems. They typically need skills in COBOL, JCL, and mainframe environments, and demand remains steady due to the ongoing need to maintain and update existing mainframe applications.

What is the difference between Mainframe Programmer vs Mainframe Developer?

AspectMainframe ProgrammerMainframe Developer
Primary RoleWriting, testing, and maintaining mainframe codeDesigning and developing mainframe applications and systems
Skills & CertificationsCOBOL, JCL, DB2, certifications in mainframe technologiesSimilar skills, often with additional focus on system design and architecture
Work EnvironmentMainframe environments in banking, finance, governmentSame environments, with broader development responsibilities
Job FocusCode implementation and troubleshootingApplication development and system integration

While both roles work within mainframe environments and share skills like COBOL and JCL, Mainframe Programmers primarily focus on coding and maintenance, whereas Mainframe Developers are involved in designing and developing new applications and systems. The roles often overlap, but the developer role typically encompasses a broader scope in application lifecycle management.

What does a mainframe programmer do?

As a mainframe programmer, your job is to design and program applications for mainframe computers, which are powerful machines that help to run many commercial and industrial processes. In this role, you may conduct an analysis of existing software to ensure it is as error-free as possible, help test new software, and implement software in a way that makes it easy for users to access. Mainframe programmers often use coding languages like COBOL, C++, SQL, Java, and CLIST when programming software. Somewhat unusually, most companies prefer to stick with specific coding languages even when they are not necessarily the best language for the job in order to reduce complexity and the risk of errors.

What is a mainframe programmer's salary?

A mainframe programmer's salary typically ranges from $70,000 to $120,000 annually, depending on experience, location, and certifications. Senior roles or those with specialized skills in COBOL, JCL, or mainframe environments may earn higher compensation.

What are the most commonly searched types of Mainframe Programmer jobs in Virginia?

The most popular types of Mainframe Programmer jobs in Virginia are:

What job categories do people searching Mainframe Programmer jobs in Virginia look for?

The top searched job categories for Mainframe Programmer jobs in Virginia are:

Infographic showing various Mainframe Programmer job openings in Virginia as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 86% Full Time, 6% Part Time, 7% Contract, and 1% Nights. Highlights an 89% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 8% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $111,592 per year, or $53.6 per hour.

Domain Tech Lead - Infrastructure Patching Automation (Mainframe & AS/400)

Deloitte

Mclean, VA • Hybrid

Full-time

Posted 29 days ago


Deloitte rating

8.2

Company rating: 8.2 out of 10

Based on 92 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

45th of 150 rated financial services


Job description

Domain Tech Lead - Infrastructure Patching Automation (Mainframe & AS/400)


Join our AI & Engineering team by transforming technology platforms, driving innovation, and helping make a significant impact on our clients' success. You'll collaborate with talented professionals, reimagining and re-engineering operations and processes that are critical to business. Your contributions can help clients improve financial performance, accelerate new digital ventures, and fuel growth through innovation and enhanced productivity.
AI & Engineering leverages innovative engineering capabilities to build, deploy, and operate integrated/verticalized sector solutions in software, data, AI, network, and hybrid cloud infrastructure. These solutions are powered by engineering for business advantage, transforming mission-critical operations. We enable clients to stay ahead with the latest advancements by transforming engineering teams and modernizing technology and data platforms. Our delivery models are tailored to meet each client's unique requirements.

Recruiting for this role ends on 8/21/26.

Work you'll do

As a Domain Tech Lead on the AI & Engineering Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure team, you will own end-to-end technical delivery within a specific infrastructure domain on a large-scale infrastructure engineering engagement, with a focus on automating the patching lifecycle of multiple infrastructure areas. This is an engineering execution role - you are responsible for delivery outcomes within your domain, not just coordination across them.Our practitioners work collaboratively within integrated, cross-functional teams. You will provide hands-on technical design guidance to your engineering team, drive sprint-level delivery, and coordinate with adjacent infrastructure and engineering domains. You will be expected to solve architecture and integration problems that your engineers bring to you, and to surface domain-level risk before it becomes a program-level issue. Domain openings are available across: Database (Oracle, SQL, MongoDB, Redis, Postgres), Middleware, Cloud (AWS/Azure), Network, End User Compute, and Mainframe.

This role requires deep expertise in mainframe and AS/400 (IBM i) environments to lead and deliver the patch management program across complex legacy and hybrid infrastructure estates, develop automation solutions that reduce manual effort and risk, and serve as a trusted technical advisor to enterprise clients - working closely with client stakeholders, project managers, and cross-functional delivery teams to plan, schedule, and execute patch cycles while ensuring compliance, stability, and security across mission-critical platforms.

  • Own the creation and execution of a technical execution plan for your domain - maintaining delivery commitments and proactively surfacing risks
  • Provide hands-on technical design guidance to unblock infrastructure automation engineering: architecture decisions, integration patterns, implementation approaches
  • Lead detailed design and drive execution of infrastructure test harnesses, infrastructure automation engineering, and deployment capabilities within your domain
  • Lead technical decisions within your domain, ensuring solutions are standardized and production-scalable
  • Drive PI planning, backlog prioritization, and sprint-level adjustments with engineering throughput as the primary success metric
  • Coordinate with the Testing Platform team on infrastructure onboarding, test suite migration, and CI/CD pipeline integration
  • Manage cross-domain dependencies and represent your domain's delivery status to program leadership and client stakeholders
  • Develop junior team members through direct coaching, design reviews, and structured feedback

Patch Delivery - Mainframe & AS/400 Infrastructure

  • Design, plan, and execute end-to-end patch delivery program for IBM z/OS mainframe and IBM i (AS/400) environments
  • Manage the patch lifecycle end to end: identification, testing, scheduling, application, and post-implementation validation
  • Understand patch windows across development, QA, and production environments
  • Maintain patch compliance dashboards and KPIs

Automation Engineering - Mainframe Environments

  • Coordinate automation frameworks to streamline patch identification, scheduling, and deployment on z/OS and IBM i systems
  • Design automation pipelines with enterprise tooling (e.g., IBM Tivoli, CA7, TWS/OPC, ServiceNow, SDSF) to reduce manual touchpoints
  • Design automated compliance checks, health monitoring, and alert frameworks for patch-related activities
  • Coordinate with DevOps teams to incorporate mainframe automation into CI/CD pipelines where applicable

Client-Facing Consulting

  • Serve as a primary technical point of contact for client stakeholders across mainframe leadership, infrastructure, and security teams
  • Lead requirements-gathering workshops and translate business objectives into infrastructure delivery roadmaps
  • Manage client expectations and proactively communicate risks, dependencies, and change management considerations

A successful candidate would possess these skills:

  • Ability to work independently and collaborate as part of a team
  • Effective written and verbal communication skills
  • Meticulous attention to detail and quality of work product
  • Ability to build and sustain professional relationships
  • Ability to lead projects or workstreams
  • Ability to manage and prioritize multiple tasks in a fast-paced and dynamic environment
  • Strong interpersonal skills and professional demeanor
  • Ability to meet deadlines
  • Ability to mentor and provide clear guidance to others

The team

AI & Engineering helps organizations transform technology platforms, modernize critical operations, and drive innovation at scale. Professionals across the practice work with clients to improve performance, launch new digital capabilities, and increase productivity through engineering-led solutions.

Qualifications

Required

  • 7+ years of relevant consulting or industry experience, with proven ability to engage senior technical stakeholders
  • Experience managing or contributing to moderate-sized engagements (4-8 team members)
  • Deep domain expertise in at least one of the following: relational/NoSQL databases, middleware, cloud platforms (AWS/Azure), network infrastructure, end user compute, or mainframe (IBM z/OS)
  • Proven track record delivering automation engineering or test infrastructure at scale
  • Experience leading small-to-mid-size engineering teams in a technical capacity
  • Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and test automation frameworks; ability to review and guide automation code
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present domain status and risk clearly to non-technical audiences
  • Ability to travel up to 50%
  • IBM z/OS systems programming and patching (SMP/E, PTF management)
  • IBM Db2 for z/OS and IBM MQ Server administration
  • IBM i (AS/400) 7.4/7.5 administration and patching
  • CICS and IMS transaction server configuration
  • Experience developing automated test and validation procedures in mainframe environments
  • Ability to travel 50%, on average, based on the work you do and the clients and industries/sectors you serve
  • Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship, now or at any time in the future

Preferred

  • Domain-specific certifications relevant to your target domain (e.g., Oracle DBA, AWS Solutions Architect, CCNP, IBM Mainframe)
  • Experience with vulnerability management tooling, CWPP platforms (e.g., Wiz), or ITSM-integrated patching workflows
  • Prior experience in financial services, healthcare, or other highly regulated industries
  • Familiarity with orchestration tooling (e.g., ServiceNow, Tines, Remedy, or comparable platforms)
  • Prior consulting or client-facing delivery experience preferred
  • Familiarity with Agile/SAFe delivery methodology

The wage range for this role takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. The disclosed range estimate has not been adjusted for the applicable geographic differential associated with the location at which the position may be filled. At Deloitte, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is $134,000 to $265,000.

You may also be eligible to participate in a discretionary annual incentive program, subject to the rules governing the program, whereby an award, if any, depends on various factors, including, without limitation, individual and organizational performance

Qualifications:

Domain Tech Lead - Infrastructure Patching Automation (Mainframe & AS/400)


Join our AI & Engineering team by transforming technology platforms, driving innovation, and helping make a significant impact on our clients' success. You'll collaborate with talented professionals, reimagining and re-engineering operations and processes that are critical to business. Your contributions can help clients improve financial performance, accelerate new digital ventures, and fuel growth through innovation and enhanced productivity.
AI & Engineering leverages innovative engineering capabilities to build, deploy, and operate integrated/verticalized sector solutions in software, data, AI, network, and hybrid cloud infrastructure. These solutions are powered by engineering for business advantage, transforming mission-critical operations. We enable clients to stay ahead with the latest advancements by transforming engineering teams and modernizing technology and data platforms. Our delivery models are tailored to meet each client's unique requirements.

Recruiting for this role ends on 8/21/26.

Work you'll do

As a Domain Tech Lead on the AI & Engineering Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure team, you will own end-to-end technical delivery within a specific infrastructure domain on a large-scale infrastructure engineering engagement, with a focus on automating the patching lifecycle of multiple infrastructure areas. This is an engineering execution role - you are responsible for delivery outcomes within your domain, not just coordination across them.Our practitioners work collaboratively within integrated, cross-functional teams. You will provide hands-on technical design guidance to your engineering team, drive sprint-level delivery, and coordinate with adjacent infrastructure and engineering domains. You will be expected to solve architecture and integration problems that your engineers bring to you, and to surface domain-level risk before it becomes a program-level issue. Domain openings are available across: Database (Oracle, SQL, MongoDB, Redis, Postgres), Middleware, Cloud (AWS/Azure), Network, End User Compute, and Mainframe.

This role requires deep expertise in mainframe and AS/400 (IBM i) environments to lead and deliver the patch management program across complex legacy and hybrid infrastructure estates, develop automation solutions that reduce manual effort and risk, and serve as a trusted technical advisor to enterprise clients - working closely with client stakeholders, project managers, and cross-functional delivery teams to plan, schedule, and execute patch cycles while ensuring compliance, stability, and security across mission-critical platforms.

  • Own the creation and execution of a technical execution plan for your domain - maintaining delivery commitments and proactively surfacing risks
  • Provide hands-on technical design guidance to unblock infrastructure automation engineering: architecture decisions, integration patterns, implementation approaches
  • Lead detailed design and drive execution of infrastructure test harnesses, infrastructure automation engineering, and deployment capabilities within your domain
  • Lead technical decisions within your domain, ensuring solutions are standardized and production-scalable
  • Drive PI planning, backlog prioritization, and sprint-level adjustments with engineering throughput as the primary success metric
  • Coordinate with the Testing Platform team on infrastructure onboarding, test suite migration, and CI/CD pipeline integration
  • Manage cross-domain dependencies and represent your domain's delivery status to program leadership and client stakeholders
  • Develop junior team members through direct coaching, design reviews, and structured feedback

Patch Delivery - Mainframe & AS/400 Infrastructure

  • Design, plan, and execute end-to-end patch delivery program for IBM z/OS mainframe and IBM i (AS/400) environments
  • Manage the patch lifecycle end to end: identification, testing, scheduling, application, and post-implementation validation
  • Understand patch windows across development, QA, and production environments
  • Maintain patch compliance dashboards and KPIs

Automation Engineering - Mainframe Environments

  • Coordinate automation frameworks to streamline patch identification, scheduling, and deployment on z/OS and IBM i systems
  • Design automation pipelines with enterprise tooling (e.g., IBM Tivoli, CA7, TWS/OPC, ServiceNow, SDSF) to reduce manual touchpoints
  • Design automated compliance checks, health monitoring, and alert frameworks for patch-related activities
  • Coordinate with DevOps teams to incorporate mainframe automation into CI/CD pipelines where applicable

Client-Facing Consulting

  • Serve as a primary technical point of contact for client stakeholders across mainframe leadership, infrastructure, and security teams
  • Lead requirements-gathering workshops and translate business objectives into infrastructure delivery roadmaps
  • Manage client expectations and proactively communicate risks, dependencies, and change management considerations

A successful candidate would possess these skills:

    ...

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