Senior Mainframe Developer – IMS Database & zOS

About the role

USAA’s mission is to empower members to achieve financial security through competitive products, exceptional service, and trusted advice. The company strives to be the #1 choice for the military community and their families, guided by core values of honesty, integrity, loyalty, and service. USAA supports active‑duty military spouses and may offer remote or hybrid flexibility consistent with policy and business needs.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, code, and test complex tactical and strategic technical solutions across many technologies, including emerging technologies, to integrate existing systems and tools, collaborating with engineers or architects within and outside the team.
• Lead code and design reviews and communicate updates to stakeholders to ensure smooth daily operations and accurate planning.
• Develop complex algorithms to solve business needs.
• Investigate and resolve complex application and system technical problems and production issues by directing end‑to‑end troubleshooting.
• Mentor and coach engineers on design, development, and maintenance of systems; review teammates’ code.
• Influence and help shape the future of the domain’s architecture and quality standards, identifying and measuring solutions across the entire system.
• Identify system performance issues, including technical debt, and optimize solutions.
• Ensure risks associated with business activities are identified, measured, monitored, and controlled in accordance with risk and compliance policies.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree; OR 4 years of relevant education and/or experience.
• 6+ years of software development experience, including at least 3 years developing and supporting applications in an IBM mainframe environment.
• 4+ years delivering technology solutions in all phases of the software development lifecycle (source control, change control, promotion), including leading code/design reviews.
• Advanced proficiency in PL/I programming, including code enhancements, debugging, performance tuning, and production support.
• Expertise in Job Control Language (JCL), including writing, modifying, troubleshooting, scheduling, and optimizing batch processes and job streams.
• Demonstrated experience with IMS z/OS performance tuning, identifying bottlenecks, optimizing transaction response times, and improving overall system throughput.
• Experience with IBM IMS Database (IMS DB).
• Experience using monitoring and observability tools (e.g., Elastic) to analyze application performance, investigate production issues, monitor system health, and support proactive performance optimization.
• Experience working in Agile/Scrum development environments, participating in daily stand‑ups, sprint planning, backlog refinement, and reviews.

Skills

• Experience with IBM MQ.
• REST API/web services on mainframe (z/OS Connect).
• Experience with mainframe schedulers (Control‑M).
• Familiarity with COBOL.
• Modernizing legacy mainframe applications or integrating mainframe systems with distributed/cloud platforms.
• Supporting or maintaining IBM DataStage jobs within a mainframe environment.
• Background in financial services, insurance, banking, or other highly regulated industries.
• Mentoring junior developers and providing technical leadership.
• US military experience through service or as a military spouse/domestic partner.

Pay

Salary range: $114,080 – $218,030. Compensation is based on experience, market data, and location. Employees may be eligible for pay incentives based on corporate and individual performance.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans.
• 401(k) and pension.
• Life insurance.
• Parental benefits and adoption assistance.
• Paid time off program with paid holidays plus 16 paid volunteer hours.
• Wellness programs.
• Career path planning and continuing education opportunities.

Schedule

The role offers a flexible work environment requiring presence in the office four days per week. Locations: San Antonio, TX or Plano, TX. The position includes an on‑call rotation for incidents and escalations one week every 5–6 weeks. Remote or hybrid flexibility may be available for active‑duty military spouses in accordance with applicable policy and business needs.