Senior Software Mainframe Engineer (Production Support) in Manchester

Full time: 35 hours Out Of Hours / StandBy Hybrid/North West

Want to change the world? Choose a career that makes a difference. At The Co-operative Bank we are proud to be different. We are proud of our values and ethics, and our unique, customer‑led Ethical Policy that shapes everything we do. Born out of the co‑operative movement over 150 years ago, you could say that doing the right thing has always been our thing. We do not just help people with their money, but help people fight for justice and the causes they care about. We put people at the heart of every decision we make and there has never been a more important time for our Bank to stand up for the causes that matter most to our customers, colleagues and partner organisations. Join us and help us continue to make progress in environmental and societal change, all with the UK’s original ethical bank.

We promote a hybrid working environment, which means you will work at our offices in the North West once a week and then remotely from home. To enable you to work from home, you will need have a suitable office set up which includes a desk and a chair in a location which is free from the interruptions of day-to-day life.

As a permanent member of the Mainframe Production Support Team, you will be working at the heart of our core banking platform. You will be supporting applications that underpin our Retail and SME customer product suite, as well as functionality which is fundamental to the running of the Bank. In this role, you will be responsible for providing day‑to‑day support and development to our Command‑and‑Control services, with a specific focus on the mainframe element of the solution. The successful candidate will play a critical role in ensuring the smooth functioning of mission‑critical applications in a 24x7 environment and contribute to software enhancements as necessary.

What will this role involve?

• Develop a good technical understanding of applications running on the Mainframe, in order to provide subject matter support as well as guidance for technical queries and questions from the business regarding process and data flow.
• Problem management and incident resolution (providing front‑line technical support of the Bank’s Mainframe hub).
• Offer comprehensive support to end users, promptly identifying and resolving issues related to interfaces between various system components.
• Utilize your strong mainframe skills, particularly in COBOL/CICS development, to effectively troubleshoot, maintain, and enhance the existing applications.
• Experience performing design, build & test activity utilising COBOL/CICS on a Mainframe solutions environment would be highly favoured.
• Maintaining service stability – responding to issues related to incident/problem management, release deployment and Operational readiness on the Bank’s z/OS Mainframe platform.
• Service Delivery: Apply your technical expertise within a service delivery environment, balancing technical solutions with operational effectiveness to meet client needs and maintain the stability of supported systems.
• A good understanding of ITIL framework is advantageous.
• Repair of known and repeated incidents and root cause analysis of relevant risk events.
• Provide out‑of‑hours incident support on a rota basis (e.g. Production batch support).
• Good communicator, able to effectively articulate ideas in words as well as write clearly & concisely (transforming business concepts into technical specifications).
• Identify and justify opportunities for reducing the number of incidents raised and associated cost of change, helping lead the Bank toward efficient change delivery.
• On‑call support: Participate in an out‑of‑hours on‑call rota to ensure 24x7 availability for application support.
• Mentor and coach junior team members as well as participate in activity which helps transfer knowledge across team members to increase technical skills within the Mainframe CoE.

What skills do we need?

• Evidence of experience in a previous role as an Application/Production support Analyst in a z/OS Mainframe environment.
• Excellent problem solving and workload prioritisation process.
• Background in IBM Mainframe development (COBOL/CICS), ideally within Banking or Financial Services environment.
• Technical competencies sought: z/OS, Enterprise COBOL, CICS, VSAM File Manipulation, JCL, TSO, ISPF, SDSF, FILE‑Manager, Fault Analyzer, Endevor (Change Management), SQL, Datacom, Assembler.
• Experience and capability in batch job abend triage, systems analysis and problem determination.
• Experience leading others and working with third parties to determine root cause analysis of risk events and able to perform corrective action for repeat incidents and known issues which can be repaired programmatically or via JCL changes.
• Understanding of Mainframe integration with internal & external systems as well as the ability to understand technical code and processes.
• Knowledge of z/OS Connect & RESTful API integration would be an advantage.
• Experience in mentoring and instructing individuals on development and delivery disciplines and/or support and incident resolution would also be an advantage.
• A self‑starter who can deliver high quality work and adapt to new challenges, either on their own and as part of a wider team.

What You Can Expect from Us:

• Flexible and home working options.
• 27 days holiday rising to 30 with service, plus opportunity to buy and sell 5 extra days.
• Competitive pension with up to 10% employer contribution.
• Income protection / life assurance.
• Commitment from employers on continued learning & development.
• Wellbeing support ‘Help@Hand’ offers mental health support, physiotherapy, GP’s for both you and your family.
• 2 paid days for volunteering per year.
• ‘MyReward’ corporate discount for over 800 retailers and Cycle to Work Scheme.
• Family friendly policies and supportive working environment.
• Colleague network groups committed to inclusion and diversity within our Bank.

We can only consider candidates with the right to work in the UK at this time. Our Bank is passionate and committed to continuing to create a diverse workforce and an inclusive environment where all colleagues can fulfil their potential.

If you require more information or this document in a different format, please contact careers@co-operativebank.co.uk

As a reputable employer regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, all offers of employment for this role are subject to a series of background checks, including criminal (DBS) and financial checks.