Role: QA Test Engineer, Mainframe Batch Testing (COBOL to .NET Migration)
Location: Oakland, CA (local Bay Area only; onsite every Wednesday, remote otherwise)
Duration: Contract through end of March, with a possible extension to end of July
Pay Rate: $55 t0 $60
Overview: The Client is migrating a legacy COBOL mainframe application to a .NET backend in the cloud. The project is in the functional equivalence testing phase, where results from the legacy mainframe are compared against the new .NET QA environment. Documentation for the legacy system is minimal, so the tester must be able to read and understand the existing jobs and figure out how they behave. The team has 8 members across Oakland, the Philippines, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Role Summary:
• This is a batch testing role, not front end testing. You will execute and validate about 310 batch jobs on the legacy mainframe, run the same jobs in the new .NET QA environment, compare the outputs, and document every discrepancy. You will work closely with the County’s mainframe SME and the offshore development teams.
• Key Responsibilities
• Read and interpret JCL to understand job flow, inputs, outputs, dependencies and stoppage points
• Run batch jobs on the mainframe and capture baseline results
• Compare legacy output against .NET QA output, including files, record counts and control totals
• Log, track and retest defects in Azure DevOps with clear steps, screenshots and logs
• Troubleshoot JCL failures such as space issues (SB37/SD37), abends and missing datasets
• Prepare test plans, test cases and results documentation
• Join daily Teams calls, Monday to Thursday, with a 3:00 PM Pacific overlap with the Philippines team
Must Have Requirements:
• 8+ years of QA and testing experience, with at least 3 years of batch testing on mainframe
• Recent hands on mainframe work, within the last 2 to 3 years (this was the main gap in both interviews)
• Strong JCL: reading it, modifying it, and debugging job failures
• VSAM, GDG datasets and IDCAMS; DASD and dataset allocation concepts
• DB2 knowledge: querying, data validation, and moving data between production and test environments
• Working knowledge of COBOL and reading COBOL program logic
• Experience with a job scheduler such as ESP, CA7 or Control M
• Experience with Azure DevOps (preferred) or Jira for test cases and defects
• Experience with legacy to modern migrations or functional equivalence testing
• Able to explain technical work clearly, live and without scripted answers
Nice to Have:
• Mainframe tools such as File-AID, Xpediter, SDSF, ISPF and TSO
• .NET and SQL Server validation
• Government or public sector project experience
• Experience working with offshore teams
