(Senior) Freelance COBOL Engineer and AI Innovator

CONTEXT:

AETHER is a key partner for intrapreneurial projects in Belgium, and we want to reinforce our support of key actors in the financial services sector, who are facing interesting challenges regarding the reliability and evolution of business-critical applications.

New projects are therefore ongoing to ensure that essential contract management services remain reliable as legislation and customer needs change.

Hence why we are looking for a senior Freelance COBOL Engineer and AI Innovator to strengthen our team of Project Partners.

TASK DESCRIPTION:

As an AETHER Project Partner embedded within the project team, your objective will be to maintain and develop a business-critical application while evaluating practical ways to use AI to improve software development and maintenance.

The mission combines development, technical analysis, production support and maintenance with contributions to application modernisation. The environment uses Micro Focus Enterprise Server, COBOL, SQL Server, and online and batch processing. You will collaborate with architects, business specialists and data experts.

Key responsibilities might include:

• Design effective, maintainable and high-performing technical solutions with functional designers.
• Take ownership of important applications, batch processes, incidents and technical improvements.
• Ensure correct deployment across environments and validate solutions through appropriate testing.
• Maintain the quality of existing technical assets and anticipate the impact of new developments.
• Identify and resolve technical implementation issues, including production and performance problems.
• Coach less experienced colleagues and share knowledge within the team.
• Contribute to modernisation initiatives and the future direction of the application landscape.
• Explore and evaluate Generative AI and Microsoft Copilot for analysis, documentation, testing, code quality and developer productivity.
• Help translate promising AI concepts into practical, secure and measurable improvements in a real business context.

PROFILE:

Education and experience:

• Bachelor degree or equivalent through relevant professional experience.
• At least 10 years of senior-level technical experience in COBOL development, SQL databases, technical analysis, testing and production support, and application modernisation.
• Experience working in a large IT organisation with stakeholders across different functions.
• Experience analysing complex business processes and translating them into reliable technical solutions.
• Proven ownership of critical applications, incidents and production processes.
• Insurance or banking experience is an advantage.

Technical and functional requirements:

• Advanced COBOL application development skills.
• Strong SQL/DB2 or SQL Server knowledge, including performance considerations.
• Technical analysis, solution design, debugging and troubleshooting skills.
• Experience with testing, deployment and production support.
• Understanding of application modernisation and integration with other technologies.
• Strong interest in Generative AI, Microsoft Copilot and Intelligent Automation.
• Ability to evaluate AI use cases for analysis, documentation, testing and code quality.
• Practical experience with Generative AI, Microsoft Copilot, GitHub Copilot or Intelligent Automation is an advantage.
• Experience with AI-assisted software development is an advantage.
• Functional analysis knowledge for IT projects.
• Knowledge of structured testing and test automation concepts.
• Knowledge of database and data model design.

Personal skills:

• Logical and methodical thinking.
• Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting skills.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Structured, proactive, pragmatic and results-oriented approach.
• Good communication skills and a coaching mindset.
• Ability to take ownership of ongoing requests and follow them through.
• Ability to plan work within agreed deadlines and priorities.
• Ability to handle occasional stressful situations.
• Curiosity about new technologies and willingness to challenge existing ways of working.

Languages and working conditions:

• Fluency in either Dutch or French, with an understanding of both languages.