What are the responsibilities and job description for the Programmer Analyst position at The Pictsweet Company?
Overview
A 4th generation family owned company established in 1945, Pictsweet is a frozen vegetable producer with agricultural roots. We are recruiting for a Programmer Analyst who supports and maintains the company’s mainframe and midrange production applications. The role is primarily focused on troubleshooting, analyzing, and modifying existing production code rather than developing new systems from scratch. The Programmer Analyst works closely with the Supervisor, Mainframe Development to ensure the stability, accuracy, and continued evolution of business-critical applications running on the IBM z/VSE mainframe and IBM iSeries (AS/400) platforms. This position also serves as a key backup to the primary mainframe developer and is essential to the long-term continuity of the company’s core business systems.
Responsibilities
- Troubleshoot, analyze, and resolve issues in existing COBOL, CICS, and RPG production programs.
- Read and interpret existing application code, data structures, and file layouts in order to implement requested modifications and enhancements.
- Modify and extend existing on-line (CICS) and batch programs to meet changing business requirements.
- Work with VSAM files, flat files, and related mainframe data structures in the z/VSE environment.
- Maintain and modify RPG applications on the IBM iSeries / AS/400 platform.
- Support EDI-related programs and data flows as needed.
- Verify program logic by preparing test data for trial runs and performing parallel testing where applicable.
- Coordinate with operations and business users when program changes are promoted into production.
- Participate in general and detailed systems design on the occasions when new development is required.
- Serve as a backup to the primary mainframe developer, building familiarity with mission-critical application areas.
- React to change productively and handle other essential tasks as assigned.
- Perform all other duties appropriate to the position as requested by the supervisor.
Core Competencies
- Diagnostic Information Gathering
- Analytical Thinking and Code Comprehension
- Communication
- Initiative
- Results Orientation
- Thoroughness
- Attention to Detail
Physical Environmental Factors:
Work in office setting using telephone, computer, and other office machines.
Qualifications
Education
- B.S. degree in Information Technology or a related field preferred.
Experience
- Five or more years of production programming experience in COBOL and CICS, with demonstrated ability to read, analyze, and modify large existing code bases.
- Working experience with RPG, with RPG experience on the IBM iSeries / AS/400 platform preferred.
- Experience in an IBM z/VSE environment is preferred.
- Experience with JCL and standard mainframe batch processing.
- Experience with EDI is a plus.
Special Skills
- Ability to work independently, interpret existing program logic, and make targeted modifications with minimal disruption to production.
- Solid working knowledge of IBM mainframe file systems and file types, including VSAM and flat file structures.