Green Card Senior Mainframe Developer Jobs
Senior Mainframe Developer roles qualify for EB-2 and EB-3 green card sponsorship through PERM labor certification, where your employer documents that no qualified U.S. worker is available before filing your I-140 petition. Mainframe expertise in COBOL, JCL, and z/OS is classified as a specialty occupation, making sponsorship straightforward for employers in banking, insurance, and federal contracting.
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Location
Cary, North Carolina
Alternative Location(s)
Posting Location: Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania
Posting Location: Bridgewater, New Jersey
* Posting Location: Greenville, South Carolina
Working Schedule
Full-Time
Work Arrangement
Hybrid
Relocation Assistance Available
No
Posted Date
29-Jul-2026
Job ID
19332
Description and Requirements
The Team You Will Join
When you join MetLife’s Global Technology team, you’ll be part of a forward-thinking group dedicated to shaping the future of digital solutions for customers worldwide. You’ll develop, maintain and support technology applications and delivery, leveraging AI, automation, and contemporary ways of working to enhance experiences and drive business outcomes. Your work will simplify complex processes, improve tech resiliency, and ensure high-performing, seamless solutions that power life’s most important moments. In this dynamic environment, you’ll collaborate with talented peers across teams and functions, expanding your skills in impactful ways. Ready to push boundaries and set new industry standards? Join us and help drive the future of technology forward.
The Opportunity
The Senior Full Stack Software Engineer is responsible for modernizing, reimagining, supporting, and retiring mainframe applications across the MetLife Holdings Classic Agile Release Train. The ideal candidate will possess deep mainframe development and engineering capabilities with technologies including COBOL, JCL, CICS, DB2, or similar programming languages. This role plays a key part in maintaining the stability of applications, while advancing MetLife's modernization strategy through the transformation of legacy mainframe platforms, adoption of AI-enabled engineering practices, and retirement of aging technologies. Guided by our purpose – always with you, building a more confident future – and our New Frontier strategy focused on stronger growth, attractive returns and all-weather performance, this is an exciting opportunity to help shape the future of MetLife Holdings technology and support the Annuity & Life Insurance Next Evolution migration.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the application modernization and decommissioning initiatives, including application rationalization, dependency analysis, migration activities, and retirement of legacy platforms while ensuring compliance with business, regulatory, and operational requirements.
- Create and maintain mainframe applications’ batch processes to support business functions, improve operational efficiency, and enable the reliable delivery of business capabilities.
- Oversee application quality, code reviews, automated testing, production support, and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Manage technical enhancements, ChangeMan to GitHub modernization efforts, platform currency and security activities, and technical debt reduction across assigned applications.
- Develop and maintain applications using mainframe programming languages and GitHub Copilot with human-in-the-loop processes.
- Coordinate with product owners, architects, business analysts, operations teams, and external partners to ensure successful delivery of requirements.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or equivalent professional experience.
- Strong mainframe application development experience including COBOL, JCL, CICS, DB2, or similar programming languages.
- Ability to work effectively across technical and business teams while managing competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- Robust analytical and problem-solving skills with experience diagnosing complex production issues and remediating currency and security vulnerabilities.
- Experience participating in application modernization, legacy transformation, and application decommissioning initiatives.
- Effective program management, communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- 5+ years of experience in designing, developing, testing, deploying, and supporting mainframe applications.
- Experience with AI-assisted software engineering tools, such as GitHub Copilot, Microsoft Copilot, or similar technologies.
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines, Agile development methodologies, and DevOps practices.
- Demonstrated ability to mentor junior mainframe engineers, influence technical direction, and drive engineering best practices across teams.
- 3+ years of experience supporting Retail Life and Annuity products.
Location Expectation: This is a hybrid role requiring a minimum of 3 days per week in office.
The expected salary range for this position is $105,000 - $140,000. This role may also be eligible for annual short-term incentive compensation and stock-based long-term incentives. All incentives and benefits are subject to the applicable plan terms.
Benefits We Offer
Our U.S. benefits address holistic well-being with programs for physical and mental health, financial wellness, and support for families. We offer a comprehensive health plan that includes medical/prescription drug and vision, dental insurance, and no-cost short- and long-term disability. We also provide company-paid life insurance and legal services, a retirement pension funded entirely by MetLife and 401(k) with employer matching, group discounts on voluntary insurance products including auto and home, pet, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and accident insurance, as well as Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and digital mental health programs, parental leave, paid time off, paid holidays, volunteer time off, tuition assistance and much more!
About MetLife
Recognized on Fortune magazine's list of the "World's Most Admired Companies", Fortune World’s 25 Best Workplaces™, as well as the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For®, MetLife, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is one of the world’s leading financial services companies; providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to individual and institutional customers. With operations in more than 40 markets, we hold leading positions in the United States, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
As part of our New Frontier strategy, MetLife is building an AI-enabled, people-centered future. We’re looking for people who bring curiosity, adaptability, and a growth mindset as we use AI to enhance how we serve customers, support communities, and evolve the way work gets done. At MetLife, AI is a responsible partner that supports human judgment, creativity, and continuous improvement while helping us build trust, inclusion, and long-term value.
Our purpose is simple - to help our colleagues, customers, communities, and the world at large create a more confident future. United by purpose and guided by our core values - Win Together, Do the Right Thing, Deliver Impact Over Activity, and Think Ahead - we’re inspired to transform the next century in financial services. At MetLife, it’s #AllTogetherPossible. Join us!
MetLife is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All employment decisions are made without regards to race, color, national origin, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital or domestic/civil partnership status, genetic information, citizenship status (although applicants and employees must be legally authorized to work in the United States), uniformed service member or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law (“protected characteristics”). If you need an accommodation due to a disability, please email us at accommodations@metlife.com. This information will be held in confidence and used only to determine an appropriate accommodation for the application process.
MetLife maintains a drug-free workplace.
General Information
Location
Cary, North Carolina
Alternative Location(s)
Posting Location: Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania
Posting Location: Bridgewater, New Jersey
* Posting Location: Greenville, South Carolina
Working Schedule
Full-Time
Work Arrangement
Hybrid
Relocation Assistance Available
No
Posted Date
29-Jul-2026
Job ID
19332
Description and Requirements
The Team You Will Join
When you join MetLife’s Global Technology team, you’ll be part of a forward-thinking group dedicated to shaping the future of digital solutions for customers worldwide. You’ll develop, maintain and support technology applications and delivery, leveraging AI, automation, and contemporary ways of working to enhance experiences and drive business outcomes. Your work will simplify complex processes, improve tech resiliency, and ensure high-performing, seamless solutions that power life’s most important moments. In this dynamic environment, you’ll collaborate with talented peers across teams and functions, expanding your skills in impactful ways. Ready to push boundaries and set new industry standards? Join us and help drive the future of technology forward.
The Opportunity
The Senior Full Stack Software Engineer is responsible for modernizing, reimagining, supporting, and retiring mainframe applications across the MetLife Holdings Classic Agile Release Train. The ideal candidate will possess deep mainframe development and engineering capabilities with technologies including COBOL, JCL, CICS, DB2, or similar programming languages. This role plays a key part in maintaining the stability of applications, while advancing MetLife's modernization strategy through the transformation of legacy mainframe platforms, adoption of AI-enabled engineering practices, and retirement of aging technologies. Guided by our purpose – always with you, building a more confident future – and our New Frontier strategy focused on stronger growth, attractive returns and all-weather performance, this is an exciting opportunity to help shape the future of MetLife Holdings technology and support the Annuity & Life Insurance Next Evolution migration.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the application modernization and decommissioning initiatives, including application rationalization, dependency analysis, migration activities, and retirement of legacy platforms while ensuring compliance with business, regulatory, and operational requirements.
- Create and maintain mainframe applications’ batch processes to support business functions, improve operational efficiency, and enable the reliable delivery of business capabilities.
- Oversee application quality, code reviews, automated testing, production support, and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Manage technical enhancements, ChangeMan to GitHub modernization efforts, platform currency and security activities, and technical debt reduction across assigned applications.
- Develop and maintain applications using mainframe programming languages and GitHub Copilot with human-in-the-loop processes.
- Coordinate with product owners, architects, business analysts, operations teams, and external partners to ensure successful delivery of requirements.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or equivalent professional experience.
- Strong mainframe application development experience including COBOL, JCL, CICS, DB2, or similar programming languages.
- Ability to work effectively across technical and business teams while managing competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- Robust analytical and problem-solving skills with experience diagnosing complex production issues and remediating currency and security vulnerabilities.
- Experience participating in application modernization, legacy transformation, and application decommissioning initiatives.
- Effective program management, communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- 5+ years of experience in designing, developing, testing, deploying, and supporting mainframe applications.
- Experience with AI-assisted software engineering tools, such as GitHub Copilot, Microsoft Copilot, or similar technologies.
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines, Agile development methodologies, and DevOps practices.
- Demonstrated ability to mentor junior mainframe engineers, influence technical direction, and drive engineering best practices across teams.
- 3+ years of experience supporting Retail Life and Annuity products.
Location Expectation: This is a hybrid role requiring a minimum of 3 days per week in office.
The expected salary range for this position is $105,000 - $140,000. This role may also be eligible for annual short-term incentive compensation and stock-based long-term incentives. All incentives and benefits are subject to the applicable plan terms.
Benefits We Offer
Our U.S. benefits address holistic well-being with programs for physical and mental health, financial wellness, and support for families. We offer a comprehensive health plan that includes medical/prescription drug and vision, dental insurance, and no-cost short- and long-term disability. We also provide company-paid life insurance and legal services, a retirement pension funded entirely by MetLife and 401(k) with employer matching, group discounts on voluntary insurance products including auto and home, pet, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and accident insurance, as well as Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and digital mental health programs, parental leave, paid time off, paid holidays, volunteer time off, tuition assistance and much more!
About MetLife
Recognized on Fortune magazine's list of the "World's Most Admired Companies", Fortune World’s 25 Best Workplaces™, as well as the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For®, MetLife, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is one of the world’s leading financial services companies; providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to individual and institutional customers. With operations in more than 40 markets, we hold leading positions in the United States, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
As part of our New Frontier strategy, MetLife is building an AI-enabled, people-centered future. We’re looking for people who bring curiosity, adaptability, and a growth mindset as we use AI to enhance how we serve customers, support communities, and evolve the way work gets done. At MetLife, AI is a responsible partner that supports human judgment, creativity, and continuous improvement while helping us build trust, inclusion, and long-term value.
Our purpose is simple - to help our colleagues, customers, communities, and the world at large create a more confident future. United by purpose and guided by our core values - Win Together, Do the Right Thing, Deliver Impact Over Activity, and Think Ahead - we’re inspired to transform the next century in financial services. At MetLife, it’s #AllTogetherPossible. Join us!
MetLife is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All employment decisions are made without regards to race, color, national origin, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital or domestic/civil partnership status, genetic information, citizenship status (although applicants and employees must be legally authorized to work in the United States), uniformed service member or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law (“protected characteristics”). If you need an accommodation due to a disability, please email us at accommodations@metlife.com. This information will be held in confidence and used only to determine an appropriate accommodation for the application process.
MetLife maintains a drug-free workplace.
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding Green Card Sponsorship as a Senior Mainframe Developer
Document your COBOL and z/OS credentials early
Gather transcripts, certifications, and employment records that map directly to IBM z/OS, COBOL, JCL, and CICS. PERM audits often target mainframe roles because DOL wants proof your skills match the job description, not just a general CS degree.
Target industries with active PERM filing histories
Banking, insurance, and federal government contractors file the most mainframe PERM applications. These industries run legacy systems that genuinely can't be replaced and sponsor foreign developers at EB-3 and EB-2 levels regularly.
Search verified sponsors using Migrate Mate
Filter by 'Senior Mainframe Developer' and employment-based green card sponsorship on Migrate Mate to surface employers with confirmed PERM filing histories for this specific role, so you're not guessing which companies actually sponsor.
Verify the prevailing wage tier before negotiating
Your employer's PERM application locks in a wage level using the OFLC Wage Search. Wage Level III or IV applies to most senior roles. Accepting a lower title to get hired can trap your case at a wage tier that doesn't reflect your actual experience.
Clarify whether EB-2 or EB-3 fits your credentials
EB-2 requires a master's degree or its equivalent in relevant experience. If you hold a bachelor's plus five years of mainframe experience, your employer can make the EB-2 case. EB-3 is available with a bachelor's degree and avoids that equivalency argument entirely.
Confirm the employer's timeline before accepting an offer
PERM labor certification typically takes six to twelve months before USCIS even receives the I-140. Ask the hiring team directly whether they've completed PERM filings before and whether they have in-house immigration counsel or use outside firms.
Green Card Senior Mainframe Developer: Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Senior Mainframe Developer role qualify for EB-2 or EB-3 sponsorship?
Both categories are available depending on your credentials. EB-3 applies when the position requires at least a bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, or a related field. EB-2 applies when the role requires an advanced degree, or when your employer argues that a bachelor's plus five or more years of progressive mainframe experience is equivalent to a master's. USCIS evaluates these equivalency arguments on a case-by-case basis.
How does green card sponsorship differ from H-1B sponsorship for this role?
H-1B visa is a temporary status with a three-year initial period and annual cap exposure. Green card sponsorship through PERM and I-140 is permanent and has no annual cap at the EB-3 level for most nationalities. The tradeoff is timeline: PERM labor certification alone takes six to twelve months before your I-140 is filed. For Indian and Chinese nationals, priority date backlogs add years beyond that, so starting early matters significantly.
What does the PERM process actually require from a Senior Mainframe Developer's employer?
The employer must conduct a supervised recruitment campaign, advertise the role publicly, and document that no minimally qualified U.S. worker applied. The job description must match the actual duties and the minimum requirements must reflect what the role genuinely needs. Overstating requirements to narrow the candidate pool is a common PERM audit trigger, especially for highly specific mainframe skill combinations like COBOL, VSAM, and DB2 together.
How can I find employers actively sponsoring Senior Mainframe Developer green cards?
Use Migrate Mate to search specifically for Senior Mainframe Developer positions with employment-based green card sponsorship. The platform surfaces employers with verified PERM filing histories for this role, so you can prioritize outreach to companies that have already navigated the process rather than educating a new employer about it from scratch.
Can I switch employers after my I-140 is approved but before my green card is granted?
Yes, under AC21 portability rules, you can change employers after your I-140 has been approved and your priority date has been pending for more than 180 days, provided the new role is in the same or a substantially similar occupational classification. For mainframe developers, a comparable senior developer role at a different company generally qualifies. Your priority date is preserved, which is the part of your case most worth protecting.