AI Modernization Senior Lead Software Engineer

JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase · Banking · Jersey City, NJ +1 · Consumer & Community Banking

Senior Lead Software Engineer focused on modernizing legacy mainframe systems (COBOL, JCL, DB2) into modern services using agentic AI systems. This involves building spec generation pipelines, agentic workflows for code translation, evaluation infrastructure, and operating these AI systems in production at enterprise scale.

What you'd actually do

  1. Builds and operates the spec generation pipeline — Implement artifact ingestion (COBOL source, JCL, job schedules, DB2 schemas, SME-captured knowledge), chunking strategies, and RAG pipelines that produce structured calculation and workflow specifications validated by domain experts.
  2. Develops agentic workflows for code translation and migration — Design, implement, and iterate on multi-agent systems that translate legacy logic into target-state code (Kotlin/JVM). Build orchestration layers, tool-use patterns, and guardrails that ensure output correctness for financial calculations.
  3. Builds evaluation and verification infrastructure — Create automated test harnesses that compare migrated calculation outputs against legacy results. Implement parity testing frameworks, regression suites, and confidence scoring to gate production cutover decisions.
  4. Contributes to the standard calculation runtime — Help build and extend the target platform that migrated calculations deploy into. Ensure the runtime supports deterministic, immutable, auditable execution.
  5. Partners with domain SMEs — Embed with mainframe subject-matter experts across Credit, Money Market & Mutual Funds, Statements & Tax, and IBOR to validate agent outputs, refine prompt strategies, and close knowledge gaps in specifications.

Skills

Required

  • Formal training or certification on software engineering concepts and 5+ years applied experience
  • Hands-on experience building LLM-based applications — agentic architectures, RAG pipelines, prompt engineering, and evaluation frameworks
  • Strong software engineering fundamentals: distributed systems, event-driven architectures, API design, testing practices, and cloud platforms (AWS/EKS/ECS)
  • Expert proficiency with AI-assisted development tools (Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor) as core daily workflow
  • Strong experience with Python development in production environments
  • Demonstrated ability to operate and debug complex systems — you own what you ship
  • Clear communicator who can articulate technical trade-offs to both engineers and business stakeholders
  • Demonstrated experience leading effective use of enterprise-authorized AI-assisted software development tools within the work environment (e.g., for coding, code review, test acceleration, troubleshooting) with the ability to set team expectations for validating AI outputs for correctness, performance, and security
  • Strong understanding of responsible AI use in engineering workflows, including data sensitivity considerations, secure handling of inputs/outputs, and adherence to resiliency and security expectations; experience coaching senior engineers/leads on compliant usage patterns and controls.
  • Experience in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Mathematics, or a related technical field

Nice to have

  • Experience with le

What the JD emphasized

  • agentic systems
  • agent-accelerated delivery
  • architecting multi-agent orchestration
  • debugging a prompt chain
  • deep proficiency extending and operating coding agents
  • engineering rigor to make AI outputs reliable at enterprise scale
  • shipping software that works
  • Builds and operates the spec generation pipeline
  • Develops agentic workflows for code translation and migration
  • Builds evaluation and verification infrastructure
  • Operates AI systems in production
  • Iterates rapidly and ships continuously
  • Drives adoption and governance of approved AI-assisted engineering practices
  • Hands-on experience building LLM-based applications
  • Expert proficiency with AI-assisted development tools
  • Demonstrated ability to operate and debug complex systems
  • Demonstrated experience leading effective use of enterprise-authorized AI-assisted software development tools
  • Strong understanding of responsible AI use in engineering workflows

Other signals

  • agentic systems
  • modernization
  • legacy code translation
  • AI-assisted delivery
  • enterprise scale