[Hiring] Software Developer @THE EMPIRE LIFE INS. CO

Role Description

Empire Life is looking to hire a Software Developer to join our Back Office Development team. We are building a dedicated modernization development team to transform our core operational systems from legacy COBOL and Easytrieve mainframe logic into a modern, cloud-native architecture using Incremental Modernization Strategy patterns.

Why pursue this opportunity

• Impactful work: Get the opportunity to work on meaningful projects that have a positive impact on our customers, our company, and society as a whole.
• Play an integral role: This opportunity allows for you to grow your skills while directly contributing to the business unit you are a part of.
• The opportunity: Collaborate with cross-functional teams and work on a variety of projects that will keep you engaged and continuously learning.
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion: We are committed to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace and welcome candidates who share this commitment.

What you’ll be working on

• Technical Discovery & Code Analysis: Reading COBOL programs, Easytrieve report scripts, and JCL flows to reverse-engineer core business rules and data pipelines.
• Target Architecture & Service Development: Writing clean, scalable microservices/APIs in modern target languages (e.g., Java/Kotlin, C#, Python, or Go) and decoupling batch workflows into event streams (Kafka).
• Parity Testing & Interception: Setting up API routing gateways, feature flags, and parallel shadow testing to validate that new services match legacy output down to the penny/byte before cutting over.
• Implementation & Cleanup: Flipping live transaction switches and safely decommissioning legacy system functions and capabilities.

Qualifications

• 1+ years work experience in back office software development.
• Practical working knowledge and expertise in application modernization.
• Completion of a University degree, college diploma, technical training, and/or equivalent experience.
• Reverse engineering & legacy logic (COBOL/Easytrieve) analysis.
• Understanding of incremental modernization patterns.
• Hands-on expertise in modern target languages and frameworks (Java/Kotlin, Golang, Python, C#).
• Expertise in data layer migration from hierarchical/flat formats to relational or NoSQL stores.
• Mainframe ecosystem working knowledge (JCL, CICS, VSAM, DB2, packed-decimal).
• Experience with test driven validation, automated parity and parallel testing.
• Ability to map monolithic batch/transactional workflows to event-driven architectures.
• Domain-Driven Design (DDD) & monolith decomposition.
• Modern CI/CD pipelines.
• Risk management & defensive modernization mindset.
• GCP and/or Microsoft Azure experience for modernization would be an asset.
• Insurance or investment experience would be an asset.

Requirements

• If you are applying for a position which is open to applicants across Canada, unless otherwise indicated in the position, language proficiency in English is required for communicating with customers, advisors, or employees across Canada.

Benefits

• Competitive salaries with annual pay increases.
• Annual bonus program, which recognizes both strong company performance and individual contributions, for non-sales positions.
• Competitive uncapped commission, for sales positions.
• A comprehensive employer-funded benefits package starting from day one of employment, that includes life insurance, disability, health and dental, and a generous health account.
• Flexible work arrangements and an annual allotment of personal health days.
• Four weeks annual vacation from hire date.
• A defined contribution pension plan with generous employer matching.
• Top up programs for parental leave and compassionate leave.
• Employer-sponsored wellness and recognition programs.
• A cash employee referral program.