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AS400 Developer

Not Disclosed

Job Description & Details

The role is a senior‑level AS400 developer gig at a wholesale‑retail outfit. You’ll be deep‑in the iSeries stack, writing and maintaining RPGLE code that actually moves merchandise. It’s not a hobby project – the team expects you to keep the production environment humming while adding new features.

What You'll Actually Be Doing

You’ll spend most of your day in Rational Developer or SEU, extending existing RPGLE modules and writing new ones that talk to SQL tables. Expect to translate functional specs into code, run unit tests, and push changes through a controlled release pipeline. When a batch job blows up at midnight, you’ll be the one digging into MQ triggers or CL programs to get the system back online. Collaboration is constant: you’ll sit with product owners to clarify requirements, review peers’ code, and document everything for the QA crew.

The Core Tech Stack

The non‑negotiables are RPG ILE, SQLRPGLE, and embedded SQL – the company’s whole retail back‑office runs on those. You must be comfortable with physical and logical files, service programs, and binding directories because the deployment model is tightly coupled to ILE concepts. Advanced SQL is also a must: stored procedures, cursor handling, and query tuning are daily chores. They throw in MQ and XML integration for messaging, so a working knowledge of those APIs will save you a lot of firefighting.

Interview Expectations

  1. “Explain how you would refactor a monolithic RPG program that suffers from performance bottlenecks due to excessive embedded SQL calls.” – They’re looking for your ability to separate data access layers, use prepared statements, and possibly move heavy logic into stored procedures or service programs.
  2. “Walk me through the steps you’d take to troubleshoot a failing MQ trigger that’s preventing a nightly batch from completing.” – Expect you to discuss checking message queues, examining trigger definitions, reviewing error logs, and using diagnostic tools like WRKACTJOB.

Application Advice

Tailor your resume to hit the exact keywords they listed: RPG, RPG ILE, SQLRPGLE, CLP/CLLE, embedded SQL, stored procedures, MQ, XML integration, iSeries Navigator. Highlight any retail‑domain projects and quantify impact (e.g., reduced batch runtime by 20%). Put the 8+ years of AS400 experience front‑and‑center, and don’t forget to list the “nice‑to‑have” tools like X‑Analysis or ROBOT if you’ve touched them. A concise bullet that reads “Hybrid on‑site 3 days/week – Issaquah, WA” will also reassure the recruiter you’ve noted the work mode.