How Nindar Helps Banks Overcome the Integration Talent Gap in Core Banking Migrations

Core banking migrations require more than developers who understand modern software.

Banks may need integration engineers who can connect existing banking systems with new applications, APIs, payment platforms and data services. These engineers should understand how information moves between systems and how to respond when an integration slows down, sends incorrect data or fails.

Successful banking-system modernisation may involve several technical roles. This article focuses specifically on how Nindar can help banks identify and assess integration engineers with relevant experience.

Why Are Core Banking Integration Engineers Difficult to Assess?

An integration engineer’s CV may list APIs, cloud platforms, middleware and financial systems. However, these keywords do not reveal how deeply the candidate understands them.

One candidate may have created a simple connection between two applications. Another may have been responsible for integrations carrying customer, account or transaction data across several business-critical systems.

Those experiences are not necessarily equivalent.

IBM explains that API integration connects applications, systems and workflows so they can exchange data and services. During modernisation, this can allow organisations to continue using important legacy systems while introducing newer digital services.

For a bank, assessing an integration engineer therefore involves looking beyond the technologies listed on a CV. The employer needs evidence of what the candidate built, which responsibilities they owned and how their work performed in a live environment.

Nindar Starts With the Bank’s Actual Integration Requirements

Before beginning a search, Nindar can work with the employer to clarify what the engineer will be expected to connect, support and manage.

The hiring brief may need to establish:

• Which core banking platform or legacy applications are involved
• Which modern applications must connect to them
• Whether integrations use APIs, messaging systems, scheduled data transfers or several methods
• What types of customer, account or transaction data will move between systems
• Which security and access requirements apply
• What testing the engineer will support
• How failures, duplicate transactions and delayed messages are handled
• Whether the role involves building new integrations, maintaining existing ones or both

This can help prevent the search from becoming a broad request for a “banking developer” or “API engineer.”

Nindar’s role is to translate the employer’s stated requirements into a focused candidate profile and recruitment plan. Migration design, technical delivery and final hiring decisions remain the responsibility of the bank and its appointed technical advisers.

What Evidence Should Banks Look for in Integration Candidates?

The most useful evidence relates to work the candidate has personally completed.

Nindar’s screening process can be aligned with the bank’s requirements so that candidates are asked consistent and role-relevant questions before being introduced to the employer.

1. Experience Connecting Legacy and Modern Systems

Candidates should be able to describe the systems they connected and why the integration was required.

Relevant questions may include:

• What was the legacy system?
• Which modern service or application needed access to it?
• What information moved between the systems?
• Which part of the integration did the candidate personally own?
• What restrictions existed because the older system needed to remain operational?
• How did the team manage dependencies that were not clearly documented?

Strong answers should explain the candidate’s contribution clearly. A general statement about participating in a migration may not provide enough evidence of individual responsibility.

2. Practical API Experience

API knowledge should be assessed through practical examples rather than technology names alone.

Candidates may be asked to explain:

• How an API request was authenticated and authorised
• How information was validated before entering another system
• How API versions were managed
• How errors and timeouts were handled
• How usage and performance were monitored
• How sensitive information was protected
• What happened when a connected service became unavailable

IBM’s information on z/OS Connect illustrates how APIs can make existing mainframe services and data available to modern applications.

An engineer working in this environment may need to understand the older platform, the modern application and the controls operating between them.

3. Understanding of Banking Data Flows

Integration engineers working on banking systems may need to understand more than how to send information from one endpoint to another.

They should be able to explain:

• Where the information originates
• Which systems receive, process or change it
• How the systems confirm that processing has succeeded
• How incomplete or duplicated records are identified
• How failed transactions are reviewed
• How information is reconciled across connected systems

Candidates do not necessarily need experience with every platform used by the employer. However, they should be able to demonstrate experience with comparable data flows, responsibilities and operational risks.

4. Testing and Migration Readiness

Integration testing becomes particularly important when legacy and modern systems must continue operating together during a transition.

Microsoft recommends testing areas such as functional behaviour, throughput, recovery, security and coexistence when using an incremental approach to mainframe modernisation.

Candidates may be asked how they have supported:

• Unit and integration testing
• End-to-end transaction testing
• Performance and volume testing
• Security testing
• Data reconciliation
• Failure and recovery testing
• User acceptance testing
• Trial migrations or cutover rehearsals

The objective is not simply to ask whether a candidate has “done testing.” Employers should understand what was tested, which problems were discovered and what the candidate did in response.

5. Incident Handling and Production Support

Some engineers may have experience building integrations but limited responsibility after deployment.

Depending on the position, a bank may also require someone who can investigate live problems and help coordinate an appropriate response.

Relevant experience may include:

• Monitoring integration performance
• Reading logs and tracing failed transactions
• Identifying the source of incorrect data
• Managing retries without creating duplicate activity
• Escalating incidents to the appropriate teams
• Communicating with operations and business stakeholders
• Supporting rollback or recovery procedures
• Documenting the cause of an incident and the corrective action

A useful interview question is:

Tell us about an integration failure you handled in production. What happened, what did you personally own and how did the team restore the service?

This encourages the candidate to explain their responsibilities rather than giving a theoretical answer.

How Nindar Maps Relevant Talent Markets

A narrowly defined integration role may be difficult to fill through public job advertisements alone.

Through Talent Mapping and Market Intelligence, Nindar can help an employer examine:

• Where relevant integration talent may be located
• Which companies employ professionals with comparable experience
• Common job titles across different markets
• Available experience and seniority levels
• Regional compensation expectations
• Whether the proposed combination of requirements appears realistic

Nindar sources specialist talent through its cross-border network across China, Vietnam and Europe for employers in markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE and the United States.

Talent mapping does not guarantee that every identified professional will be available or interested in the position. It can give the bank a more informed view of the market before the wider search begins.

How Nindar Can Screen Integration Engineers

Through Nindar Talent Recruitment, the screening process can begin with the requirements agreed with the employer.

Depending on the position, screening may consider:

• Experience with comparable legacy and modern systems
• Individual responsibility on previous migration projects
• API and integration knowledge
• Understanding of data movement and reconciliation
• Testing and production-support experience
• Communication with technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Structured interview performance
• Skills-assessment results
• Professional references
• Alignment with the role and working arrangement

According to Nindar’s published recruitment process, candidate screening may include skills assessments, reference checks and structured interviews before shortlisted professionals are introduced to the employer.

The bank retains responsibility for its own technical evaluation and final hiring decision.

How Can Candidates Demonstrate Their Experience?

A structured assessment should reflect the actual position without exposing confidential banking information or requiring candidates to complete excessive unpaid work.

Depending on the role, an employer may use several assessment methods.

A System Walkthrough

The candidate explains an integration they previously worked on, including the connected systems, data flow, risks and personal responsibilities.

The interviewer can ask follow-up questions to distinguish direct experience from general knowledge.

A Simplified Integration Scenario

The candidate reviews a fictional situation involving a legacy banking system, a modern customer application and an API layer.

They may be asked to explain how they would approach:

• Data validation
• Authentication and authorisation
• Error handling
• Monitoring
• Transaction retries
• Data reconciliation
• System recovery

The scenario should reflect the responsibilities of the role without reproducing the bank’s confidential systems.

A Technical Discussion

The interviewers can ask the candidate to compare different integration approaches and explain the trade-offs involved.

The goal is not always to identify one perfect answer. It is to understand how the candidate evaluates risk, reliability, security and operational requirements.

An Incident Exercise

The candidate receives a scenario involving delayed, failed or duplicated transactions and explains how they would investigate the issue.

This may reveal how the candidate:

• Prioritises the incident
• Collects relevant information
• Identifies affected systems
• Communicates with other teams
• Reduces the chance of further errors
• Supports recovery and follow-up work

A Live Follow-Up on Submitted Work

If a candidate completes a technical assessment, the hiring team should discuss the solution with them during a live interview.

This can provide additional evidence of the candidate’s understanding and allow them to explain the decisions behind their work.

Assessments should remain proportionate to the position. The purpose is to collect relevant evidence, not to create an unnecessarily long interview process.

How Nindar Can Help Reduce Irrelevant Applications

Internal banking technology leaders can reduce the time spent interviewing candidates whose experience does not match the migration project.

Nindar can support this by:

1. Defining the essential requirements before sourcing begins
2. Mapping markets that may contain suitable professionals
3. Conducting structured initial screening
4. Checking claimed responsibilities against practical examples
5. Using role-relevant assessments where appropriate
6. Completing agreed reference checks
7. Presenting a more focused shortlist for the bank’s interviews

This does not remove the need for the bank’s technical and operational leaders to participate in the hiring process. It can help reserve their interview time for candidates who have already provided relevant evidence.

Which Nindar Service May Fit the Hiring Need?

The appropriate recruitment model depends on the number and seniority of the positions involved.

• Talent Recruitment may suit a bank hiring one or several specialist integration engineers.
• Executive Search may be appropriate when the organisation needs a senior technology, transformation or programme leader.
• Talent Mapping and Market Intelligence can help the bank examine talent availability, locations and compensation before opening the role.
• Recruitment Process Outsourcing may support a larger migration programme requiring continuing recruitment capacity across several positions.

The recruitment service should match the actual hiring challenge. A bank seeking one integration specialist may not require the same support as an organisation building a broader migration team.

Find Integration Engineers With Relevant Evidence

Core banking integration positions should not be assessed through keyword matching alone.

Banks need evidence that candidates can connect systems, protect data flows, test integrations and respond appropriately when problems occur. The assessment process should focus on these responsibilities from the beginning.

Nindar Consulting can support banks and financial-services companies in defining specialist hiring requirements, mapping international talent markets and assessing candidates before final interviews.

Planning a core banking migration? Contact Nindar to discuss the integration experience your team requires.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Does a Core Banking Integration Engineer Do?

A core banking integration engineer helps connect core or legacy banking systems with newer applications, APIs, payment platforms and data services. Their responsibilities may include data mapping, API development, testing, monitoring and production support.

How Should Banks Assess Integration Engineers?

Banks should ask for evidence from comparable projects. Assessment methods may include structured interviews, system-design discussions, simplified integration scenarios, incident exercises, technical assessments and professional references.

Is API Experience Enough for a Core Banking Migration Role?

Not necessarily. Depending on the position, the engineer may also need experience with legacy systems, sensitive data, system dependencies, testing, monitoring, recovery processes and financial-services environments.

How Can Talent Mapping Support a Specialist Banking Search?

Talent mapping can help an employer understand where relevant professionals may be located, which companies have comparable teams, what job titles are commonly used and whether the proposed requirements appear realistic.

Can Nindar Manage the Banking Migration Itself?

Nindar is a specialist recruitment and talent partner. It helps employers define roles, understand talent markets, source suitable professionals and conduct structured screening. The bank and its appointed technical advisers remain responsible for migration planning and delivery.

This article provides general hiring and business information, not technical, legal, financial or regulatory advice. Requirements differ according to the organisation, systems, activities and jurisdictions involved. Seek qualified professional advice where necessary.