Cognizant is hiring professionals through its Returnship Program for people who have taken a career break of at least 12 months. Cognizant says its Returnship is a 3-month paid experience for technology professionals with 2+ years of prior experience, supported by learning, projects, mentoring and potential pathways to employment.
🏢 About Cognizant
Cognizant is a technology services company and AI Builder, helping enterprises modernize technology and build enterprise-grade AI solutions. It reports 356,700 employees worldwide and $21.1 billion in 2025 revenue.
📌 Job Overview
Company: Cognizant | Program: Returnship | Experience: 3–14 years | Eligibility: 12+ months career break | Locations: Pan India | Validity: Openings close between 18 Oct and 22 Oct 2026.
💼 Open Positions From the Hiring Image
• Payments BA – SWIFT, ISO 20022, Canada Payments: 6–12 yrs | Bengaluru | 22 Sep–22 Oct
• Pharmacovigilance: 5–8 yrs | Mumbai/Pune/Kolkata | 22 Sep–22 Oct
• Mortgage Underwriting: 6–10 yrs | Chennai/Hyderabad | 22 Sep–22 Oct
• C#/.NET with WPF: 4–10 yrs | Pan India | 22 Sep–22 Oct
• Python + Selenium Developer: 4–7 yrs | Pan India | 22 Sep–22 Oct
• Power Platform: 4–11 yrs | Pan India | 22 Sep–22 Oct
• AWS Data Engineer – Python/PySpark: 3–12 yrs | Pan India | 18 Sep–18 Oct
• Big Data Developer – Hadoop/Spark/Scala/Hive: 3–12 yrs | Pan India | 18 Sep–18 Oct
• Azure Data Engineer – Databricks/Data Factory: 3–12 yrs | Pan India | 18 Sep–18 Oct
• AI/ML Data Science/GenAI/MLOps: 3–12 yrs | Pan India | 18 Sep–18 Oct
• Data Integration – Talend/Informatica IICS/Teradata/DataStage/Ab Initio: 3–12 yrs | Pan India | 18 Sep–18 Oct
• GCP Data Engineer: 3–12 yrs | Pan India | 18 Sep–18 Oct
• Snowflake + DBT: 3–12 yrs | Pan India | 18 Sep–18 Oct
• PostgreSQL + Tableau: 3–12 yrs | Pan India | 18 Sep–18 Oct
• Python + Kafka + Java/SQL: 3–12 yrs | Pan India | 18 Sep–18 Oct
• MDM – Informatica MDM/Reltio/Stibo: 3–12 yrs | Pan India | 18 Sep–18 Oct
• Collibra, IDQ, CDQ: 3–12 yrs | Pan India | 18 Sep–18 Oct
• IAM SailPoint Developer Engineer: 8–14 yrs | Pan India | 18 Sep–18 Oct
• SailPoint Developer: 6–12 yrs | Chennai/Bengaluru | 18 Sep–18 Oct
⭐ Why This Is Useful for Professionals
The program is specifically designed for career re-entry. Cognizant highlights structured learning, job shadowing, client-project exposure and a dedicated mentor, with the goal of matching participants to suitable projects. This makes it useful for professionals who want to refresh skills while bringing previous domain and delivery experience back into an active role.
🧠 Skills Required
Technical candidates should align to one primary stack: Python/PySpark, Java, C#/.NET/WPF, Selenium, Power Platform, AWS/Azure/GCP, Databricks, Data Factory, Snowflake/DBT, Kafka, SQL, Hadoop/Spark/Scala/Hive, Talend/Informatica, MDM, Tableau or SailPoint/IAM. Domain candidates should highlight SWIFT/ISO 20022, pharmacovigilance or mortgage underwriting. Communication, stakeholder management, documentation and client delivery also matter.
🎯 Expected Cognizant Interview Rounds
1) Resume/profile screening → 2) Technical or domain round → 3) Managerial/project or client discussion → 4) HR/compensation and Returnship discussion.
💰 Salary Range
There is no single official CTC band published for this multi-role Returnship campaign. Current third-party Cognizant salary data lists approximately ₹6–10 LPA for Associate, ₹12–23 LPA for Senior Associate, and ₹6–10 LPA for Software Engineer; specialized Senior Data Engineer estimates can be higher. Therefore, ₹6–20+ LPA is only an indicative planning range, not an official offer range.
📚 Preparation Tips
• Data/Cloud: revise SQL, Python, Spark, ETL, data modeling and AWS/Azure/GCP services; prepare one end-to-end pipeline explanation.
• AI/ML: revise ML fundamentals, GenAI/LLM concepts, RAG, evaluation and MLOps, plus one recent hands-on project.
• Automation: prepare Selenium, Python/C#, framework design, API testing, CI/CD and debugging examples.
• SailPoint/IAM: revise identity lifecycle, provisioning, connectors, workflows, access governance and troubleshooting.
• Business roles: refresh payments, SWIFT/ISO 20022, pharmacovigilance or mortgage workflows according to the selected opening.
• Returnship discussion: prepare a concise career-break explanation focused on recent learning and readiness.
📄 Resume Tips
Use a targeted ATS resume, not one generic resume. Match the headline and top skills to one selected role, then show measurable achievements from previous projects. Add recent certifications, hands-on projects and technology refreshers. Senior candidates should emphasize architecture, ownership, stakeholder management and mentoring. Present the career break professionally while using recent learning or project work to demonstrate that your skills are current.
📝 How to Apply
👉 Application Link: Click Here
🤝 Referral Tip
Want to improve your chances of getting noticed?
Connect with someone at Cognizant and request a referral—it can significantly enhance your visibility in the hiring process.
Cognizant’s official Returnship page asks eligible professionals to submit their profile for matching with suitable opportunities as they become available. Select the closest role, verify the closing date and apply through the official Cognizant careers channel.
🚀 Final Thoughts
The Cognizant Returnship Program 2026 brings together technology, data, AI, automation, business-domain and IAM opportunities for professionals returning after a career break. With roles spanning 3–14 years, focus on precise role matching, technology preparation, a tailored resume and project-based answers.
