Senior Mainframe Systems Programmer

Senior Mainframe Systems Programmer

The Sr. Mainframe Systems programmer is responsible for the overall engineering, operations, and planning of the mainframe, IBM z/OS operating system software and all other IBM and third-party software. This is not an application development role, it is a deep technical infrastructure position focused on the performance, stability, and configuration of the mainframe environment. The individual will be responsible for providing technical expertise and guidance to the applications support team, the scheduling team, and to data center operations. This individual will work closely with IT leadership to develop long-term strategies to optimize the effective use of the mainframe platform. As the primary technical mainframe specialist, the individual will also be responsible for mainframe storage, tape library management and disaster recovery to ensure that all business-critical applications can be recovered in the event of data loss or system outages. The individual will also be responsible for providing senior technical expertise and direction to third-party consultants including application developers and technical resources. The individual in this role will help to plan and oversee mainframe technical project execution, server engineering skills, and technical resource deployment to ensure quality outcomes.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• Function as the subject matter expert for the mainframe platform to provide technical expertise and support to infrastructure, applications and third-party teams.
• Lead the planning, installation, configuration, customization, and testing of IBM z/OS and all third-party mainframe software packages such as TopSecret, CA-1, CA-Disk, BMC AMI Storage, Endevor, MIM, VPS, and various associated products.
• Perform CICS administration.
• JobTrac application administration.
• Drive capacity planning and resource optimization for the mainframe, storage and tape management systems.
• Ability to evaluate specifications and features of new products, performing cost comparisons, feasibility and cost benefit analysis, performance, compatibility and testing to make recommendations.
• Mentor less experienced Mainframe System Administrators including assigning work, reviewing work for adherence to standards, and providing technical guidance.
• Assist with the overall disaster recovery planning and annual testing for the mainframe and storage replication services.
• Identify and plan for the use of new technologies and capabilities including Linux and cloud-ready capabilities to improve optimized use of the mainframe platform.
• Perform performance data collection, analysis, and the tuning of the z/OS operating system and associated applications.
• Develop standards and procedures that support current and future operational needs with a focus on continuous improvement and automation on the mainframe environment.
• Work closely with the corporate IT leadership to develop and implement new technology and solutions.
• Assist with the planning and delivery of all major software upgrades, system maintenance activities, technical patching and hardware refresh initiatives for the mainframe environment.
• Manage and drive IT service delivery and management disciplines with the mainframe and data center operations teams including incident, change and problem management.
• Review technical requirements and solutions to ensure that mainframe security requirements are addressed and are in line with corporate standards.
• Provide engineering and support of the enterprise scheduling packages including the training and development of process documentation for the scheduling and data center operations teams.
• Assist the client security team with the provision of system and application access to mainframe hosted applications.
• Work closely with manufacturing and distribution locations to install, configure and support printer hardware and software administration.

Experience Required:

Required Length & Type of Experience:

• 10+ years of technical experience in engineering and supporting a large, complex mainframe and open system environment.
• 5+ years of providing technical leadership and engineering assistance to experienced and junior infrastructure engineers and administrators.
• Hands on, proven experience installing IBM mainframe hardware, operating systems and major third-party software vendors including CA, BMC, LRS and Information Builders.
• Experience in designing, implementing and operating enterprise-wide mainframe and server infrastructure in a highly virtualized and dynamic environment.
• Experience planning for and executing large, complex projects including major hardware architecture changes, hardware refreshes, major software version upgrades and global consolidations across multiple sites.
• Experience delivering and supporting services that are used across large organizations with international, 24 x 7 support needs.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Expert-level knowledge of IBM z/OS operating system administration, performance tuning, installation, upgrade and patching.
• Strong knowledge and technical skills in IBM mainframe hardware including hardware installs and upgrades, firmware and module patching and lifecycle planning.
• Strong knowledge and understanding of IBM mainframe storage and tape management systems including storage replication technology.
• Deep knowledge in CICS administration.
• Strong knowledge and understanding of mainframe security, CICS and workload management tools and methodologies.
• Strong knowledge of JobTrac administration.
• Knowledge of database concepts in Mainframe, particularly in IDMS database administration.
• Ability to plan for and execute third-party software patching and upgrades on the mainframe to resolve technical issues and maintain supported versions of all installed software.
• Ability to provide strong and effective technical leadership to infrastructure and application resources to drive new development efforts.
• Strong knowledge of ITIL service management and disciplines to drive continuous improvement of service delivery.
• Ability to learn new technologies and apply skills to drive adoption of new capabilities and improve overall usage of the mainframe platform.
• Ability to demonstrate and deliver excellent troubleshooting and analytical skills to drive rapid problem resolution individually and within the server team.
• Strong understanding of project implementations, project structure and life cycle and best practice standards and tools.
• Excellent communications and interpersonal skills to drive process improvements within the server team and across other infrastructure teams.