IBM MQ Middleware Engineer

IBM MQ Middleware Engineer

Location: Annapolis, MD

Work Schedule: Hybrid, primarily onsite, typically 3 days onsite and 2 days remote

Employment Type: Contract-to-Hire

Travel: Occasional, fewer than 20 days per year

Must-Have Requirements

• Client does not offer sponsorship
• Must have hands-on IBM MQ administration, configuration, deployment, and troubleshooting experience
• Must live within approximately one hour of Annapolis, MD
• Must be comfortable working a primarily onsite hybrid schedule
• Must be authorized to work in the United States without current or future sponsorship
• Must meet one of the following education and experience requirements:
  • STEM bachelors degree with at least 3 years of relevant experience
  • Related advanced degree with at least 2 years of relevant experience
  • At least 7 years of relevant experience without a degree

Company and Initiative

This opportunity supports the Connected Aviation division of a global aerospace and defense technology organization. The division provides technology and communication services that help aviation customers securely exchange critical information across applications, systems, and operating environments.

The team manages a large-scale aviation messaging environment supporting more than 1,500 customers and processing over 75 million messages per day. Its initiative is focused on strengthening the reliability, security, standardization, and automation of the IBM MQ infrastructure responsible for moving these messages.

This position is open to help support and maintain this high-volume messaging environment. The engineer will help ensure messages are delivered securely and reliably, improve system automation, support high availability, and assist with the continued modernization of the organizations enterprise messaging infrastructure.

Position Overview

We are seeking a hands-on IBM MQ Middleware Engineer to support business-critical aviation messaging systems. This individual will be responsible for keeping the IBM MQ environment available, secure, connected, and operating reliably across multiple systems and data centers.

This is not a general software development, network engineering, or cloud engineering position. The right candidate must have personally administered IBM MQ environments and be comfortable supporting Linux-based infrastructure.

Primary Responsibilities

• Administer, support, and maintain IBM MQ environments across multiple systems and data centers
• Configure and manage queue managers, channels, listeners, security objects, MQ clusters, and client connections
• Troubleshoot failed or delayed messages, connectivity issues, system outages, and performance problems
• Manage certificates, TLS configurations, and IBM MQ security policies
• Support redundancy, high availability, and disaster recovery capabilities
• Install IBM MQ upgrades, fix packs, and new features
• Monitor system performance and proactively identify potential issues
• Develop shell scripts and automation for deployments, monitoring, and routine operational work
• Work with application developers and infrastructure teams to integrate systems with IBM MQ
• Maintain technical documentation, runbooks, architecture diagrams, and operating procedures
• Perform backup and recovery activities for IBM MQ objects, configurations, and data
• Assist with occasional onsite infrastructure work, including cabling, racking equipment, and provisioning hardware

Required Qualifications

• Strong hands-on IBM MQ administration experience
• Experience configuring, deploying, maintaining, and troubleshooting IBM MQ
• Experience working with Linux, preferably RHEL and Ubuntu
• Understanding of TCP/IP, firewalls, routing, subnetting, and application connectivity
• Ability to troubleshoot hardware, software, messaging, and network-related problems
• Ability to work independently and collaborate with application, infrastructure, security, and global support teams
• Willingness to provide occasional off-hours support
• Ability to lift up to 40 pounds when assisting with onsite infrastructure tasks

Preferred Qualifications

• IBM MQ clustering experience
• High availability and disaster recovery experience
• Experience with RDQM or AMS
• Shell scripting and automation experience
• Docker or Kubernetes experience
• Git or other configuration management experience
• NAS, SAN, TrueNAS, FreeNAS, or iSCSI experience
• Experience participating in a rotating 24x7 on-call schedule

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is an IBM MQ Engineer or Administrator who has personally owned and supported enterprise MQ environments. They should be able to configure IBM MQ components, troubleshoot messaging failures, manage security and certificates, support Linux infrastructure, and keep business-critical messaging systems running reliably.

Why This Opportunity

• Support a mission-critical aviation messaging environment
• Work with systems processing more than 75 million messages per day
• Gain exposure to enterprise-scale IBM MQ architecture
• Work with clustering, high availability, disaster recovery, security, and automation
• Contribute to the modernization and continued reliability of critical messaging infrastructure
• Opportunity to convert into a long-term position with a global aerospace and defense technology organization

Writing improvements

I kept the client anonymous while still making the organization and project attractive. I also explained the reason for hiring conservatively: the role supports the scale, reliability, automation, security, and modernization of the existing IBM MQ environment, without stating that it is definitely a new headcount, replacement, or backfill.

This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Annapolis, MD.

The pay range for this position is $50.00 - $60.00/hr.

Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: Medical, dental & vision Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital 401(k) Retirement Plan Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) Short and long-term disability Health Spending Account (HSA) Transportation benefits Employee Assistance Program Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

This is a hybrid position in Annapolis,MD.

This position is anticipated to close on Oct 16, 2026.

About TEKsystems

We're partners in transformation. We help clients activate ideas and solutions to take advantage of a new world of opportunity. We are a team of 80,000 strong, working with over 6,000 clients, including 80% of the Fortune 500, across North America, Europe and Asia. As an industry leader in Full-Stack Technology Services, Talent Services, and real-world application, we work with progressive leaders to drive change. That's the power of true partnership. TEKsystems is an Allegis Group company.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regards to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

About TEKsystems and TEKsystems Global Services

Were a leading provider of business and technology services. We accelerate business transformation for our customers. Our expertise in strategy, design, execution and operations unlocks business value through a range of solutions. Were a team of 80,000 strong, working with over 6,000 customers, including 80% of the Fortune 500 across North America, Europe and Asia, who partner with us for our scale, full-stack capabilities and speed. Were strategic thinkers, hands-on collaborators, helping customers capitalize on change and master the momentum of technology. Were building tomorrow by delivering business outcomes and making positive impacts in our global communities. TEKsystems and TEKsystems Global Services are Allegis Group companies. Learn more at TEKsystems.com.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.