Job Summary

The z/OS System Programmer is the technical custodian of the core z/OS operating environment across the Mainframe managed estate. This role owns the full lifecycle of z/OS and its subsystems — installation, upgrade, maintenance, and retirement — and leads complex vendor-to-vendor migrations (e.g., CA7 or ESP to IBM Workload Scheduler/BMC ControlM, ACF2/TopSecret to RACF). The individual is expected to be the senior authority on Parallel Sysplex, Coupling Facility, and GDPS design, and to be a trusted technical bridge between traditional z/OS infrastructure and modernization initiatives such as API enablement, Zowe, and DevOps toolchains.

Key Responsibilities

• Well-versed in zOSMF workflow-based Installation/Upgrade & Maintenance.
• Own end-to-end installation, upgrade, and SMP/E maintenance of z/OS and its core subsystems (JES2/JES3, RACF/ACF2, Language Environment, USS, HCD/HCM).
• Plan and execute installation, upgrade, and ongoing maintenance of ISV (Broadcom, BMC, Rocket & others) software products running on z/OS.
• Lead technical migration projects between competing vendor products (e.g., CA7 to IBM Workload Scheduler, ACF2 to RACF, or equivalent scheduler/security transitions), including gap analysis, conversion tooling, parallel run, and cutover.
• Design, implement, and tune Parallel Sysplex environments — XCF/XES, GRS, Coupling Facility structures, CFRM policies, VSAM RLS.
• Implement and support GDPS configurations (GDPS/PPRC, GDPS/GM, GDPS/MTMM, or GDPS/MGM) for continuous availability and disaster recovery.
• Support integration of the z/OS environment with modernization tooling — Zowe, REST/API gateways, CI/CD pipelines, Github, and hybrid cloud orchestration layers.
• Perform capacity and performance analysis using SMF/RMF data, zPCR, and WLM policy tuning in coordination with capacity planning teams.
• Perform Proof-of-concept (POC) on Sandbox LPAR to build & test the use-cases using different vendor products which are found promising and establish the documentation proof of benefits realization after POC completion.
• Own security and audit posture of the z/OS environment, including STIG compliance, access control reviews, and vulnerability remediation.
• Provide senior-level incident and problem management support for z/OS-level outages, including root-cause analysis and permanent fix implementation.
• Mentor junior systems programmers and contribute to runbooks, knowledge bases, and standard operating procedures for the COE.

Required Technical Skills & Tools

Skill Requirements

Other Requirements