Mainframe System Engineer

A court in Virginia is looking to fill the role of Mainframe System Engineer in the department of Information Technology located in downtown Richmond, VA. This is a contract-to-hire role with a 6 month minimum contract.

This position will be a hybrid position with at least 2 days in office per week.

Pay Rate Range: $35.00 - $50.00/hr

Conversion Salary: $90k - $120k

Job Description:

This position plays a key role in the development, implementation, and maintenance of the IBM z Series mainframe, z/VM operating system, VSEn operating system, and all peripheral devices attached to the current z/15 mainframe. Responsibilities include OS updates and patching, system backups, and collaboration with other system engineers on mainframe virtualization initiatives.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 8+ years of hands-on experience in mainframe administration, preferably with IBM Z series mainframes.

• 4+ years of experience with z/VM and z/VSE.

• A bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.

• Expertise in installing, configuring, and maintaining the z/VM operating system.

• Knowledge of the z/VSE/VSEn operating systems, including experience with CICS, CICS Transaction Gateway, and CICS Web Services

• A deep understanding of virtualization concepts and technologies, including knowledge of virtual machine (VM) management, virtual networking, storage virtualization, and resource pooling.

• In-depth knowledge of mainframe hardware components (processors, channels, control units).

• Expertise in mainframe storage management (DASD, virtual tape, physical tape).

• Experienced with mainframe network and communication technologies (TCPIP, VTAM, SNA, 3270, OSA, HiperSockets, etc).

• Proficiency in mainframe system administration, performance tuning, and capacity planning.

• Proficiency in programming languages commonly used in the z/VSE environment, such as Assembler, COBOL, PL/I, JCL, REXX, and CP/CMS EXEC.

• Familiarity with mainframe security practices and compliance regulations.

• The ability to analyze system logs, dumps, and other diagnostic information.

• Expertise in data center operations and mainframe hardware related projects in the data center.

• Proficiency in basic Linux administration tasks.

Additional Preferred Qualifications:

• 12+ years of hands-on experience in mainframe administration.

• 8+ years of experience with z/VM and z/VSE/VSEn.

• A master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.

• Certifications such as IBM Certified System Programmer, IBM Certified Advanced Technical Expert, or similar.

• Hands-on experience with IBM DS8000 series disk storage systems.

• Comprehensive understanding of IBM TS7700 virtual tape library.

• Knowledge of IBM TS4500 physical tape library and tape management practices.

• Experience with the Zeke/VSE mainframe job scheduler.

• Understanding of and experience with VSE Interactive Computing and Control Facility (ICCF).