IT Systems Administrator - AS400

Paycom; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Paycom is looking for an experienced IBM i Systems Administrator to ensure the stability, security, and performance of the IBM i platform. This role encompasses high availability management, disaster recovery operations, and comprehensive support for our ERP/WMS ecosystem.

The ideal candidate will have at least 5 years of experience in a 24/7 production environment, with strong skills in IBM i administration, security, and automation tasks. Additional skills in database management and networking are preferred.

Qualifications

• 5+ years administering IBM i in 24/7 environments.
• Demonstrated success with OS/PTF upgrades and performance tuning.

Responsibilities

• Administer IBM i environments and manage the OS/PTF lifecycle.
• Own the DR strategy and operate Maxava replication.
• Architect the backup strategy ensuring data integrity.

Skills

IBM i Administration

Backup & Recovery

High Availability & Disaster Recovery

Security

Automation

Database (Db2 for i)

Networking

Education

IBM Certified System Administrator – IBM i

Tools

Maxava

BRMS

PowerHA

Job description

Job Summary

The IBM i (AS/400) Systems Administrator is responsible for the stability, security, performance, and continuity of the IBM i platform hosting our customized, mission‑critical RPG‑based ERP/WMS ecosystem. This role ensures high availability of core business processes, manages reliable Disaster Recovery (DR) replication using Maxava, and oversees our hybrid infrastructure spanning on‑premises IBM Power Systems and IBM PowerVS Cloud environments.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Platform Administration & Operations: Administer IBM i environments (LPARs, HMC, hardware/storage). Manage the OS/PTF lifecycle, monitor subsystems, batch operations, advanced job scheduling, and system housekeeping.
• High Availability & Disaster Recovery: Own the DR strategy end‑to‑end. Operate and tune Maxava replication, manage the IBM PowerVS Cloud DR environment, and execute regular, validated failover testing.
• Backup & Recovery: Architect and maintain the backup strategy utilizing BRMS, ensuring data integrity and successful restore testing.
• ERP/WMS Support: Provide infrastructure‑level support for the RPG‑based ERP/WMS. Coordinate application deployments, change management, and troubleshoot across application, database, and OS layers.
• Performance & Capacity Management: Tune CPU, memory, and disk I/O. Optimize batch jobs and Db2 for i database performance using modern IBM i SQL services.
• Security & Compliance: Manage user profiles, object authority, system values, audit logging (QAUDJRN), and ensure compliance with security frameworks.
• Integration & Automation: Maintain network connectivity, secure protocols (SFTP, APIs), and EDI integration flows. Automate routine administration tasks using CL and QShell/bash.
• Documentation: Maintain rigorous SOPs, runbooks, and configuration management (CMDB).

Nice‑to‑Have

• Experience migrating on‑premises IBM i workloads to PowerVS Cloud.
• Exposure to modern DevOps/automation tools on IBM i.
• Formal IBM Certifications (e.g., IBM Certified System Administrator – IBM i).
• Experience supporting major IBM i ERPs or WMS platforms.

Success Profile

• Own DR end‑to‑end.
• Strong Maxava and journaling expertise.
• Experience with ERP/WMS systems.
• Hybrid on‑prem and cloud environment knowledge.
• Strong security and audit discipline.

Minimum Requirements

• 5+ years administering IBM i (AS/400, iSeries, System i) in 24/7 production environments.
• Demonstrated success with OS/PTF upgrades, HA/DR, BRMS, and performance tuning.

Core Technical Skills

• IBM i Administration: LPAR/HMC/VIOS, device/IFS management, system values, service tools.
• Backup & Recovery: BRMS, SAV/RST strategies, encryption, restore drills, and media/VTL governance.
• HA/DR: PowerHA for i, MIMIX/iTera (or equivalent), replication design, DR runbooks/testing.
• Security: QAUDJRN, object authorities, exit points, TLS/SSL and certificate lifecycle (DCM), vulnerability patching.
• Automation: CL, QShell, PASE; familiarity with Python/Rexx for ops scripting.
• Database (Db2 for i): SQL tuning, indexes/access paths, journaling, commitment control, reorgs, Visual Explain.
• Scheduling & Monitoring: IBM i scheduler or enterprise tools (Robot, Control M), Collection Services/Navigator/ACS, and third‑party performance tools.
• Networking: TCP/IP stack, DNS/routing, ACS/ODBC, SFTP/FTPS/SSH; exposure to MQ is a plus.

Preferred Skills

• Hands‑on with Power11 capacity planning, shared processor pools, and dynamic LPAR moves.
• Firmware/HMC/VIOS lifecycle planning aligned to IBM best practices for newest hardware generations.
• Storage acceleration experience (flash/NVMe), SAN zoning/NPIV, and performance troubleshooting across the I/O stack.
• PowerHA advanced scenarios (IASP, multi site), Precisely MIMIX tuning and audit, or storage based replication.
• Security add‑ons (e.g., Fortra Powertech), SIEM integration, and MFA for IBM i.
• DevOps awareness: RDi, RPG free format exposure, Git‑based deployment tooling, TurnOver/ARCAD/X Analysis.
• Hybrid/Cloud DR patterns (IBM PowerVS), cloud‑based backup targets, or cross‑site orchestration.
• Observability integrations (Robot Monitor/Navigator SQL Services, and hooks to enterprise APM/alerting).
• ITSM process maturity (ServiceNow/Jira) and CMDB hygiene.
• Bilingual (EN/FR) communication is an asset.

Certifications

• IBM Certified System Administrator – IBM i (or equivalent experience).
• HA/DR vendor certifications (Precisely/Rocket).
• Security: CompTIA Security+, CISSP (plus) or IBM Security specialties.
• ITIL v4 Foundation.