Mainframe IBM MQ Engineer

Novia Infotech; Jersey City (NJ); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Job summary

Novia Infotech is seeking an experienced Mainframe IBM MQ Engineer to administer, configure, monitor, and optimize IBM MQ infrastructure on z/OS within a high-availability enterprise environment.

You will manage lifecycle, HA, DR, performance tuning, and security for MQ, collaborating with application, CICS, IMS, network, and security teams to ensure reliable data communication and messaging across platforms.

Qualifications

• Hands-on engineering/administration experience with IBM MQ for z/OS in production mainframe environments.
• Strong knowledge of z/OS, JCL, and TCP/IP networking fundamentals.
• Expertise in MQ architecture: queue managers, channels, clustering, logging and recovery.
• Proven production support for MQ incidents and security issues.

Responsibilities

• Administer, configure, monitor, and optimize IBM MQ on z/OS.
• Manage queue managers, queues, channels, listeners, and QSG.
• Configure MQ clusters, distributed queuing, and inter-queue manager communications.
• Perform MQ upgrades, migrations, patching, maintenance, lifecycle management.
• Collaborate with CICS/IMS, RACF, and security teams to ensure security and reliability.
• Provide on-call and after-hours support as needed.

Skills

MQ for z/OS

z/OS

JCL

TCP/IP networking

MQ Architecture

Production Support

Tools

SMP/E

REXX

TSO/ISPF

SDSF

Job description

Work Model: Hybrid (3 Days Onsite / Week)

Locations: Chandler, AZ | Plano, TX | Charlotte, NC | Jersey City, NJ

(Candidates must be located in or willing to relocate to one of these areas)

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Mainframe IBM MQ Engineer to administer, configure, monitor, and optimize IBM MQ infrastructure on z/OS within a high-availability, business-critical enterprise environment. In this role, you will be responsible for lifecycle management, high availability, disaster recovery, performance tuning, and security for IBM MQ. You will collaborate closely with application, CICS, IMS, network, security (RACF), and mainframe operations teams to ensure seamless data communication and message queuing across platforms.

Key Responsibilities

• MQ Administration & Infrastructure Management:
• Install, configure, administer, and support IBM MQ for z/OS environments.
• Manage queue managers, queues (local/remote/transmission/dead letter), channels, listeners, and channel initiators.
• Configure and maintain MQ Clusters, Distributed Queuing, and inter-queue manager communications.
• Perform MQ upgrades, migrations, patching, maintenance, and lifecycle management.
• Integrations & Security Controls:
• Configure MQ connectivity with mainframe subsystems, specifically using CICS and IMS MQ adapters/bridges.
• Partner with RACF teams to enforce MQ security, channel/connection authentication, TLS encryption, and access controls.
• Support secure message transmission and integration with Managed File Transfer (MFT) solutions where applicable.
• Monitoring, Troubleshooting & Operations:
• Perform root cause analysis for queue manager failures, channel issues, message delivery delays, and authorization errors.
• Monitor queue depths, message flows, and overall MQ infrastructure health.
• Maintain and develop operational JCL, REXX automation scripts, and technical documentation.
• Support High Availability (HA) requirements, Queue Sharing Groups (QSG) in Sysplex environments, and Disaster Recovery (DR) testing.
• Provide on-call and after-hours production support as needed.

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Experience: Strong hands‑on engineering/administration experience with IBM MQ for z/OS in high‑volume, production mainframe environments.
• Core Mainframe Knowledge: Deep proficiency in z/OS, JCL, and TCP/IP networking fundamentals.
• IBM MQ Architecture: Expertise in Queue Managers, Channels, Listeners, Distributed Queuing, MQ Clustering, Logging, and Recovery mechanisms.
• Production Support: Proven background in troubleshooting complex MQ incidents, channel failures, connectivity issues, and security failures.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with CICS / MQ and IMS / MQ integration.
• Hands‑on familiarity with RACF security controls, Queue Sharing Groups (QSG), and Sysplex environments.
• Experience with SMP/E, REXX, TSO/ISPF, and SDSF.
• Familiarity with enterprise scheduling tools (CA-7, TWS) and MQ performance tools.