Mainframe Senior Storage Architect

Battle Tested; Chandler (AZ); On-site; USD 170,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Battle Tested is seeking a highly experienced Mainframe Storage Architect to design, modernize, and support a large-scale enterprise mainframe storage environment. This senior IC will drive technical direction across storage, infrastructure, and business teams to ensure secure, scalable, and reliable operations.

The role emphasizes architecture leadership, large-scale upgrades, SAN replication, capacity planning, and disaster recovery planning.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in enterprise mainframe storage environments.
• Significant experience designing and supporting mainframe storage architecture.
• Strong experience with FICON and fiber-based storage connectivity.
• Experience with HCD and IOCP configuration.
• Experience analyzing mainframe I/O performance across disk, switches, and virtual tape.
• Hands-on experience with major storage infrastructure upgrades and refreshes.
• Experience with SAN replication.
• Strong background in storage capacity planning.
• Experience with storage encryption and data protection.
• Experience planning and executing data center moves or migrations.
• Experience supporting production and disaster recovery data centers.

Responsibilities

• Design and maintain the overall architecture for enterprise mainframe storage.
• Develop long-term storage strategies that support business growth and modernization.
• Design solutions involving mainframe disk, SAN, switches, and virtual tape.
• Evaluate storage technologies and architecture improvements.
• Lead major storage upgrades, refreshes, migrations, and infrastructure changes.
• Design and manage SAN replication across data centers.
• Plan storage capacity across disk, switches, connectivity, and related infra.
• Analyze storage performance to improve throughput, availability, and efficiency.
• Support architecture involving FICON, fiber connectivity, HCD, and IOCP.
• Design encryption and data protection strategies for mainframe storage.
• Lead planning for data center migrations and infrastructure moves.
• Support production-to-disaster-recovery swaps and DR exercises.
• Review designs and recommend improvements on performance, resiliency, security, and maintainability.
• Develop standards and best practices for the mainframe storage environment.

Skills

Mainframe storage

FICON

IOCP

HCD

IO performance

SAN replication

Capacity planning

Storage encryption

Disaster recovery

Brocade switches

IBM TS7700

DASD

Tools

Brocade switches

Hitachi DASD

IBM TS7700

Job description

We are seeking a highly experienced Mainframe Storage Architect to help design, modernize, and support a large-scale enterprise mainframe storage environment.

This is a senior individual contributor role for someone with deep expertise in mainframe storage architecture, engineering, performance, replication, capacity planning, and disaster recovery. The successful candidate will work across technology, infrastructure, and business teams to establish technical direction and ensure the storage environment remains secure, resilient, scalable, and reliable.

What You'll Do

• Design and maintain the overall architecture for enterprise mainframe storage.
• Develop long-term storage strategies that support business growth, resiliency, and technology modernization.
• Design solutions involving mainframe disk, SAN infrastructure, switches, and virtual tape.
• Evaluate and recommend storage technologies, platforms, and architecture improvements.
• Lead major storage upgrades, refreshes, migrations, and infrastructure changes.
• Design and manage SAN replication solutions between data centers.
• Plan storage capacity across disk, switches, connectivity, and related infrastructure.
• Analyze storage performance and identify opportunities to improve throughput, availability, and efficiency.
• Support architecture and configuration involving FICON, fiber connectivity, HCD, and IOCP.
• Design encryption and data protection strategies for mainframe storage.
• Lead planning for data center migrations and infrastructure moves.
• Support production-to-disaster-recovery role swaps and failback activities.
• Participate in and help lead disaster recovery exercises.
• Review technical designs and recommend improvements related to performance, resiliency, security, scalability, and maintainability.
• Develop technical standards and best practices for the mainframe storage environment.
• Work with engineering, operations, application, and infrastructure teams to resolve complex technical issues.
• Provide technical leadership and direction while operating with limited day-to-day supervision.
• Evaluate cost, consolidation, and infrastructure optimization opportunities.

Required Experience

• 10+ years of experience working with enterprise mainframe storage environments.
• Significant experience designing and supporting mainframe storage architecture.
• Strong experience with FICON and fiber-based storage connectivity.
• Experience with HCD and IOCP configuration.
• Experience analyzing mainframe I/O performance across disk, switches, and virtual tape.
• Hands-on experience with major storage infrastructure upgrades and refreshes.
• Experience with technologies such as Brocade directors/switches, Hitachi DASD, and IBM TS7700 virtual tape systems.
• Experience designing and configuring SAN replication.
• Strong background in storage capacity planning.
• Experience with storage encryption and data protection.
• Experience planning and executing data center moves or migrations.
• Experience supporting production and disaster recovery data center role swaps.
• Experience participating in or leading disaster recovery testing and exercises.
• Ability to independently lead multiple technical initiatives and priorities.

Preferred Background

The strongest candidates will have experience working in large enterprise environments with highly available, business-critical mainframe systems.

Experience in banking, financial services, insurance, healthcare, government, or another organization operating large-scale mainframe infrastructure would be particularly relevant.

Key Skills