Senior Mainframe Systems Programmer (IBM z/OS, CICS, MQ)

Delaware Nation Industries; New York, Atlanta, Washington (NY, GA, District of Columbia); On-site; USD 120,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Premium healthcare

401K matching

Disability insurance

Pet insurance

Education reimbursement

Parking & Transit benefits

Job summary

Delaware Nation Industries seeks an experienced Senior Mainframe Systems Programmer to support IBM z/OS environments, focusing on CICS and IBM MQ. You will administer, install, upgrade, and troubleshoot in a high-security, regulated enterprise, ensuring availability and reliability.

Responsibilities include disaster recovery planning, documentation, and mentoring staff while coordinating with cross-functional teams. A Top Secret clearance and 8+ years of experience are required.

Qualifications

• Active Top Secret Security Clearance required
• DoD IAT Level II certification required
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in mainframe systems programming, administration, or support
• Strong hands-on experience with IBM z/OS, CICS Transaction Server, and IBM MQ
• Experience with SMP/E, JCL, TSO/ISPF, REXX, CLIST, and related IBM mainframe utilities

Responsibilities

• Administer, install, configure, upgrade, and maintain IBM z/OS mainframe environments
• Perform software installations, migrations, upgrades, and patching
• Troubleshoot abends, outages, and performance issues using logs and traces
• Manage IBM MQ environments including queue managers and channels
• Monitor and tune system and middleware for availability and efficiency
• Support secure, compliant system operations per cybersecurity requirements
• Develop implementation, test, recovery, and back-out plans
• Coordinate change, incident, CAB activities and cross-functional implementation

Skills

System administration

Troubleshooting

Incident management

Mentoring/Training

Education

Bachelor’s degree in IT / CS / Engineering

Tools

IBM z/OS

CICS Transaction Server

IBM MQ

SMP/E

JCL

TSO/ISPF

REXX

CLIST

COBOL

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Senior Mainframe Systems Programmer to support and maintain IBM z/OS environments, with a strong focus on CICS Transaction Server and IBM MQ. This role is responsible for system administration, software installation and upgrades, troubleshooting, performance tuning, security compliance, disaster recovery support, and technical documentation in a secure, highly regulated enterprise environment.

The ideal candidate has deep hands-on experience with IBM mainframe technologies, middleware administration, change and incident management, and supporting mission-critical systems with high availability and operational stability.

Key Responsibilities

• Administer, install, configure, upgrade, and maintain IBM z/OS mainframe environments, including CICS Transaction Server, IBM MQ, and related software products
• Perform software installations, migrations, upgrades, patching, and implementation activities across multiple mainframe environments
• Troubleshoot and resolve system abends, outages, and performance issues using logs, traces, dumps, and monitoring tools
• Manage IBM MQ environments, including queue managers, queues, channels, backup processing, and web services administration
• Monitor and tune system and middleware performance to ensure availability, reliability, and operational efficiency
• Support secure and compliant system operations in accordance with cybersecurity and enterprise security requirements
• Develop and execute implementation plans, test plans, recovery plans, and back-out procedures for software and hardware changes
• Coordinate change management, incident management, CAB activities, and cross-functional implementation efforts using approved operational processes and tools
• Create and maintain technical documentation, standard operating procedures, implementation guides, root cause analysis reports, and status updates
• Utilize SMP/E, JCL, TSO/ISPF, REXX, CLIST, COBOL, and related IBM utilities to support administration, automation, and system operations
• Support backup, recovery, and disaster recovery planning, testing, and execution
• Provide technical guidance, mentoring, training, and customer support to project teams, junior staff, and stakeholders
• Collaborate with infrastructure, cybersecurity, application, and operations teams to ensure stable and secure mainframe services

• Active Top Secret Security Clearance
• DoD IAT Level II certification required
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in mainframe systems programming, administration, or support
• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent combination of experience and training
• Strong hands-on experience with IBM z/OS, CICS Transaction Server, and IBM MQ
• Experience with software installation, upgrades, patching, maintenance, and migration activities in enterprise mainframe environments
• Experience troubleshooting system abends, dumps, traces, and performance issues in production environments
• Working knowledge of SMP/E, JCL, TSO/ISPF, REXX, CLIST, and related IBM mainframe utilities

Benefits Include:

• Covers 100% of employee benefit premiums, including Medical (PPO or HDHP Option), Vision, Dental
• Matching 401K
• Short- and Long-Term Disability
• Pet Insurance
• Professional Development/Education Reimbursement
• Parking and Transit Benefits for NY, NJ, ATL, and DC Metro areas

Other Duties:

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Salary Compensation: $120,000-$130,000

Equal Opportunity Employer / Individuals with Disabilities / Protected Veterans