Senior Middleware Engineer

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation; Illinois; Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance

Paid holidays and PTO

401(k) plan and contributions

Disability insurance

Paid Parental Leave

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Job summary

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation is seeking a Senior Middleware Engineer in a hybrid role (Riverwoods, IL) with 2-3 days in office. You will architect, deploy, and optimize enterprise middleware using WAS, IBM MQ, Apache HTTP Server, and Tomcat to support critical applications.

Strong Linux admin and automation skills are essential. Responsibilities include monitoring, tuning, and securing middleware environments, performing deployments and migrations, and driving improvements with

Qualifications

• 10-12+ years of hands-on middleware administration and architecture.
• Deep expertise with IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS), IBM MQ, Apache HTTP Server, and Apache Tomcat.
• Strong Linux/Unix administration, scripting, and automation experience.
• Experience with monitoring/observability tools and ITIL service management practices.
• Ability to design, implement, and support large-scale middleware environments.

Responsibilities

• Architect, install, configure, administer, and support enterprise middleware environments (WAS, Apache HTTP Server, Tomcat, IBM MQ).
• Monitor and optimize WebSphere environments for high availability, performance, and security.
• Deploy applications, perform patches, upgrades, and migrations across development to production.
• Troubleshoot middleware, application, and infrastructure issues; perform root cause analysis.
• Collaborate with development, cloud, infrastructure, network, and security teams.
• Define middleware architecture standards, best practices, and procedures.
• Utilize Datadog and other tools to identify bottlenecks and optimize performance.
• Manage incidents, problems, and changes per ITIL using ServiceNow.
• Develop automation scripts to improve operational efficiency.
• Create and maintain architecture diagrams, docs, and knowledge articles.
• Participate in capacity planning, DR planning, and health assessments.
• Communicate project status and risks to stakeholders and leadership.
• Drive continuous improvement across middleware platforms.

Skills

Middleware Administration

WebSphere WAS

IBM MQ

Apache HTTP Server

Apache Tomcat

Linux/Unix

Shell scripting

Datadog

ServiceNow

ITIL

Tools

Datadog

ServiceNow

ITIL

Job description

Job Title: Senior Middleware Engineer

Job Location: Hybrid [2-3 days in office]- Riverwoods, IL, USA

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Senior Middleware Engineer with deep expertise in IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS), IBM MQ, Apache, Tomcat, and Middleware Infrastructure Architecture. The ideal candidate will be responsible for designing, administering, supporting, and optimizing enterprise middleware platforms that support critical business applications. This role requires strong troubleshooting capabilities, Linux administration skills, monitoring expertise, and the ability to collaborate across infrastructure, application, and business teams to deliver reliable and scalable middleware solutions.

Salary and Other Compensation:

The annual salary for this position is up between $100K- $115K depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect, install, configure, administer, and support enterprise middleware environments including IBM WebSphere Application Server, Apache HTTP Server, Tomcat, and IBM MQ.

• Monitor, maintain, and optimize WebSphere Application Server environments to ensure high availability, reliability, performance, and security.

• Perform application deployments, server configuration, patching, upgrades, and environment migrations across development, testing, and production platforms.

• Troubleshoot complex middleware, application, and infrastructure issues, conducting root cause analysis and implementing preventive measures.

• Collaborate with application development, cloud, infrastructure, network, and security teams to gather requirements and deliver middleware solutions.

• Design and implement middleware architecture standards, best practices, and operational procedures.

• Utilize monitoring and observability tools such as Datadog to proactively identify and resolve performance bottlenecks.

• Manage incident, problem, and change management activities in compliance with ITIL processes using ServiceNow (SNOW).

• Develop and maintain automation scripts to improve operational efficiency and reduce manual efforts.

• Create and maintain technical documentation including architecture diagrams, operational procedures, support guides, and knowledge articles.

• Participate in capacity planning, performance tuning, disaster recovery planning, and environment health assessments.

• Communicate effectively with stakeholders and leadership teams regarding project delivery, operational status, and risk mitigation.

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives for middleware platforms and operational processes.

Required Qualifications

• 10-12+ years of hands-on experience in Middleware Administration and Architecture.

• Strong experience with:

  • IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS)

  • IBM MQ

  • Apache HTTP Server

  • Apache Tomcat

• Experience with installation, configuration, administration, performance tuning, and troubleshooting of WebSphere environments.

• Strong understanding of Middleware Architecture, clustering, load balancing, failover, and high-availability solutions.

• Experience supporting mission-critical enterprise applications.

• Strong Linux/Unix administration knowledge.

• Experience with shell scripting and automation.

• Hands-on experience with Datadog monitoring and observability tools.

• Working knowledge of ServiceNow and ITIL service management practices.

• Excellent troubleshooting, analytical, and problem-solving skills.

• Strong verbal and written communication skills.

Preferred Skills

• Experience working in large-scale enterprise environments.

• Exposure to cloud-hosted middleware platforms.

• Knowledge of DevOps practices and CI/CD implementations.

• Experience with enterprise monitoring, logging, and performance management solutions.

• Industry certifications related to IBM Middleware, Linux Administration, ITIL, or Cloud Technologies are desirable.

Benefits

Cognizant offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:

• Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance

• Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off

• 401(k) plan and contributions

• Long-term/Short-term Disability

• Paid Parental Leave

• Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Work model

At Cognizant, we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible, and we are here to support a healthy work-life balance through our various wellbeing programs. Based on this role’s business requirements, this is a hybrid position requiring 2-3 days in office at client location in Riverwoods, IL, USA.

Disclaimer

The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.