30+ years of advanced CICS systems programming experience required
Job Title: Senior Mainframe CICS Systems Programmer
Position Summary:
We are seeking a Senior Mainframe CICS Systems Programmer to lead the administration, architecture, and optimization of an IBM z/OS CICS environment. This role requires deep technical expertise in CICS Transaction Server, strong z/OS systems programming skills, and the ability to drive performance, stability, automation, and modernization initiatives across mission-critical enterprise platforms.
The ideal candidate will serve as a technical leader, mentor junior staff, and partner with infrastructure, security, and application teams to ensure highly available, secure, and scalable CICS systems. Application development skills would be a plus.
Key Responsibilities:
Technical Leadership
- Architect, install, configure, and maintain IBM CICS Transaction Server environments across multiple LPARs
- Lead CICS version upgrades, migrations, and maintenance strategies
- Design and manage CICSPlex SM environments
- Provide expert-level support for complex CICS and z/OS issues
Systems Management & Optimization
- Perform advanced performance tuning, capacity planning, and workload management
- Analyze and resolve complex system abends and dumps using IPCS
- Implement and maintain high availability and disaster recovery solutions
- Apply and manage IBM maintenance using SMP/E
Integration & Security
- Integrate CICS with DB2, MQ, Web Services, and z/OS Connect
- Ensure compliance with RACF security standards and enterprise audit requirements
- Configure and maintain TCP/IP, VTAM, and related communication components
Automation & Modernization
- Implement automation using SA z/OS, NetView, or equivalent tools
- Drive modernization initiatives including CICS APIs, RESTful services, and cloud integration
- Improve operational efficiency through scripting and process automation
Collaboration & Governance
- Partner with development teams to support application deployments and performance testing
- Develop and maintain technical documentation and standards
- Participate in architecture reviews and strategic planning
- Provide 24x7 escalation support as part of senior on-call rotation
Required Qualifications
- 30+ years of advanced CICS systems programming experience
- Deep expertise in:
- CICS Transaction Server (installation, configuration, tuning)
- CICSPlex SM
- SMP/E maintenance
- JES2/JES3
- RACF
- IPCS dump analysis
- z/OS internals
- Strong understanding of mainframe networking (VTAM, TCP/IP)
- Experience with DB2 and MQ integration
- Proven experience supporting high-volume production environments
- Strong leadership, documentation, and communication skills
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with CICS Web Services, APIs, and z/OS Connect
- Knowledge of DevOps practices in mainframe environments
- Experience with automation frameworks and infrastructure-as-code concepts
- Exposure to hybrid cloud integration strategies
- IBM certifications related to z/OS or CICS
Key Competencies
- Strategic technical thinking
- Incident management and root cause analysis
- Mentorship and team leadership
- Change and release management
- Risk assessment and mitigation