Mainframe Delivery Lead

Job Title: Mainframe Delivery Lead

Location: North Quincy, MA (ONSITE FROM DAY 1 – LOCAL CANDIDATES ONLY)
Duration: 12+ Months
Employment Type: Contract
Experience Required: 10+ Years

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Mainframe Delivery Lead with strong expertise in mainframe technologies, project delivery, and financial services platforms. The ideal candidate will lead end-to-end project execution, coordinate cross-functional teams, manage delivery governance, and oversee complex mainframe application initiatives within a highly regulated financial services environment.

The role requires a combination of deep mainframe technical expertise, delivery leadership, project management, stakeholder management, and operational excellence.

Required Experience

• 10+ years of IT experience
• Extensive experience leading mainframe application delivery projects
• Strong project management experience in enterprise environments
• Financial Services / Custody domain experience preferred
• Experience managing end-to-end SDLC projects

Must Have Technical Skills

Mainframe Technologies

Strong hands-on experience with:

• PL/1
• COBOL
• DB2
• JCL
• SQL Stored Procedures
• Mainframe application development and support

Mainframe Middleware & Processing

Experience with:

• CICS (Online Processing)
• IBM MQ
• Batch Processing
• End-of-day processing
• Production support environments

Mainframe Utilities & Tools

Strong experience with:

• RTC (Rational Team Concert)
• IDz (IBM Developer for z/OS)
• SPUFI
• FILE-AID
• Jira
• Confluence
• Clarity

Database & Performance

Experience with:

• DB2 Application Development
• SQL optimization
• Performance tuning
• Debugging and troubleshooting
• Query optimization

Project Delivery & SDLC

Strong experience with:

• Agile
• Waterfall
• Hybrid delivery models
• Requirements management
• Design reviews
• UAT coordination
• Production deployment
• Hypercare support
• Release management

Financial Services Domain Knowledge (Preferred)

Experience in:

• Custody Operations
• Corporate Actions
• Income Processing
• Securities Settlements
• Reconciliation
• Cash Management
• End-of-Day Processing

Knowledge of:

• DTC
• Euroclear
• Clearstream
• SWIFT MT Messages
• SWIFT MX Messages
• ISO 20022 Standards

Key Responsibilities

Project & Delivery Leadership

• Lead end-to-end project delivery from requirements through production deployment
• Develop and manage project plans, timelines, and deliverables
• Coordinate development, testing, deployment, and hypercare activities
• Ensure successful execution of multiple concurrent initiatives

Governance & Risk Management

• Maintain RAID logs
• Provide regular status reporting to senior leadership
• Ensure compliance with audit, risk, and regulatory requirements
• Maintain auditable change management records

Stakeholder Management

• Coordinate with Operations, Technology, Product, Compliance, and Business teams
• Manage project dependencies and cross-functional risks
• Facilitate communication across technical and non-technical stakeholders

Production Readiness & Support

• Coordinate UAT and production readiness activities
• Ensure stable go-live execution
• Drive post-implementation stabilization efforts
• Support incident resolution and operational improvements

Financial Management

• Support IT budget planning
• Manage project tracking within Clarity
• Monitor resource allocation and project costs

Leadership Competencies

Delivery Discipline

• Strong planning, prioritization, and execution skills
• Ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously

Risk & Control Mindset

• Experience delivering audit-ready and regulator-compliant solutions
• Strong understanding of governance and controls

Analytical Problem Solving

• Ability to resolve complex technical and business issues
• Data-driven decision-making approach

Change Leadership

• Lead teams through complex migrations, deployments, and cutovers
• Drive post-implementation stabilization and adoption

Soft Skills

• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Strong stakeholder management abilities
• Strong leadership and team coordination skills
• Ability to influence across multiple organizational levels
• Strong interpersonal and collaboration skills