Mainframe Architect Modernization & Cloud Migration

Location: Edison, NJ
Duration: 12+ Months

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced Mainframe Architect to lead legacy modernization and migration initiatives. This role requires deep hands-on knowledge of mainframe application development technologies and strong architectural expertise to assess, design, and guide migration of mainframe workloads to modern cloud or distributed platforms.

Key Responsibilities

Assessment & Modernization Strategy

• Conduct discovery and assessment of existing mainframe workloads, including:

  • COBOL, JCL, DB2, VSAM, IMS, CICS

• Define and recommend modernization strategies:

  • Rehost, Replatform, Refactor, Retire, Replace

• Develop migration roadmaps, risk mitigation strategies, and rollback plans

Architecture & Solution Design

• Design target-state architectures for rehosted or modernized applications on cloud or distributed platforms

• Ensure compliance with security, performance, high availability, and disaster recovery requirements

• Create detailed architecture blueprints, migration patterns, and system integration designs

Data Migration

• Design and oversee ETL processes for migrating mainframe data (Datacom) to SQL Server

• Ensure data integrity, minimal downtime, and controlled cutover during migrations

Leadership & Collaboration

• Act as Subject Matter Expert (SME) for mainframe modernization initiatives

• Provide technical leadership and mentoring to development and migration teams

• Communicate architecture, migration strategies, and risks to stakeholders and executives

• Provide ongoing guidance and inputs during migration execution

Operational & Migration Support

• Participate in code migration and data transformation efforts as part of rehosting

• Collaborate with cloud and architecture teams supporting Google Cloud Platform-based modernization

• Support batch job execution, console monitoring, and production control

• Understand interfacing systems and dependencies across ongoing projects

Required Skills & Experience

• Strong experience in mainframe application development, including several of the following:

  • COBOL, CICS, JCL, VSAM, Easytrieve, IDEAL/Datacom, RPG, ASM, MQ

• Experience supporting or leading mainframe-to-cloud modernization initiatives

• Knowledge of data migration, ETL, and transformation approaches

• Strong understanding of batch processing, production control, and system interfaces

• Ability to guide teams through complex, enterprise-scale migrations

Preferred Skills

• Experience with Google Cloud Platform-based modernization

• Exposure to distributed systems and cloud-native architectures

• Strong stakeholder communication and documentation skills