National Black MBA Association
CICS / MQ Senior System Programmer
National Black MBA Association, Franklin, Wisconsin, United States, 53132
At Northwestern Mutual, we are strong, innovative and growing. We invest in our people. We care and make a positive difference.Northwestern Mutual is a leading Life Insurance, Financial Planning, and Investment company where we believe in putting people first. As a mutual company, we don't have shareholders, so instead of reporting to Wall Street, we report to our policyowners. NW has earned the highest financial strength ratings awarded to life insurers from all four major rating agencies.We are looking for a subject matter expert (SME) of Mainframe CICS / MQ who would look after the critical infrastructure that underpins Northwestern Mutual where 85% of the business runs through. This is a hands-on role where you’ll configure and maintain products and services according to standards and policies. As a CICS System Administrator you must have experience in installation, configuration, maintenance, and monitoring of CICS regions, MQ products and related ISV products, with z/OS Connect and TableBase being a plus. The SME for this team is required to work on critical systems and strategic projects associated across all business divisions, as well as technology and process service improvements.Soft Skills
Self-starting and motivated, works under little supervisionAbility to self-manage multiple projectsNetwork with employees, vendors, and outside organizations to help find solutions or opportunities for improvementRegular communications with their peers; Shares information with the awareness of its effect on others; Demonstrate a balance of speaking and listening so that neither is overly dominantCreate technical documents; Review, edit and offer suggestions to others with appropriate oral and written communications. Concise and diplomaticUnderstand waterfall and/or Agile processesTechnical Skills
Demonstrate a thorough working knowledge of the mainframe platform (software / hardware) for CICS and MQUnderstand & perform typical system programmer (SYSPROG) tasks such as: the upgrade & maintenance process, SMP/e, HOLDDATA, early code, target zones/libraries, system libraries, terse files, end of marketing (EOM) and end of life (EOL), review implementation procedures and make recommendations to ensure a smooth product release and system upgradesUnderstand vendor communication protocols/forms when issues arise: PMR, PTF, Hyper fixes, APARBasic understanding of MVS: z/15, CPUs, SYSPLEX, LPAR, coupling facility, zIIPs, general purpose machines, WLM, DVIPA, JCL, PDS, ISPF, SMF, IFCIDs, RMF/CMFBasic understanding of storage: SMS, ACS routine, storage pools, vendors (IBM, Hitachi, etc.)Basic understanding of security: certificates/key rings, RACF, pervasive encryptionWork with management to resolve middleware risks that have been identified by compliance, internal and external auditorsBasic understanding of High Availability: CICSPlex System Manager (CPSM), MQ queue sharing and RLSBasic understanding of z/OS CICS architecture; minimum product exposure: CICS - TOR, AOR, WOR, FOR, CSD, RDOBasic understanding of CICS dynamic routingBasic understanding of CICS Regions and how it is used to communicate with DB2 & MQBasic understanding of z/OS MQ architecture; minimum product exposure MQ - channels & queuesBasic understanding of MQ queue managers/channels and how it is used to communicate with DB2 & CICSUnderstanding and build out of z/OS Connect (dockers, kubernetes, etc.)Provide recommendations for the middleware platform ensuring its stability, reliability, recoverability, security, scalabilityHelp build out a multi-tenancy highly available environment and then ensure continued scalability within the platformParticipate in DR exercises; effectively utilizes recovery control practices; implementing changes to ensure recoverability of platformExperience working with vendor utilities; demonstrate knowledge of monitoring tools availableActively worked on system and application performance tuning and monitoring; recognizing performance implications that the system design has; troubleshoot and diagnose issues; provide tuning recommendations; work with development/management on tuning efforts and implementation of changesHelp identify new tools, technology, or improvements on the middleware platformServe as escalation point when needed; Provide on-call supportAlert appropriate areas of possible impact of change, whether improvements or negative customer exposure to build customer satisfaction; notifies management of problems early in the process; mitigate risk and ensure that back-outs can be done within a specified timeframe delivering on the SLA business requirementsProvide permanent resolution/follow-up for issues; gather enough information to understand the problem correctlyUnderstanding of IBM's strategic software licensing & catalogKnowledge in PL/1, COBOL, REXX, JAVA, or Python, a plusResponsibilities
Monitors the mainframe system hardware/software for performance degradation, connectivity issues, system events and alerts. Updates and manages tickets through resolution with vendors and internal support groups. Tests, analyzes, performs corrective actions, and restores availability and services in a timely and accurate manner to eliminate/reduce application impact. Provides timely notifications to management/outage team and escalate tickets to appropriate internal and external management as needed.Participates in pager rotation to provide 24x7 support for Mainframe Systems (Prod, Test, Development).Plans and performs scheduled changes (patching, maintenance, deployment, decommission, configuration, performance tuning) for all hardware and software used to support the mainframe infrastructure.Provides consultative services to infrastructure and application teams regarding project work, POCs and/or troubleshooting exercises.Contributes to product delivery, influenced by strategic direction across Business Technology and enterprise including investment decisions (i.e., build vs buy) across multiple products. Uses automation, system tools, open-source solutions, observability and 'security first' principles in daily work.Contributes to team agile ceremonies, leads demos and presentations, helps new engineers learn established norms.Bridges desired Business features to BT capabilities and executes groundwork in requirement translations and design. Initiates detailed level solution design approaches across multiple domains, and guides team to achieve desired key software delivery capabilities using automated, coded enterprise and observability.Participates in (internal/external) speaking and advocacy events. Coaches core technology communities and is actively engaged in understanding and researching new technologies.Researches and adopts new technology solutions and ways to build technical capabilities.Continues professional education and creates opportunities for broader engineering teams to learn industry best practices.Provide leadership in mainframe on-line and batch design with an emphasis on high availability design.Provide expertise in performance tuning and enhancements.Participate in a pager rotation to provide 24x7 support for all DFS mainframe environments.Support several major applications (Development, testing, & production installation).Provide mainframe consulting services to infrastructure and application teams on project development.Provide support for managed service team.Research and implement new mainframe technologies to enhance existing infrastructure.Primary Duties & ResponsibilitiesCumulative of prior level plus following:Proactively monitor to prevent and resolve application system performance bottlenecks.Proactively ensure SLAs are maintained and systems are built for sustainability.Understand the technical concepts necessary to do your job effectively and are aware of industry trends in your domain.Consider and build for many different use cases but avoid over-engineering.Determine where to find answers and grow your own knowledge both with and without guidance.QualificationsBachelor's Degree or equivalent experience.5+ years professional experience required.May include:3 years of professional IT experience.3 years experience with at least one OS/hosting platform.3 years experience in performance tuning of application stacks, OSs, DBs, etc.3 years experience with Cloud based PaaS and SaaS platforms and integration points to On Prem infrastructure.3 years experience with virtualization and containerization.3 years experience with monitoring and performance management of systems.3 years experience with Scripting development.Networking knowledge.3 years experience with Identity Platform and tools.Exposure to Infra as Code concepts and tooling Experience with CICD concepts, and tools including GIT, branching strategies and leveraging knowledge to assist in delivering an infrastructure as a product.Experience with modern development and scripting languages.In depth knowledge of immediate systems you work on and some knowledge of adjacent systems.Excellent troubleshooting skills within area of expertise.Understanding of high-availability concepts.Experience with multiple delivery methodologies such as Agile and Waterfall.Compensation Range:
Pay Range - Start: $100,030.00Pay Range - End: $185,770.00Northwestern Mutual pays on a geographic-specific salary structure and placement in the salary range for this position will be determined by a number of factors including the skills, education, training, credentials and experience of the candidate; the scope, complexity as well as the cost of labor in the market; and other conditions of employment. At Northwestern Mutual, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. Please note that the salary range listed in the posting is the standard pay structure. Positions in certain locations (such as California) may provide an increase on the standard pay structure based on the location.Grow your career with a best-in-class company that puts our client’s interests at the center of all we do. Get started now!We are an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age or status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.
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Self-starting and motivated, works under little supervisionAbility to self-manage multiple projectsNetwork with employees, vendors, and outside organizations to help find solutions or opportunities for improvementRegular communications with their peers; Shares information with the awareness of its effect on others; Demonstrate a balance of speaking and listening so that neither is overly dominantCreate technical documents; Review, edit and offer suggestions to others with appropriate oral and written communications. Concise and diplomaticUnderstand waterfall and/or Agile processesTechnical Skills
Demonstrate a thorough working knowledge of the mainframe platform (software / hardware) for CICS and MQUnderstand & perform typical system programmer (SYSPROG) tasks such as: the upgrade & maintenance process, SMP/e, HOLDDATA, early code, target zones/libraries, system libraries, terse files, end of marketing (EOM) and end of life (EOL), review implementation procedures and make recommendations to ensure a smooth product release and system upgradesUnderstand vendor communication protocols/forms when issues arise: PMR, PTF, Hyper fixes, APARBasic understanding of MVS: z/15, CPUs, SYSPLEX, LPAR, coupling facility, zIIPs, general purpose machines, WLM, DVIPA, JCL, PDS, ISPF, SMF, IFCIDs, RMF/CMFBasic understanding of storage: SMS, ACS routine, storage pools, vendors (IBM, Hitachi, etc.)Basic understanding of security: certificates/key rings, RACF, pervasive encryptionWork with management to resolve middleware risks that have been identified by compliance, internal and external auditorsBasic understanding of High Availability: CICSPlex System Manager (CPSM), MQ queue sharing and RLSBasic understanding of z/OS CICS architecture; minimum product exposure: CICS - TOR, AOR, WOR, FOR, CSD, RDOBasic understanding of CICS dynamic routingBasic understanding of CICS Regions and how it is used to communicate with DB2 & MQBasic understanding of z/OS MQ architecture; minimum product exposure MQ - channels & queuesBasic understanding of MQ queue managers/channels and how it is used to communicate with DB2 & CICSUnderstanding and build out of z/OS Connect (dockers, kubernetes, etc.)Provide recommendations for the middleware platform ensuring its stability, reliability, recoverability, security, scalabilityHelp build out a multi-tenancy highly available environment and then ensure continued scalability within the platformParticipate in DR exercises; effectively utilizes recovery control practices; implementing changes to ensure recoverability of platformExperience working with vendor utilities; demonstrate knowledge of monitoring tools availableActively worked on system and application performance tuning and monitoring; recognizing performance implications that the system design has; troubleshoot and diagnose issues; provide tuning recommendations; work with development/management on tuning efforts and implementation of changesHelp identify new tools, technology, or improvements on the middleware platformServe as escalation point when needed; Provide on-call supportAlert appropriate areas of possible impact of change, whether improvements or negative customer exposure to build customer satisfaction; notifies management of problems early in the process; mitigate risk and ensure that back-outs can be done within a specified timeframe delivering on the SLA business requirementsProvide permanent resolution/follow-up for issues; gather enough information to understand the problem correctlyUnderstanding of IBM's strategic software licensing & catalogKnowledge in PL/1, COBOL, REXX, JAVA, or Python, a plusResponsibilities
Monitors the mainframe system hardware/software for performance degradation, connectivity issues, system events and alerts. Updates and manages tickets through resolution with vendors and internal support groups. Tests, analyzes, performs corrective actions, and restores availability and services in a timely and accurate manner to eliminate/reduce application impact. Provides timely notifications to management/outage team and escalate tickets to appropriate internal and external management as needed.Participates in pager rotation to provide 24x7 support for Mainframe Systems (Prod, Test, Development).Plans and performs scheduled changes (patching, maintenance, deployment, decommission, configuration, performance tuning) for all hardware and software used to support the mainframe infrastructure.Provides consultative services to infrastructure and application teams regarding project work, POCs and/or troubleshooting exercises.Contributes to product delivery, influenced by strategic direction across Business Technology and enterprise including investment decisions (i.e., build vs buy) across multiple products. Uses automation, system tools, open-source solutions, observability and 'security first' principles in daily work.Contributes to team agile ceremonies, leads demos and presentations, helps new engineers learn established norms.Bridges desired Business features to BT capabilities and executes groundwork in requirement translations and design. Initiates detailed level solution design approaches across multiple domains, and guides team to achieve desired key software delivery capabilities using automated, coded enterprise and observability.Participates in (internal/external) speaking and advocacy events. Coaches core technology communities and is actively engaged in understanding and researching new technologies.Researches and adopts new technology solutions and ways to build technical capabilities.Continues professional education and creates opportunities for broader engineering teams to learn industry best practices.Provide leadership in mainframe on-line and batch design with an emphasis on high availability design.Provide expertise in performance tuning and enhancements.Participate in a pager rotation to provide 24x7 support for all DFS mainframe environments.Support several major applications (Development, testing, & production installation).Provide mainframe consulting services to infrastructure and application teams on project development.Provide support for managed service team.Research and implement new mainframe technologies to enhance existing infrastructure.Primary Duties & ResponsibilitiesCumulative of prior level plus following:Proactively monitor to prevent and resolve application system performance bottlenecks.Proactively ensure SLAs are maintained and systems are built for sustainability.Understand the technical concepts necessary to do your job effectively and are aware of industry trends in your domain.Consider and build for many different use cases but avoid over-engineering.Determine where to find answers and grow your own knowledge both with and without guidance.QualificationsBachelor's Degree or equivalent experience.5+ years professional experience required.May include:3 years of professional IT experience.3 years experience with at least one OS/hosting platform.3 years experience in performance tuning of application stacks, OSs, DBs, etc.3 years experience with Cloud based PaaS and SaaS platforms and integration points to On Prem infrastructure.3 years experience with virtualization and containerization.3 years experience with monitoring and performance management of systems.3 years experience with Scripting development.Networking knowledge.3 years experience with Identity Platform and tools.Exposure to Infra as Code concepts and tooling Experience with CICD concepts, and tools including GIT, branching strategies and leveraging knowledge to assist in delivering an infrastructure as a product.Experience with modern development and scripting languages.In depth knowledge of immediate systems you work on and some knowledge of adjacent systems.Excellent troubleshooting skills within area of expertise.Understanding of high-availability concepts.Experience with multiple delivery methodologies such as Agile and Waterfall.Compensation Range:
Pay Range - Start: $100,030.00Pay Range - End: $185,770.00Northwestern Mutual pays on a geographic-specific salary structure and placement in the salary range for this position will be determined by a number of factors including the skills, education, training, credentials and experience of the candidate; the scope, complexity as well as the cost of labor in the market; and other conditions of employment. At Northwestern Mutual, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. Please note that the salary range listed in the posting is the standard pay structure. Positions in certain locations (such as California) may provide an increase on the standard pay structure based on the location.Grow your career with a best-in-class company that puts our client’s interests at the center of all we do. Get started now!We are an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age or status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.
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