Z/os System Administrator
Remotew position. No visa transfer or sponsorship available. 1099 Preferred. We are seeking an experienced Senior z/OS Systems Administrator to support and maintain a large-scale IBM mainframe environment. The ideal candidate will be a senior-level z/OS professional with deep hands-on expertise in SMP/E, REXX scripting, and z/OSMF, along with strong knowledge of z/OS systems administration, maintenance, upgrades, troubleshooting, and automation. This position requires an individual who can work independently, troubleshoot complex mainframe system issues, perform system-level maintenance and upgrades, and develop automation to improve the reliability and efficiency of the z/OS environment.
Key Responsibilities
Install, configure, maintain, and support IBM z/OS operating systems and related system software. Perform z/OS upgrades, maintenance, system modifications, and lifecycle management. Provide advanced administration and troubleshooting of z/OS environments. Use SMP/E (System Modification Program/Extended) extensively for installation, maintenance, upgrades, PTFs, APARs, HOLDDATA processing, and management of IBM and third-party software. Analyze SMP/E environments, zones, CSI datasets, SYSMODs, and maintenance requirements. Develop and maintain REXX scripts to automate z/OS administration, monitoring, reporting, maintenance, and operational processes. Identify manual processes that can be improved through REXX-based automation. Administer and support IBM z/OS Management Facility (z/OSMF). Configure and maintain z/OSMF services, workflows, plugins, and system management functions. Utilize z/OSMF for system management, configuration, monitoring, and automation. Perform system problem determination, root-cause analysis, and resolution of complex z/OS issues. Monitor system performance, availability, capacity, and overall system health. Work with operations, application, storage, network, security, and database teams to resolve mainframe infrastructure issues. Participate in system upgrades, migrations, disaster recovery testing, and infrastructure modernization initiatives. Maintain system documentation, operating procedures, configuration standards, and technical runbooks. Provide technical leadership and mentoring to other mainframe systems administrators. Participate in production support and on-call activities as required. Must-Haves === 1. 10+ years of hands-on SMP/E experience in enterprise IBM z/OS environments. 2. 10+ years of hands-on REXX scripting experience, including development of automation for systems administration and operational tasks. 3. Strong hands-on experience with IBM z/OSMF (z/OS Management Facility). 4. Extensive experience administering and supporting IBM z/OS in large enterprise environments. 5. Strong knowledge of z/OS system architecture, configuration, maintenance, and troubleshooting. 6. Experience installing and maintaining IBM and third-party mainframe software. 7. Extensive experience applying PTFs, APARs, maintenance packages, and software upgrades using SMP/E. 8. Strong understanding of SMP/E CSI structures, zones, SYSMOD processing, HOLDDATA, RECEIVE, APPLY, ACCEPT, and RESTORE processes. 9. Strong knowledge of JCL, TSO/ISPF, UNIX System Services (USS), and z/OS utilities. 10. Ability to diagnose complex system problems using z/OS logs, dumps, system messages, and diagnostic tools. 11. Strong understanding of mainframe change-management and production-control processes. 12. Excellent analytical, troubleshooting, documentation, and communication skills. 13. Ability to work independently and take ownership of complex technical issues.