Mainframe z/OS Systems Programmer

• Mentor enable and teach peers to be self‑sufficient within the mainframe platform
• Apply engineering standard methodologies to analyze design and maintain z/OS system‑level solutions
• Leverage established standards best practices and automation to support mission‑critical mainframe workloads
• Identify complex system‑level problems and implement reliable supportable solutions in a highly regulated production environment
• Review verify and validate system‑level changes configurations and automation introduced into production
• Drive continuous improvement across reliability availability performance security and operational efficiency
• Develop maintain and execute disaster recovery and redundancy strategies
• Partners with vendors and enterprise teams on emerging best practices patterns and technologies
• Proactively learn emerging platforms and related technologies
• Establish and maintain best practices related to compliance security privacy and legal requirements
• Anticipate deviations from standard practices and determine practical paths forward
• Track industry trends relevant to the domain and apply them where appropriate
• Break down complex problems into manageable components and help others do the same

• Perform hands‑on z/OS system administration including IPLs system startup/shutdown parameter tuning and system recovery
• Plan execute and validate IBM and ISV software installs and upgrades using z/OSMF Software Instances and Workflows
• Manage SMP/E environments including PTFs HOLDDATA USERMODs and consolidation builds
• Install analyze and modify system exits and USERMODs including assembler updates when required
• Build and maintain system‑resident DASD volumes system libraries and reproducible system builds
• Configure and administer JES2
• Administer RACF security including users groups profiles access controls and policy enforcement
• Author debug and optimize JCL for batch processing
• Analyze SMF/RMF data for accounting capacity planning and system performance tuning
• Administer and tune DFSMS components including DFSMShsm and DFSMSrmm
• Configure and troubleshoot TCP/IP for z/OS and associated services
• Develop automation and tools using REXX CLIST and UNIX System Services scripting
• Use monitoring tools such as BMC MainView and/or Intellimagic Vision
• Support mainframe hardware environments including HMC operations CPC/LPAR configuration and IBM zSeries platforms
• Participate in on‑call rotations and ITIL‑aligned incident change and problem management
• Coordinate with vendors and ISVs for licensing problem determination and PTF coordination
• Create and maintain documentation runbooks SOPs and operational procedures
• Mentor and train junior staff on z/OS engineering and operational practices

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
• At least 4 years of relevant experience
• 5+ years of professional IT experience primarily focused on enterprise mainframe platforms
• Experience applying DevOps concepts Agile methodologies and automation in mainframe environments
• Experience monitoring and tuning performance of large‑scale systems
• Working knowledge of scripting or programming concepts for automation
• Familiarity with authentication authorization certificates and vulnerability management

• Extensive hands‑on experience as a z/OS Systems Programmer in production environments
• Strong knowledge of z/OS internals JES2 RACF SMP/E and system libraries
• Proven expertise in SMF/RMF‑based performance tuning capacity planning and problem determination
• Experience with DASD tape management and SAN technologies including Hyperswap
• Proficiency with REXX CLIST and USS shell scripting (additional languages a plus)
• Experience supporting Sysplex and Coupling Facility environments (preferred)
• Exposure to subsystems such as CICS DB2 and MQ and their integration with z/OS
• Knowledge of PKI/SSL LDAP integration Kerberos and mainframe security hardening
• Experience with z/OSMF Ansible or automation/orchestration tooling for mainframe lifecycle management
• Familiarity with cloud‑to‑mainframe integration or CI/CD concepts as applied to z/OS
• Strong troubleshooting documentation and communication skills under sustained production pressure

• Communicates complex technical information clearly across both technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Designs and supports systems with a strong customer‑first mindset particularly for mission‑critical platforms.
• Designs implements and maintains enterprise‑class hardware system software networks and data storage platforms.
• Uses monitoring and performance tools to diagnose optimize and stabilize system performance.
• Demonstrates deep expertise in operating system architecture internals and resource management.
• Develops maintains and documents complex programs scripts and automation.
• Resolves complex technical issues and drives alignment on durable solutions in production environments.

• Flexible work schedules
• Concierge service
• Comprehensive benefits
• Employee resource groups

What We Do

You’ll Like It Here At Northwestern Mutual we believe that our lives and our work matter. And that doing what’s right is good for everyone. We follow through by designing tech that improves the community and cultivating creative ways to make finance accessible anywhere. These guiding principles have allowed our company to grow for more than 160 years. Here you’ll be with a team who emphasizes integrity and prioritizes security to design experiences that better everyone. You’ll work in cross functional teams to create optimal solutions that are rooted in innovative strategy and thoughtful execution. And you’re provided development tools and opportunities to become a leader all with the support of a collaborative team. You’ll be surrounded in a culture that values innovation and works to always evolve to stay ahead of trends and client needs. We are intentional in seeking out team members who will challenge us. Our employees choose us for the career opportunities commitment to philanthropy and desire to have a meaningful impact in the lives of our clients. You have career passions and goals. We have ambition and opportunity for you to grow your future in tech. Discover today: https://careers.northwesternmutual.com/

Why Work With Us

We invest in our people. We know careers are about choices so we provide intentional opportunity. Here you can build creative ways to make finance accessible anywhere and revolutionize traditional processes. As a mutual company our focus is our people — whether professional development or investments in the community. 

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