Lead Director - Mainframe Systems Engineering

CVS Health•Island, KY

18h

About The Position

CVS Health is seeking a transformational technology leader to own the end-to-end strategy for their IBM zSystems (Mainframe) platform, which is one of the most consequential and complex infrastructure environments in U.S. healthcare. This platform processes millions of transactions daily and sits at the core of the company's ability to serve patients, members, and customers reliably and securely. The Lead Director - Mainframe Systems Engineer is a senior leadership and Executive role, not a hands-on engineering position. In this capacity, the individual will be responsible for setting strategic direction, shaping organizational design, and delivering platform modernization at an enterprise scale. The role involves leading through a team of deep subject matter experts who provide the technical depth, with the incumbent's primary value being in defining what excellence looks like, building the team and culture to achieve it, and connecting platform performance to critical business outcomes at the executive level.

Requirements

10+ years of enterprise platform engineering experience, with meaningful exposure to IBM zSystems (z/OS) or comparable mission-critical environments such as HP NonStop or large-scale Unix/Linux systems
6+ years of progressive leadership experience managing engineering teams through transformation, including direct reports, contractors, and matrixed organizations in complex enterprise settings
At least 5+ years of technical literacy across z/OS architecture, mainframe operational concepts, and security frameworks (RACF, ACF2, or TopSecret) to set realistic expectations, evaluate your team's work, and engage credibly with subject matter experts
A demonstrated track record of delivering large-scale platform modernization, infrastructure automation, or technology transformation programs, on time, within budget, and with measurable business impact
Executive-level communication and influencing skills, with the ability to navigate competing stakeholder priorities and build alignment across technology and business leadership
Experience owning significant technology budgets and managing strategic vendor relationships, including contract negotiation and long-term roadmap alignment

Nice To Haves

Deep hands-on background with IBM zSystems, including system programming, LPAR management, or mainframe application development
Experience in healthcare or financial services transaction processing environments where platform reliability carries regulatory and patient safety implications
Familiarity with AIOps platforms, machine learning applications in infrastructure management, or AI-driven security operations
Experience establishing enterprise-wide SLAs, engineering performance metrics, and organizational design frameworks for large technical teams
ITIL Foundation or IBM Certified System Administrator (z/OS) certification

Responsibilities

Define and execute the long-term engineering strategy for IBM zSystems, encompassing platform modernization, automation frameworks, and the adoption of AIOps and AI-enabled operations capabilities
Build, develop, and retain a high-performing organization of platform engineers, systems administrators, and operations specialists, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement
Own enterprise platform reliability, operational resilience, and system availability for mission-critical transaction processing, including SLA governance and incident management
Lead security-by-design principles, compliance engineering, and vulnerability remediation across all mainframe platforms and tooling
Champion integration initiatives connecting mainframe systems with cloud platforms, APIs, and modern application architectures to support broader enterprise modernization goals
Manage strategic vendor relationships, including IBM and automation platform providers, and exercise stewardship over technology budgets and investment priorities
Drive cross-functional collaboration with architecture, security, application, and business teams to ensure the platform supports and accelerates enterprise objectives
Serve as an executive-level advocate for the mainframe platform, translating complex engineering strategy into business value narratives for senior leadership and board-level audiences when required