Mainframe Engineering Manager

First Citizens Bank•Raleigh, NC

About The Position

The Mainframe Engineering Manager leads the engineering, automation, reliability, security, and modernization of the enterprise mainframe platform. This role is responsible for managing a team of mainframe engineers, systems programmers, and platform specialists supporting IBM Z infrastructure that hosts critical business applications and data. The manager drives platform stability, operational excellence, security compliance, automation, capacity planning, and modernization initiatives while integrating mainframe services into enterprise cloud, DevOps, AIOps, and infrastructure engineering strategies. This leader partners closely with application development, cybersecurity, architecture, cloud engineering, vendors, and business stakeholders to ensure the mainframe remains a secure, resilient, and cost-effective strategic platform.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree and 8 years' experience OR High School Diploma or GED/Equivalent and 12 years' experience in Applications development, analysis or engineering
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
10+ years of IBM Z infrastructure experience.
5+ years of people leadership experience.
Experience leading large-scale modernization initiatives.
Experience integrating mainframe environments with cloud platforms.
Technical experience with GDPS and high availability solutions
Technical experience with Parallel Sysplex architecture
Technical experience with Metro/Global Mirror
Technical experience with Encryption technologies
Technical experience with Cyber resilience and recovery practices
Technical experience with Automation & DevOps
Technical experience with IBM Watson/Frontier AI
Technical experience with Hybrid cloud integration

Nice To Haves

IBM Certified System Programmer
IBM Z Professional Certifications
ITIL
AWS/Azure Architect (preferred)
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

Responsibilities

Lead and develop a team of Mainframe Systems Engineers, Systems Programmers, and Technical Specialists.
Define and execute the strategic roadmap for IBM Z infrastructure and related platform services.
Drive workforce planning, talent development, succession planning, and skills transformation.
Establish operational excellence metrics and service level objectives (SLOs).
Manage budgets, vendor relationships, software licensing, and third-party service providers.
Communicate platform strategy, risks, and opportunities to executive leadership.
Implement Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) and Platform Engineering principles.
Drive operational efficiency through automation and self-service capabilities.
Lead modernization initiatives integrating mainframe workloads with Hybrid cloud platforms, API ecosystems, Enterprise integration platforms, and Containerized environments.
Support DevOps and CI/CD practices across distributed and mainframe environments.
Champion Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and platform automation.
Evaluate emerging technologies including AIOps, observability, and AI-enabled operations.
Oversee disaster recovery and business continuity strategies.
Ensure compliance with RTO and RPO objectives.
Lead high-availability architecture planning.
Manage capacity, performance tuning, and workload optimization.
Conduct root cause analysis for major incidents.