Staff Systems Engineer, z/OS & Performance and Capacity Planning

Visa • Highlands Ranch, CO

22d • Hybrid

About The Position

We are seeking a highly skilled Mainframe Performance and Capacity Engineer with over five years of dedicated experience in MVS, z-OS, z-TPF, and z-VM environments. The ideal candidate will be responsible for ensuring the optimal performance, availability, and efficiency of our enterprise mainframe systems. This role involves proactive monitoring, in-depth analysis, and strategic planning to support critical business applications and ensure service level agreements are met. The engineer will play a crucial role in troubleshooting complex performance issues, forecasting future capacity needs, and contributing to the modernization and stability of our mainframe infrastructure.

Requirements

• 5+ years of relevant work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or at least 2 years of work experience with an Advanced degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 0 years of work experience with a PhD, OR 8+ years of relevant work experience.
• 5+ years of relevant work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or at least 2 years of work experience with an Advanced degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD)
• In-depth knowledge and hands-on experience with MVS, z-OS, z-TPF, and z-VM, including a strong understanding of their respective architectures, Sysplex environments, and internal workings.
• Proficiency with mainframe monitoring and reporting tools such as RMF, SMF, Intelli Magic, and Omegamon.
• Strong experience with SAS and MXG for performance data analysis and reporting.
• Strong knowledge of key mainframe subsystems including CICS, Db2, IMS, and MQ.
• Proven expertise in mainframe performance tuning and workload management, including experience with WLM.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to perform root cause analysis for complex issues.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to present technical information to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Nice To Haves

• 6 or more years of work experience with a Bachelors Degree or 4 or more years of relevant experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or up to 3 years of relevant experience with a PhD
• Familiarity with z-VM capacity planning is highly preferrable.
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, or a related field is preferred, or equivalent work experience.

Responsibilities

• Performance Management: Proactively monitor and analyze the performance of z-OS, MVS, z-TPF, and z-VM systems to identify and resolve bottlenecks. This includes monitoring CPU, memory, I-O, and storage subsystems to ensure optimal resource utilization and conducting trend analysis to ensure Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are met.
• Capacity Planning: Forecast future mainframe resource requirements based on business growth, new application deployments, and workload trends. Develop and maintain capacity plans for processors, storage, and the network, providing recommendations for hardware and software upgrades.
• System Tuning: Perform detailed performance analysis and tuning of the operating systems, subsystems (CICS, Db2, IMS, MQ), and applications to improve efficiency and response times. This includes tuning WLM policies, I-O subsystems, and other system parameters to optimize workloads.
• Troubleshooting and Problem Resolution: Act as a subject matter expert for diagnosing and resolving complex mainframe performance issues. This involves analyzing system dumps and working closely with application development and support teams to find the root cause of incidents.
• Reporting and Analysis: Develop and maintain performance and capacity reports for management and technical teams. Utilize tools such as RMF, SMF, SAS, and MXG to collect, analyze, and present data, providing actionable insights.
• z-VM and z-TPF Specific Duties: For z-VM environments, focus on managing virtual-to-real memory ratios, monitoring virtual machine performance, and analyzing steal time to ensure efficient workload consolidation.In z-TPF environments, monitor message traffic, program activity, and file storage, utilizing performance analysis tools to maintain high transaction throughput.
• Collaboration: Work collaboratively with infrastructure, operations, and application teams to ensure the reliability and performance of mission-critical workloads. Provide technical guidance and consultation on performance-related matters.
• Disaster Recovery: Support and participate in disaster recovery planning and testing to ensure the timely recovery of mainframe services.

Benefits

• Visa has a comprehensive benefits package for which this position may be eligible that includes Medical, Dental, Vision, 401 (k), FSA/HSA, Life Insurance, Paid Time Off, and Wellness Program.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees