z/OS Systems Programmer (3rd party Software Support Technician)

Quadrant, Inc.•Washington, DC

9h•Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking an experienced z/OS Systems Programmer (3rd party Software Support Technician) to join our team in Washington, DC. The ideal candidate will have a Secret clearance and extensive experience with IBM z/OS and Mainframe environments. This role involves planning, implementing, sustaining, and providing technical guidance for the installation, upgrade, and maintenance of IBM z/OS 3rd party software and utilities. You will be responsible for managing the technical lifecycle of assigned z/OS software products, troubleshooting installation issues using IBM SMP/e, and resolving software abends using system logs, traces, and dumps. Additionally, you will provide customer support, ensure system resource availability, manage shared storage, and support software products in a parallel sysplex environment. A key part of this role includes ensuring software compliance with the mainframe OS, performing release analysis outside of production, and adhering to change management processes. You will also develop and execute test plans, coordinate with other teams on software integrations, assess impacts and risks of changes, and work collaboratively in a team environment. The ability to work independently, conduct research, and train junior employees is also essential.

Requirements

Secret clearance required
Experienced z/OS Systems Programmer (3rd party Software Support Technician)
Experience with IBM z/OS
Mainframe experience
IAT Level 2 certification: (CCNA-Security, CSA+, GICSP, CompTIA Security+ CE, SSCP)

Responsibilities

Plan, implement, sustain, and provide technical guidance for product installations, upgrades, and maintenance of IBM z/OS 3rd party software/utilities.
Initiate calls to vendors to ascertain proper prerequisite software levels, report problems, and receive follow-through procedures.
Assist in the management of the technical life cycle of assigned z/OS software products, packages, or subsystems.
Use IBM SMP/e to receive and apply z/OS software on an IBM Mainframe, interpreting SMP/e output messages to resolve installation issues.
Utilize IBM system utilities (IEBGENER, IEBCOPY, IDCAMS) to implement software installations and upgrades.
Use system logs, create and interpret system traces and dumps, job output, and monitoring tools to diagnose and resolve IBM z/OS product abends.
Provide customer support (internal and external) on questions and incidents related to mainframe software maintenance.
Ensure all required system resources for software installation are available.
Ensure shared storage resources and management tools are properly maintained.
Provide technical, engineering, and consulting services/support for running software products in a parallel sysplex environment.
Ensure installed software products are compliant with the current mainframe OS.
Perform new release/version analysis outside of the production environment before deployment.
Initiate release processes based on approved Release Management Change Advisory Board (RMCAB) change requests.
Develop test plans, test cases, and test data for release testing, including security compliance, functional, integration, performance, and regression testing.
Coordinate with other system programmers and managers on software product interfaces and impacts.
Determine impacts and risks to changes before implementation.
Work in a team environment and share developed solutions for approval and implementation.
Adhere to and participate in the organization's Change Management and CAB policies and procedures.
Work independently, conduct research, and provide training for lower-level employees.