Senior Mainframe Engineer (Systems Programmer)

Acuity Insurance is seeking a Senior Mainframe Engineer to lead the design, implementation, and optimization of their mainframe systems. The role involves providing technical leadership, managing complex system issues, and mentoring junior engineers while ensuring performance, scalability, and security across the infrastructure.

Responsibilities:

• Leads the implementation and optimization of mainframe systems and storage which meet performance, security, scalability, and availability requirements
• Works with mainframe engineers and cross-functional teams to design and integrate systems into cohesive infrastructures
• Provides expertise on best practices for system architecture, ensuring solutions align with business goals and technical standards
• Leads lifecycle planning and maintenance for hardware and software, including refreshes and major system upgrades, to ensure systems remain reliable, up to date, and minimally disrupted
• Drives large-scale infrastructure projects, including new deployments, migrations, and upgrades
• Proactively monitors performance of critical systems to ensure adherence to SLAs and business objectives
• Identifies bottlenecks, resource constraints, and inefficiencies, applying corrective actions to optimize performance and availability
• Implements advanced system tuning techniques and fine-tunes configurations for maximum efficiency
• Designs automated monitoring, alerting, and reporting solutions to improve reliability
• Leads the diagnosis and resolution of complex system issues involving hardware, software, networking, or outages
• Coordinates incident response efforts and drives post-incident reviews to identify root causes and prevent recurrence
• Develops and maintains incident management processes for timely, effective resolution of system failures
• Takes ownership of system security and compliance, ensuring enterprise systems meet regulatory standards and internal security policies
• Helps design and implement advanced security measures including RACF configurations, certificate management, OMVS permissions, and other security integrations
• Leads risk assessment, vulnerability management, and remediation across systems
• Partners with security teams to ensure ongoing protection against emerging threats
• Develops and maintains comprehensive documentation of system configurations, architecture, and troubleshooting procedures
• Develops and maintains comprehensive architectural documentation, including system diagrams and data flows
• Establishes documentation standards for junior engineers to follow and ensures knowledge is shared across teams
• Leads disaster recovery planning and execution, ensuring business continuity for critical systems
• Manages enterprise backup and recovery processes, validating that data is protected and recoverable
• Works with other engineers, vendors, business analysts and stakeholders to ensure smooth system implementation and integration
• Actively participates in architectural discussions, providing system infrastructure expertise
• Provides technical leadership during application deployments, ensuring seamless system integration
• Promotes cross-team collaboration and fosters a growth-oriented culture
• Mentors Mainframe Engineer I and II team members, providing hands-on guidance and technical coaching
• Reviews work, designs, and automation code from junior engineers, offering constructive feedback
• Leads knowledge-sharing workshops and promotes continuous professional development within the team
• Pursues certifications and professional training to stay current with emerging technologies and industry standards
• Demonstrates regular and predictable attendance
• Complete mandatory company training
• Perform other duties as assigned

Requirements:

• Bachelor's or Associate Degree in Computer Science, MIS or equivalent and continued field specific education
• 8+ years practical experience in mainframe operations, technical support, information security and systems programming with 3-5 years of that time in a lead capacity
• Expert technical proficiency with a range of tools and technologies, such as: Operating Systems: z/OS including MVS and OMVS, Scripting & Coding: REXX, JCL, Bash, COBOL, Monitoring tools: SMF, RMF, SDSF, and other monitoring software, Version Control: Git, Job Schedulers: ZEKESecurity: Certificate Management, RACF, OMVS Permissions, Networking: TCP/IP, VIPA, Backup, Recovery, and Cyber Resiliency: Tape backups, IBM data replication technologies, Data immutability
• Excellent analytical and strategic thinker with the ability to break down highly complex problems and identify practical solutions
• Demonstrated leadership in managing system initiatives, mentoring junior engineers, and coordinating cross-functional teams
• Excellent communicator, capable of collaborating across multiple teams and influencing architectural decisions
• Committed to continuous learning, professional development, and adopting emerging technologies
• Able to manage priorities under pressure and lead incident response efforts when required
• Excellence in creating and updating documentation, test plans, and disaster recovery procedures
• Passion for delivering high-quality and reliable results
• Skilled mentor and coach, experienced in guiding junior team members and fostering team growth
• Proactive mindset with a focus on process optimization
• Available to work outside standard hours as needed for changes or upgrades
• On-call availability for critical system incidents as needed