Middleware Messaging Engineer

We are seeking a Middleware Messaging Engineer to join our Middleware Messaging Products team, supporting and evolving the bank's enterprise messaging platforms, including IBM MQ and Confluent Kafka. This role focuses on the deployment, automation, and operational support of messaging services running in containerized and cloud environments. The ideal candidate will have hands on experience with OpenShift/Kubernetes, CI/CD automation, and AWS, along with practical exposure to MQ and Kafka in production settings. You will work closely with platform, infrastructure, and application teams to deliver reliable, scalable, and secure messaging solutions that meet the operational and regulatory requirements of a financial institution., Following is a summary of the essential functions for this job. Other duties may be performed, both major and minor, which are not mentioned below. Specific activities may change from time to time.

1. Performs problem tracking, diagnosis and root-cause analysis, replication, troubleshooting, and resolution for complex issues. In this capacity, performs programming and debugging activities.
2. Responds to issues in a timely manner by receiving and investigating incidents or service tickets.
3. Analyzes and observes trends with technical issues and develops recommendations for long- term improvements.
4. Documents all relevant end-user interactions and steps taken to resolve incidents.
5. Has occasional contact with end-users.
6. Communicates status of issue resolution to internal customers.
7. May engage and manage outside vendors.
8. Applies in-depth knowledge of application support and an understanding of best practices.
9. Typically leads moderately complex projects and participates in larger, more complex initiatives.
10. Solves complex technical and operational problems.
11. Acts as a resource for teammates with less experience.
12. May have people management responsibilities for a small team., Able to work all hours scheduled, including overtime as directed by manager/supervisor and required by business need.

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

1. Bachelor's degree and five years of experience in development or application support or an equivalent combination of education and work experience.
2. In- depth knowledge in information systems and ability to identify, apply, and implement best practices.
3. Understanding of key business processes and competitive strategies related to the IT function.
4. Ability to plan and manage projects.
5. Ability to solve complex problems by applying best practices.
6. Ability to provide direction and mentor less experienced teammates.
7. Ability to interpret and convey complex, difficult, or sensitive information., * Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.

• 6+ years of experience in middleware, platform engineering, DevOps, or related technical roles.
• Experience supporting or engineering IBM MQ in production environments, including:
• Native HA deployments on OpenShift/Kubernetes
• Queue manager and channel configuration in clustered environments
• Understanding of IBM MQ security models , including authentication, authorization (OAM), TLS certificate usage, and secure channel configuration
• Operational support, troubleshooting, and basic performance tuning
• Experience supporting or engineering Confluent Kafka platforms, including:
• Topic creation, configuration, and lifecycle management
• Understanding of partitions, replication, retention policies, and consumer groups
• Exposure to Kafka security concepts such as ACLs, TLS, and authentication
• Familiarity with stream processing frameworks , such as Apache Flink , for real-time data processing use cases (operational or integration experience).
• Strong hands-on experience with OpenShift and/or Kubernetes , including deploying and operating containerized workloads.
• Experience designing, building, and maintaining CI/CD pipelines , preferably using GitLab .
• Practical experience with automation frameworks , ideally Ansible Automation Platform (AAP) .
• Experience working with AWS services (e.g., EC2, EKS, S3, IAM, networking) in support of platform or middleware workloads.
• Experience with monitoring, logging, or observability tools such as Dynatrace, Splunk, or Grafana .
• Background working in financial services or other regulated environments .
• Scripting experience (e.g., Bash or Python ) to support automation and operational efficiencies., Frequently (25% - 50% of the time)

Lifting

Up to 25 lbs.

Visual / Audio / Speaking

Able to access and interpret client information received from the computer and able to hear and speak with individuals in person and on the phone.

Manual Dexterity / Keyboarding

Able to work standard office equipment, including PC keyboard and mouse, copy/fax machines, and printers.