CICS Systems Programmer Sr. - ITS5

At the State of Minnesota, employees play a critical role in developing policies, providing essential services, and working to improve the well-being and quality of life for all Minnesotans. The State of Minnesota is committed to equity and inclusion, and invests in employees by providing benefits, support resources, and training and development opportunities.

Join the 2,800+ professionals of Minnesota IT Services (https://mn.gov/mnit/about-mnit/careers/) (MNIT) who connect Minnesotans to services that will improve their lives. This position will be part of the Enterprise Services team, which delivers a full suite of services to state agencies, boards, councils, and commissions, and many central services to local government partners.

As a CICS Systems Programmer Sr., you will provide strategic technical leadership and expert support for MNIT's online transaction processing software, including IBM CICS and IBM MQ (MQSeries) on z/OS. Lead efforts in installation, maintenance, performance monitoring, and issue resolution to ensure high availability and reliability of critical systems. Collaborate with application teams to support development of online applications, and deliver training and mentorship to staff on mainframe system software support, fostering technical growth and operational excellence.

This is a Remote Worker position (https://mn.gov/mmb-stat/policies/1447-remoteworker.pdf) , where the employees home address shall serve as their official work location and must be located within the continental United States. Remote work is a condition of employment., It is the policy of Minnesota IT Services that a successful candidate must pass all legally required checks prior to employment which may consist of the following:

• SEMA4 Records Check (applies to current and past state employees only)
• Criminal History Check
• Reference Check
• Social Security and Address Verification
• Education Verification
• CJIS Background Check
• Other legally required checks

Minnesota IT Services does not participate in E-Verify. Minnesota IT Services will not sponsor applicant for work visas, including F-1 STEM OPT extensions. All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

Candidates must clearly demonstrate all of the following qualifications in their resume. Resume tips here. (https://mn.gov/mnit/about-mnit/careers/hiringprocess.jsp) :

Position requires a minimum of five (5) years of IT related experience in mainframe operating system and maintenance., * Skilled in installing and maintaining CICS and MQSeries on z/OS, including running commands or using MQ Explorer to manipulate Channels and Queues.

• Proficient in resolving CICS issues, such as looping tasks and storage shortages.
• Knowledgeable in IBM Job Control Language (JCL), JES2, (SMP/E or z/OSMF).
• Capable of providing leadership and guidance to both technical and non-technical staff.
• Ability to deliver effective verbal or written messages that facilitate a mutual understanding on both parties.
• Customer service skills that include active listening, empathy, and problem-solving.

Education in Information Technology (IT) or an IT related field may substitute for experience as follows: a master's degree for eighteen (18) months of experience; a bachelor's degree for one (1) year; and an associate's degree for six (6) months.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of security within CICS and MQSeries (ACF2/RACF).
• Ability to manage and maintain CICS definitions.
• Knowledge of CICSPlex and CICS Transaction Gateway and able to analyze CICS Transaction and system dumps.
• Knowledge of mainframe z/OS operating systems and associated applications and tools running on the z/OS platform.
• Knowledge of Unix System Services, and UNIX command syntax.
• Familiar with installation and use of third-party products for CICS.
• Familiar with privileged access/user management (ETF/A).
• Ability to work well with all kinds of technical and non-technical personnel.