Mainframe Systems Programmer

Capstone IT is helping our client find a Senior Mainframe Systems Programmer / AMI Ops Automation Engineer who will lead the move of the company’s mainframe automation from AF/OPERATOR to BMC AMI Ops Automation and then own that environment going forward. Day to day, this person installs, configures, upgrades, and troubleshoots AMI Ops Automation, analyzes existing AF/OPERATOR rules and decides how each one moves over, maintains vendor software with SMP/E, works directly with BMC, Broadcom, IBM, and Rocket on upgrades and problems, diagnoses complex z/OS incidents from logs, SYSOUT, and dumps, and supports Sysplex and disaster recovery work. The role carries a 24/7 on-call rotation.

Top 4 Skills

1. BMC AMI Ops Automation - deep hands-on admin: install/setup, upgrades, configuration, troubleshooting, support (formerly MainView AutoOPERATOR).

2. Mainframe automation migration - ideally AF/OPERATOR to AMI Ops Automation; comparable enterprise automation migrations considered.

3. SMP/E and z/OS systems programming - installing and maintaining vendor-supplied z/OS software.

4. ISV product ownership - independently supporting BMC, Broadcom, IBM, Rocket, or similar mainframe products.

Responsibilities

Automation migration

• Lead/support the AF/OPERATOR to AMI Ops Automation migration.
• Analyze existing AF/OPERATOR automation and map how each piece transitions into AMI Ops.
• Develop and maintain mainframe automation going forward.

Product and vendor ownership

• Install, configure, upgrade, maintain, and troubleshoot AMI Ops Automation.
• Own vendor-supplied mainframe products; install and maintain them with SMP/E.
• Work independently with BMC and other ISVs on upgrades and technical issues.

Incident and problem management

• Diagnose complex mainframe incidents using system logs, SYSOUT, dumps, and diagnostic data.
• Identify root cause and put corrective and preventive actions in place.
• Participate in the 24/7 on-call rotation.

Resiliency

• Support Sysplex environments.
• Participate in DR planning and execution: DR setup, IPL testing, replication technologies, DR events.
• Work independently while collaborating with the wider mainframe infrastructure team., The client runs mission-critical workloads on z/OS and has automated its console and operations with AF/OPERATOR, the legacy automation product that came from Candle and was later owned by IBM. They have chosen BMC AMI Ops Automation as the replacement. This hire is the technical owner of that project: they stand up and upgrade AMI Ops Automation, inventory the existing AF/OPERATOR rules and REXX, decide what gets rebuilt, retired, or redesigned, and get it into production without breaking startup, shutdown, IPL, or recovery automation.

After the migration, the role becomes the long-term owner of the automation layer and a group of vendor products. The JD stresses independence: this person is expected to open and drive cases with BMC, Broadcom, IBM, and Rocket on their own, read dumps, and fix root causes. The on-call rotation and DR/IPL work indicate a small sysprog team where each engineer carries a broad load.

Must have

• Strong hands-on BMC AMI Ops Automation experience, including setup and upgrades (not just usage).
• Mainframe (z/OS) systems programming experience.
• SMP/E knowledge.
• Experience owning vendor-supplied mainframe products and working with ISVs (BMC, Broadcom, IBM, Rocket).
• Strong mainframe troubleshooting skills; able to own problems and drive vendors to resolution.
• Willingness to learn unfamiliar technologies.
• Willingness to participate in 24/7 on-call.

Nice to have (highly preferred)

• Direct AF/OPERATOR to AMI Ops Automation migration experience.
• Sysplex experience.
• REXX / CLIST.
• Assembler and/or COBOL.
• Mainframe disaster recovery, IPL testing, replication technologies.
• Complex incident diagnosis using dumps, SYSOUT, logs, and diagnostic data.

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Vision insurance