Mainframe Senior Architect specializing in IBM mainframe

September 23, 2026

Job Position: Mainframe Senior Architect specializing in IBM mainframe

Location: 100% Remote

Type: Contract role
Position Overview
We are seeking an experienced Mainframe Senior Architect specializing in IBM mainframe performance and capacity management. This is a highly technical, hands-on role responsible for maintaining and optimizing the performance, scalability, stability, and cost efficiency of a large IBM zEnterprise mainframe environment.
This position is approximately 80% IBM mainframe performance management and 20% capacity planning.
The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in IBM z/OS performance, real-time performance monitoring and tuning, Workload Manager (WLM), SMF/RMF data analysis, and large-scale Parallel Sysplex environments.

This person will analyze system and workload performance, identify and resolve bottlenecks, optimize resource utilization, and forecast future infrastructure requirements while balancing performance with cost.
Key Responsibilities

Monitor, analyze, troubleshoot, and optimize IBM z/OS mainframe performance across large, complex environments.
Perform real-time analysis of CPU, memory, storage, workload, and transaction performance.
Identify root causes of performance degradation and resolve bottlenecks during critical or high-volume processing periods.
Tune and optimize Workload Manager (WLM) policies and workload configurations.
Analyze and interpret SMF and RMF data to identify performance trends and opportunities for optimization.
Evaluate the performance impact of major mainframe workloads and subsystems, including Db2, CICS, IMS, and MQ.
Work within multi-LPAR and Parallel Sysplex environments.
Analyze general processor and zIIP utilization and configuration.
Perform capacity forecasting and modeling based on workload trends, business cycles, and anticipated growth.
Forecast future MIPS/MSU and infrastructure requirements.
Support mainframe cost optimization, including understanding IBM software pricing models and infrastructure costs.
Perform SCRT (Sub-Capacity Reporting Tool) processing and related analysis.
Develop reporting, dashboards, and performance analysis using tools such as SAS/MXG, Excel, OMEGAMON, IntelliMagic, REXX, and JCL.
Partner with application developers, database administrators, infrastructure teams, DevOps, and leadership to communicate performance findings and recommendations.
Develop preventative strategies to maintain system stability, availability, and low latency during peak workloads.
Provide technical leadership and mentoring in mainframe performance and capacity management.

Required Qualifications

Extensive hands-on experience with IBM mainframe performance management and tuning.
Strong expertise with IBM z/OS and IBM Z architecture.
Experience working in large multi-LPAR, Parallel Sysplex environments.
Deep knowledge of Workload Manager (WLM) configuration and tuning.
Strong experience analyzing SMF and RMF performance data.
Experience monitoring and optimizing CPU, memory, storage, and workload utilization.
Strong understanding of Db2, CICS, IMS, and MQ and how these workloads impact overall system performance.
Experience troubleshooting complex mainframe performance issues in real time.
Strong hands-on skills with REXX and JCL.
Experience with performance reporting and analytical tools such as SAS/MXG and OMEGAMON.
Strong knowledge of mainframe capacity concepts, including MIPS, MSUs, workload forecasting, and capacity modeling.
Understanding of IBM mainframe software pricing and cost optimization.
Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel and the ability to present complex technical findings to both technical and executive audiences.
Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Highly Preferred / Eye-Catcher Grafana experience is highly desirable. Candidates who have used Grafana for performance monitoring, dashboards, visualization, or mainframe-related operational reporting will receive strong consideration.

Additional preferred experience includes:

ZPCR
Macro4 Freezeframe
BMC Thruput Manager
TADz
IntelliMagic
SAS programming for reporting and analytics
Creating executive dashboards and operational reporting tools
Highly transactional, large-scale enterprise environments

Education

A Bachelor s Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline is desirable but not an absolute requirement.

Candidates without a Bachelor s Degree may still be considered based on the strength and depth of their relevant IBM mainframe performance experience. If a candidate does not have a Bachelor s Degree, this should be clearly noted when presenting the candidate.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The strongest candidate will be a true IBM mainframe performance specialist, rather than a general Mainframe Architect who has only had occasional exposure to performance or capacity management.

We are particularly interested in candidates who have spent significant portions of their careers actively:

Monitoring and tuning z/OS performance
Working with WLM, RMF, and SMF
Diagnosing real-time mainframe performance problems
Optimizing CPU and zIIP utilization
Working in Parallel Sysplex/multi-LPAR environments
Analyzing Db2, CICS, IMS, and MQ workloads
Using SAS/MXG, OMEGAMON, IntelliMagic, or similar performance tools
Forecasting MIPS/MSU and future capacity requirements
Balancing performance requirements against IBM mainframe infrastructure and software costs

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