Project Manager - Mainframe

The ideal candidate will be responsible for planning, coordinating, and implementing projects within the decided-upon budget, timeline, and scope. They will also effectively monitor and present project updates to relevant stakeholders, clients, or project team members.

Job Responsibilities:

1. Production Support & Operations

• Own 24x7 production support for mainframe applications ensuring high availability and stability.
• Lead incident, problem, and change management for mainframe systems.
• Drive root cause analysis (RCA) and permanent fixes for recurring production issues.
• Ensure adherence to SLAs, OLAs, and operational KPIs.
• Oversee batch cycles, online processing, and interfaces with distributed systems.
• Coordinate with infrastructure teams for system upgrades and maintenance.
• Ensure robust disaster recovery (DR) planning, testing, and documentation.

2. Application Development & Enhancements

• Lead mainframe application development and enhancement initiatives.
• Manage full SDLC activities including requirements understanding, design, development, testing, and production deployment.
• Review and approve technical designs, coding standards, and architectures.
• Ensure high-quality deliverables through code reviews, testing strategies, and defect management.
• Support complex initiatives such as regulatory changes, business transformations, and performance improvements.
• Promote reuse, automation, and standardization across development teams.

3. Technical Oversight

• Provide technical leadership across mainframe technologies including:
• COBOL, PL/I, Assembler
• JCL, CICS, IMS, DB2, VSAM
• MQ Series, Batch Scheduling Tools
• Oversee performance tuning, optimization, and scalability efforts.
• Ensure secure access management using RACF/ACF2/Top Secret.
• Guide application modernization, DevOps adoption, and integration with digital platforms.

4. Team Leadership & Resource Management

• Lead and mentor support and development teams, including onsite/offshore resources.
• Define role clarity, staffing plans, and skill development roadmaps.
• Conduct performance reviews and support career growth of team members.
• Ensure adequate backup and knowledge continuity for critical applications.

5. Stakeholder & Business Engagement

• Act as the primary interface with business stakeholders, product owners, and IT leadership.
• Translate business requirements into actionable technical solutions.
• Provide regular status updates, risk assessments, and delivery metrics.
• Support audits, compliance reviews, and management reporting.

6. Governance, Risk & Compliance

• Ensure adherence to regulatory, security, and audit requirements (SOX, PCIDSS, etc.).
• Enforce change governance, documentation standards, and release controls.
• Participate in internal and external audits and remediate findings.
• Maintain application documentation, run books, and traceability.

7. Transformation & Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities for automation, cost optimization, and technical debt reduction.
• Support modernization initiatives such as:
• DevOps and CI/CD enablement
• API enablement and hybrid integration
• Gradual re-platforming or refactoring strategies
• Drive continuous process improvement within support and development lifecycle.

Required Skills & Experience

Technical Skills

• Strong expertise in IBM Mainframe (z/OS).
• Proven experience in application support AND development.
• Hands-on knowledge of COBOL, JCL, CICS, DB2, IMS, MQ.
• Experience with batch scheduling tools (ControlM, CA7, etc.).
• Familiarity with performance tuning, debugging, and capacity planning.

Leadership & Soft Skills

• Proven experience managing large, distributed teams.
• Strong analytical, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities.