Mainframe Technical Lead

Employment Eligibility Statement:
Due to specific project and client requirements, this position is open to U.S. Citizens and U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (Green Card holders). Sponsorship is not available at this time.
Danta Technologies evaluates all candidates in compliance with the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and EEOC guidelines. All hiring decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.


Note:
This position is based in San Antonio, TX / Plano, TX , and requires 5 days per week working from the office.

! Applications from candidates residing outside the USA will not be accepted.

Job Summary:
Seeking an experienced Mainframe Technical Lead to lead and manage a team supporting enterprise z/OS infrastructure and Mainframe DB2 environments. Responsible for platform availability, performance, security, modernization, incident resolution, and operational excellence across z/OS, CICS, DB2, Storage, RACF, and supporting subsystem technologies. The role combines hands-on technical leadership, customer engagement, team development, and governance for 24x7 mission-critical environments.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and mentor Mainframe Systems Programmers and DB2 Administrators across onsite, offshore, and nearshore teams.
• Provide L3 support for complex z/OS, CICS, DB2, JES, RACF, USS, storage, and subsystem-related issues.
• Manage installation, configuration, migration, customization, maintenance, and upgrades of z/OS and ISV products.
• Drive incident, problem, change, capacity, availability, and performance management activities.
• Perform RCA, implement preventive actions, and ensure compliance with SLA and operational commitments.
• Lead IPL activities, maintenance deployments (RSU/SMP-E), software refreshes, hardware upgrades, and disaster recovery testing.
• Define operational procedures, automation strategies, backup/recovery plans, and governance standards.
• Oversee Mainframe DB2 administration including subsystem management, utilities, backup/recovery, performance tuning, security, capacity planning, migrations, and database availability.
• Partner with application teams on DB2 performance optimization, SQL tuning, and database best practices.
• Drive automation initiatives using REXX, JCL, z/OSMF, Ansible, and monitoring tools to improve operational efficiency.
• Identify skill gaps, develop training plans, and ensure continuous capability improvement within the team.

Required Technical Skills:

• Expert knowledge of z/OS, MVS, JES2/JES3, Parallel Sysplex, GDPS, WLM, Catalog Management, PARMLIB, PROCLIB, USS, HMC, LPAR, IPL, Standalone Dumps, SMP/E, and RSU maintenance .
• Strong experience with RACF, JCL, REXX, CLIST, Assembler Exits, Control-M, Connect:Direct (NDM), z/OS Connect, and ISV product administration .
• Strong knowledge of CICS administration , including CEMT, CEDA, transaction processing, subsystem connectivity, high availability, and performance management.
• Deep understanding of DB2 for z/OS , including subsystem administration, utilities, RUNSTATS, REORG, backup/recovery, disaster recovery, SQL tuning, locking, buffer pools, security, and capacity management.
• Experience with RMF, SMF, performance analysis, capacity planning, workload optimization, and availability management .
• Experience supporting and maintaining enterprise monitoring and automation platforms such as NetView, System Automation (SA z/OS), BMC MainView, OMEGAMON, and Ansible .

Qualifications & Soft Skills:

• 10+ years of Mainframe infrastructure experience with proven technical leadership experience.
• Strong customer-facing communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience supporting large-scale 24x7 production environments.
• Strong documentation, governance, audit, and operational process management skills.
• Ability to lead critical incidents, manage escalations, and handle high-pressure situations.
• Strong mentoring, coaching, and team development capabilities.

Preferred:

• IBM z/OS and DB2 certifications.
• ITIL certification.
• Experience with Mainframe Automation, AIOps, Observability, Performance & Capacity Management, and Mainframe modernization initiatives.

Notes:- All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military and veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, gender, gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by local law, regulation, or ordinance.

Benefits: Danta offers a compensation package to all W2 employees that are competitive in the industry. It consists of competitive pay, the option to elect healthcare insurance (Dental, Medical, Vision), Major holidays and Paid sick leave as per state law.

The rate/ Salary range is dependent on numerous factors including Qualification, Experience and Location.