Sr. Mainframe Engineer Job Detroit area,Michigan USA,IT/Tech

Provide deep, customer-facing technical expertise for Mainframe environments, bridging classic z/OS platforms with modern distributed and cloud-native observability. This role operates at the intersection of Support, Consulting, and Enablement and is intended to reduce dependency on R&D, accelerate customer outcomes, and de-risk high-value enterprise deployments.
This position is not a traditional systems programmer role, but a modern z/OS systems support / diagnostics specialist focused on troubleshooting, customer impact, and cross-platform observability.
Primary Responsibilities

Act as escalation owner for complex, high-impact mainframe-related customer issues involving z/OS
Lead advanced troubleshooting across CICS, IMS, DB2, MQ, z/OS infrastructure, and related middleware
Perform deep diagnostics using dumps, traces, logs, and runtime artifacts to isolate root cause
Provide consultative guidance on mainframe architecture, deployment patterns, and performance optimization
Partner with Product Management and R&D on edge cases, diagnostics, and design feedback
Support customer-facing workshops, proofs of concept, and enablement sessions requiring mainframe depth
Mentor and upskill non-mainframe Support Engineers through documentation, walkthroughs, and structured knowledge transfer

What will help you succeed
Required Technical Qualifications

Hands-on experience supporting IBM z/OS in production environments
Strong working knowledge of CICS or IMS (configuration, transactions, regions)
Proficiency with JCL, ISPF, SDSF, and core z/OS operational tooling
Working knowledge of DB2 for z/OS, MQ, and one or more of (CTG, SOAP, z/OS Connect)
Familiarity with RACF/ACF2 security concepts
Demonstrated ability to capture, interpret, and analyze dumps, traces, and diagnostic artifacts
Strong diagnostic and problem solving skills, with the ability to work through ambiguous, multi-system issues

Preferred / Differentiating Skills

Background in customer-facing enterprise support, consulting, or escalation roles
Exposure to distributed systems (Java, .NET, HTTP, cloud platforms) sufficient to communicate and troubleshoot across platform boundaries
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex mainframe concepts to non-mainframe audiences
Experience acting as a technical bridge between legacy platforms and modern application architectures

#LI-ME1