Mainframe z​/OS specialist

Job Title:
Mainframe z/OS specialist

Job Location: Remote
- Remote, USA

Please note, this role is not able to offer visa transfer or sponsorship now or in the future

Cognizant is seeking a Mainframe z/OS specialist for a full‑time remote opportunity. Qualified candidates must be located in the US. Cognizant will only consider applicants for this position who are legally authorized to work in the United States without requiring employer sponsorship, now or at any time in the future.

The Mainframe z/OS Support professional is responsible for providing operational, administrative, and production support for IBM z/OS mainframe systems. The role ensures system stability, availability, performance, and compliance while supporting business‑critical batch and online workloads in an enterprise environment.

Salary and Other Compensation:

The annual salary for this position is between $99,000 to $113,000 depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.

In this role, you will

• Provide L2/L3 operational and administrative support for IBM z/OS systems, ensuring high availability and performance of business-critical mainframe environments.
• Monitor system health, respond to alerts, and manage production incidents, abends, and outages through to resolution, including participation in major incident bridges and post‑incident reviews.
• Perform root cause analysis (RCA) on z/OS system issues and implement corrective and preventive actions to reduce recurrence and minimize business impact.
• Administer and support core z/OS components including JES2/JES3, TSO/ISPF, and related subsystems to maintain a stable and compliant operating environment.
• Monitor batch job processing pipelines, analyze JCL errors, resolve execution failures, and coordinate with application teams to manage job and system dependencies.
• Support workload scheduling tools such as CA-7, Control‑M, or OPC/TWS to ensure timely and accurate execution of enterprise batch workloads.
• Conduct SMF/RMF analysis to identify performance bottlenecks, capacity constraints, and system trends, providing actionable insights and recommendations.
• Ensure systems comply with security, audit, and regulatory requirements, supporting compliance reviews and maintaining accurate operational documentation.
• Maintain SLA compliance across all supported services and produce clear, timely documentation of incidents, changes, and resolutions in line with ITSM standards.
• Provide on‑call and after‑hours production support as required, ensuring prompt response to critical system events outside of standard business hours.

What you’ll need to succeed (required skills)

• 10+ years of hands‑on experience with IBM z/OS in an L2/L3 support capacity.
• Strong working knowledge of TSO/ISPF, SDSF, JCL, JES2/JES3, batch processing, and SMF/RMF analysis.
• Experience with workload scheduling tools (CA-7, Control‑M, or OPC/TWS) in an enterprise batch environment.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and communication skills with the ability to coordinate effectively across application and infrastructure teams.

Benefits: Cognizant offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:

• Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance
• Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off
• 401(k) plan and contributions
• Long‑term/Short‑term Disability
• Paid Parental Leave
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Work model:

At Cognizant, we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible, and we are here to support a healthy work‑life balance though our various wellbeing programs. Based on this role’s business requirements,
this is a remote position in USA.

The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. This may change based on the project you’re engaged in, as well as business and client requirements. Rest assured; we will always be clear about role expectations.

We’re excited to meet people who share our mission and can make an impact in a variety of ways. Don’t hesitate to apply, even if you only meet the minimum…