IT Systems Administrator - AS400

IT Systems Administrator - AS400

Philadelphia, PA

Summary:

The IBM i (AS/400) Systems Administrator is responsible for the stability, security, performance, and continuity of the IBM i platform hosting our customized, mission-critical RPG-based ERP/WMS ecosystem.

This role ensures high availability of core business processes, manages reliable Disaster Recovery (DR) replication using Maxava, and oversees our hybrid infrastructure spanning on-premises IBM Power Systems and IBM PowerVS Cloud environments.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Platform Administration & Operations:
  Administer IBM i environments (LPARs, HMC, hardware/storage). Manage the OS/PTF lifecycle, monitor subsystems, batch operations, advanced job scheduling, and system housekeeping.
• High Availability & Disaster Recovery:
  Own the DR strategy end-to-end. Operate and tune Maxava replication, manage the IBM PowerVS Cloud DR environment, and execute regular, validated failover testing.
• Backup & Recovery:
  Architect and maintain the backup strategy utilizing BRMS, ensuring data integrity and successful restore testing.
• ERP/WMS Support:
  Provide infrastructure-level support for the RPG-based ERP/WMS. Coordinate application deployments, change management, and troubleshoot across application, database, and OS layers.
• Performance & Capacity Management:
  Tune CPU, memory, and disk I/O. Optimize batch jobs and Db2 for i database performance using modern IBM i SQL services.
• Security & Compliance:
  Manage user profiles, object authority, system values, audit logging (QAUDJRN), and ensure compliance with security frameworks.
• Integration & Automation:
  Maintain network connectivity, secure protocols (SFTP, APIs), and EDI integration flows. Automate routine administration tasks using CL and QShell/bash.
• Documentation:
  Maintain rigorous SOPs, runbooks, and configuration management (CMDB).

Nice-to-Have:

• Experience migrating on-premises IBM i workloads to PowerVS Cloud.
• Exposure to modern Dev Ops/automation tools on IBM i.
• Formal IBM Certifications (e.g., IBM Certified System Administrator - IBM i).
• Experience supporting major IBM i ERPs or WMS platforms.

Success Profile:

• Own DR end-to-end
• Strong Maxava and journaling expertise
• Experience with ERP/WMS systems
• Hybrid on-prem and cloud environment knowledge
• Strong security and audit discipline

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• Education & Experience
  • 5+ years administering IBM i (AS/400, iSeries, System i) in 24/7 production environments.
  • Demonstrated success with OS/PTF upgrades, HA/DR, BRMS, and performance tuning.

• Prior experience migrating or operating on new-generation Power Systems (Power9/Power
  10/Power
  11).
• Core Technical Skills
  • IBM i Administration: LPAR/HMC/VIOS, device/IFS management, system values, service tools.
  • Backup & Recovery: BRMS, SAV/RST strategies, encryption, restore drills, and media/VTL governance.
  • HA/DR:
    PowerHA for i, MIMIX/iTera (or equivalent), replication design, DR runbooks/testing.
  • Security: QAUDJRN, object authorities, exit points, TLS/SSL and certificate lifecycle (DCM), vulnerability patching.
  • Automation: CL, QShell, PASE; familiarity with Python/Rexx for ops scripting.
  • Database (Db2 for i): SQL tuning, indexes/access paths, journaling, commitment control, reorgs, Visual Explain.
  • Scheduling & Monitoring: IBM i scheduler or enterprise tools (Robot, Control M), Collection Services/Navigator/ACS, and third party performance tools.
  • Networking: TCP/IP stack, DNS/routing, ACS/ODBC, SFTP/FTPS/SSH; exposure to MQ is a plus.
• Preferred Skills
  • Hands-on with Power
    11 capacity planning, shared processor pools, and dynamic LPAR moves.
  • Firmware/HMC/VIOS lifecycle planning aligned to IBM best practices for newest hardware generations.
  • Storage acceleration experience (flash/NVMe), SAN zoning/NPIV, and performance troubleshooting across the I/O stack.
  • PowerHA advanced scenarios (IASP, multi site), Precisely MIMIX tuning and audit, or storage based replication.
  • Security add ons (e.g., Fortra Powertech), SIEM integration, and MFA for IBM i.
  • Dev Ops awareness: RDi, RPG free format exposure, Git based deployment tooling, Turn Over/ARCAD/X Analysis.
  • Hybrid/Cloud DR patterns (IBM PowerVS), cloud based backup…