Mainframe Support Specialist

Job Title: Mainframe Support Specialist Job Type: Hybrid - Des Moines, IAJob Duration: 12+ Months ContractJob Summary:We are seeking a highly experienced Mainframe Support Engineer with over 10+ years of hands-on experience in supporting and maintaining enterprise mainframe applications. The ideal candidate will have strong expertise in COBOL, JCL, DB2, CICS, and batch processing, along with proven experience in production support, incident management, and system monitoring in complex, high-availability environments.Key Responsibilities:Provide 24/7 production support for critical mainframe applications, ensuring high availability and performance.Monitor batch jobs and online systems using scheduling tools such as CA7, Tivoli, IBM Workload Scheduler, ESP, and resolve job failures promptly.Perform incident management, root cause analysis, and issue resolution for production defects and system outages.Support applications developed in COBOL, JCL, DB2, VSAM, IMS DB, and CICS environments.Troubleshoot abends using tools like Abend-AID, Xpeditor, Intertest, and debug production issues efficiently.Work on performance tuning of batch jobs, DB2 queries, and online transactions.Analyze and resolve data-related issues using utilities such as SPUFI, QMF, File-AID, IDCAMS.Coordinate with cross-functional teams, including business stakeholders, developers, and infrastructure teams, for issue resolution and system enhancements.Participate in on-call support rotation, handling production incidents and ensuring SLA adherence.Perform impact analysis for system changes and support release deployments.Maintain proper documentation for incidents, fixes, and operational procedures.Support year-end processing and critical business cycles.Automate repetitive support tasks using REXX scripts and other tools.Ensure compliance with SDLC processes, Agile/Scrum methodologies, and organizational standards.Required Skills:Strong experience in:COBOL, JCL, CICSDB2, VSAM, IMS DBExperience with job scheduling tools:CA7, Tivoli, IBM Workload Scheduler, ESPPreferred Skills:Exposure to Informatica PowerCenter (ETL) and data warehousingExperience integrating mainframe systems with distributed platforms (Java, AWS APIs, MongoDB)Familiarity with MQ Series, Stored Procedures, UDFsExperience in mainframe modernization initiativesKnowledge of DevOps tools (Urban Code, RTC, IBM IDz)