Mainframe Production Support Lead

Mainframe Production Support Lead

NTT DATA strives to hire exceptional, innovative and passionate individuals who want to grow with us. If you want to be part of an inclusive, adaptable, and forward-thinking organization, apply now.

We are currently seeking a Mainframe Production Support Lead to join our team in McKinney, Texas (US-TX), United States (US).

The Senior Mainframe Production Support Lead is responsible for ensuring 24x7 stability, availability, and operational excellence of Life Insurance applications, running on a z/VSE mainframe platform. This role provides L2/L3 production support, leads incident triage and resolution, ensures SLA compliance, and supports critical batch and online insurance processes in a highly regulated, SLA-driven environment.

Key Responsibilities

Production Support & Operations

• Provide L2/L3 production support for AIL mainframe insurance applications.
• Monitor and ensure successful completion of daily, weekly, and monthly batch cycles.
• Support batch cycle execution, including job monitoring, restarts, reruns, and data corrections.
• Perform abend analysis, issue resolution, and production recovery activities.
• Ensure end-to-end data flow, coordinating with upstream and downstream systems to confirm timely receipt and processing of production files.

Incident, Problem & Change Management

• Perform incident triage, prioritization, and assignment for production issues.
• Conduct in-depth incident analysis, troubleshooting, and resolution.
• Apply temporary or tactical fixes where required (without code changes) to restore service.
• Identify root causes and propose permanent fixes, coordinating with Application Build teams for code remediation.
• Manage incidents, problems, and changes using ServiceNow and Jira.
• Participate in change, release, and deployment activities, including post-implementation validation and production readiness checks.

Technical Analysis & SME Support

• Analyze and resolve production issues involving Assembler, Easytrieve, COBOL, CICS, JCL, VSAM.
• Act as an Application SME, supporting L2.5 and Production Assurance teams with deep application and data knowledge.
• Work closely with Application Build teams, Production Assurance, Infrastructure/System Programmers, vendors, and business stakeholders.

Documentation & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain and enhance runbooks, SOPs, operational procedures, and knowledge articles.
• Identify opportunities for operational improvements, standardization, and risk reduction.
• Support audit, compliance, and operational reporting requirements.

On-Call & Production Coverage

• Participate in 24x7 on-call rotation supporting P1/P2 production incidents.
• Provide after-hours, weekend, and holiday support for critical batch processing and business events.
• Ensure rapid response, effective communication, and timely resolution during business-critical outages.

SLA & ITIL Management

• Ensure adherence to SLA targets for incident response and resolution.
• Track and manage incident aging, backlog trends, repeat issues, and RCA action items.
• Apply ITIL best practices across Incident, Problem, Change, and Release Management.
• Support SLA reporting, audits, and compliance activities.

Required Skills & Experience

• 10+ years of experience providing L2/L3 mainframe production support for mission-critical applications in a 24x7, SLA-driven environment.
• 10+ years of experience in strong hands-on experience supporting mainframe technologies, including z/VSE and z/OS, Assembler, Easytrieve, COBOL, CICS, JCL, VSAM.
• 10+ years of experience of proven expertise in batch operations support, including job monitoring, restarts, reruns, abend resolution, and data corrections.
• 10+ years of experience using ITSM tools such as ServiceNow and Jira, with strong knowledge of ITIL-based Incident, Problem, Change, and Release Management processes.
• Life Insurance domain experience strongly preferred, particularly supporting Acquisition and Policy Administration systems.
• Demonstrated ability to perform deep technical troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and production recovery.
• 10+ years of proven experience working under pressure during P1/P2 incidents, meeting strict SLA response and resolution targets.
• Strong communication and stakeholder coordination skills, including interaction with business users, vendors, infrastructure, and application teams.
• Strong ownership mindset with a focus on system stability, reliability, and business continuity.
• Demonstrated leadership capability to guide cross-functional teams during high-severity production incidents.

About NTT DATA

NTT DATA is a $30 billion business and technology services leader, serving 75% of the Fortune Global 100. We are committed to accelerating client success and positively impacting society through responsible innovation. We are one of the world's leading AI and digital infrastructure providers, with unmatched capabilities in enterprise-scale AI, cloud, security, connectivity, data centers, and application services. Our consulting and industry solutions help organizations and society move confidently and sustainably into the digital future. As a Global Top Employer, we have experts in more than 50 countries. We also offer clients access to a robust ecosystem of innovation centers as well as established and start-up partners. NTT DATA is a part of NTT Group, which invests over $3 billion each year in R&D.

Whenever possible, we hire locally to NTT DATA offices or client sites. This ensures we can provide timely and effective support tailored to each client's needs. While many positions offer remote or hybrid work options, these arrangements are subject to change based on client requirements. For employees near an NTT DATA office or client site, in-office attendance may be required for meetings or events, depending on business needs. At NTT DATA, we are committed to staying flexible and meeting the evolving needs of both our clients and employees. NTT DATA recruiters will never ask for payment or banking information and will only use @nttdata.com and @talent.nttdataservices.com email addresses. If you are requested to provide payment or disclose banking information, please submit a contact us form, https://us.nttdata.com/en/contact-us.

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