Principal, Infra Mainframe

About Northern Trust:

Northern Trust, a Fortune 500 company, is a globally recognized, award-winning financial institution that has been in continuous operation since 1889.

Northern Trust is proud to provide innovative financial services and guidance to the world’s most successful individuals, families, and institutions by remaining true to our enduring principles of service, expertise, and integrity. With more than 130 years of financial experience and over 22,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

Role - Mainframe System Architect

Description of role and key responsibilities:

This is a technical and hands-on role, with a primary focus on design and implementation of Mainframe Infrastructure changes; although you will be expected to support the Mainframe Infrastructure Engineering and operations team with complex troubleshooting of issues as required.

You will have experience of working in high-impact, mission-critical environments, where service matters, and exceeding expectations is the norm. You have led critical projects, thrive in critical problem-solving, and enjoy leading a team working on projects.

Key responsibilities

• The Mainframe System Architect’s primary areas of responsibility include ensuring there are defined standards in place, managing the technical lifecycle of products and services, delivering change/transformation against created designs; always ensuring a smooth transition/handover to Mainframe technology Operations with adjunct support to the Operations as needed.
• Perform and upgrade a major product in a production-like environment, evaluating any risks and taking actions to mitigate/minimize these risks via proven back-out plan and knowledge of what could go wrong including effective testing.
• Defining and documenting Mainframe Infrastructure Architecture Standards and best practices.
• Creation of Low-Level Design documents to meet requirements outlined in the High-Level Design.
• Creation of detailed Implementation Plans for all Mainframe Infrastructure Engineering related activity.
• Procurement activities relating to the build and delivery of new services (Project).
• Ensuring the smooth Transition/Handover to Production Support Operations in line with agreed Operational Acceptance Process.
• Supporting Architecture in creation and upkeep of a Mainframe Infra Delivery Roadmap.
• Supporting the Architecture in scoping activities required to produce the High-Level Design.
• Supporting Architecture in undertaking Proof of Concept activities.
• Ensuring skillsets are relevant and up to date in order to deliver change and provide a high level of support.
• Providing escalation support with complex troubleshooting of Major Incidents as required.

Core Skills & Experience:

• A minimum of 12+ years of hands-on experience as a Mainframe System Architect within a global enterprise scale organization.
• Considerable first-hand experience of design engineering and building resilient and scalable solutions, ideally within finance or investment banking.
• The concepts of risk and compliance and how to translate these into effective security solutions.
• Appreciation of automation and orchestration and will have experience of scripting with Native Mainframe and modern technology stacks.
• Strong understanding of IBM Mainframe technologies.
• Familiar with a variety of testing tools and techniques to accurately troubleshoot and resolve complex technical problems associated with the service, application and Mainframe hardware and software.

Technical Skills & Experience:

You will have expert knowledge and experience in several of the following areas:

• z/OS System Programming.
• Mainframe System administrator activities.
• Modernization and migration: Analyzing, designing, and implementing code and database changes to move mainframe applications to the cloud or a modern cloud-connected mainframe.
• Performance tuning, CoD Provisioning architecture, System Upgrades, Troubleshooting.
• Technical hands-on experience on ACF2, SMP/E, VTAM, HMC.
• Good to have knowledge on JCL, CICS, DB2, IMS, OPS-MVS.
• Scripting language – REXX, CLIST, Python, UNIX Shell, VSAM.
• System Management Support with SMP/E, SMF, RMF.
• Knowledge on System Services support (storage management, job management, workload management, data sets, and data set management).
• Awareness on ISV products, install products and services, perform upgrades, IPL, DR/SR activities.
• Knowledge on z/OS System libraries, z/OS Components and Mainframe system hardware architecture.
• Disaster planning and recovery: Planning for and recovering from disasters.
• Mentorship: Applying programming techniques to mentor developers and review code.
• Product roadmaps: Maintaining product roadmaps that include modernization, cloud solutions, and technical debt.
• Security and compliance: Ensuring compliance with industry standards for security and audit.
• Problem determination and resolution: Identifying and resolving system level problems.
• Client support: Providing strong client support and transformations.
• Hardware and software: Configuring hardware, installing software products, and upgrading and migrating hardware and software.

Qualifications (must haves):

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or IT related field, and/or equivalent work experience.
• Excellent verbal and written skills are required.

Working with Us:

As a Northern Trust partner, greater achievements await. You will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture in an organization where financial strength and stability is an asset that emboldens us to explore new ideas.

Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to assisting the communities we serve! Join a workplace with a greater purpose.

We’d love to learn more about how your interests and experience could be a fit with one of the world’s most admired and sustainable companies! Build your career with us and apply today. #MadeForGreater

Reasonable accommodation

Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at

We hope you’re excited about the role and the opportunity to work with us. We value an inclusive workplace and understand flexibility means different things to different people.

Apply today and talk to us about your flexible working requirements and together we can achieve greater.