Expert Technical Systems Architect

TISTA Science and Technology is seeking a Expert Technical Systems Architect to join our growing team.

At TISTA, you’ll do meaningful, mission‑driven work that improves lives alongside teammates you trust and leaders who are transparent and supportive. We invest in your learning and internal mobility so you can build a career that keeps advancing. We’re proud to serve and hire Veterans, and we put people first in everything we do.

TISTA associates enjoy above Industry Healthcare Benefits, Remote Working Options, Paid Time Off, Training/Certification opportunities, Healthcare Savings Account & Flexible Savings Account, Paid Life Insurance, Short-term & Long-term Disability, 401K Match, Professional development reimbursement, Employee Assistance Program, Paid Holidays, Military Leave, and much more!

The z/OS Technical Systems Architect provides enterprise-level design, implementation, and operational leadership for IBM z/OS storage environments. This role focuses on DASD storage architecture, DFSMS configuration, SMS constructs, ACS routines, and DF/DSS utilities to ensure high availability, performance, and efficient data lifecycle management.

• Design and maintain enterprise DASD storage architecture supporting mission-critical z/OS workloads.
• Develop and implement DFSMS strategies for storage allocation, performance optimization, and cost efficiency.
• Architect and maintain SMS constructs (Storage Groups, Management Classes, Storage Classes, Data Classes).
• Design and maintain ACS routines to automate dataset placement, migration, backup, and retention policies.
• Establish storage standards, naming conventions, and governance practices.
• Configure and manage DFSMS components including: SMS, HSM (Hierarchical Storage Manager), DFSMSdss, and DFSMShsm policy management
• Optimize dataset placement, tiering, migration, and recall performance.
• Implement space management, compression, and allocation strategies.
• Utilize DFSMSdss (DFDSS) for: Data movement and migration, Volume dumps and restores, Disaster recovery preparation and execution, and Space reclamation and dataset reorganization
• Develop automation procedures for backup, recovery, and cloning.
• Monitor and tune storage performance and I/O throughput.
• Perform capacity planning and forecasting for DASD utilization and growth.
• Implement performance improvements for high-volume batch and transactional workloads.
• Design storage recovery strategies and data protection procedures.
• Support DR exercises and ensure recoverability of critical datasets.
• Implement backup, replication, and recovery workflows.
• Provide advanced troubleshooting and root cause analysis for storage-related issues.
• Support audits, compliance, and data retention policies.
• Develop documentation, runbooks, and operational procedures.
• Mentor system programmers and operations staff.

• Expert-level experience with IBM z/OS storage management.
• Deep expertise in: DASD storage architecture, DFSMS and DFSMShsm, SMS constructs & ACS routines and DFSMSdss (DFDSS).
• Strong understanding of dataset allocation, catalog management, and volume management.
• Experience with disaster recovery and storage resiliency strategies.
• Ability to analyze performance metrics and optimize storage subsystems.
• Experience with Broadcom CA Allocate, CA Disk and CA-1.
• Experience Enterprise architecture thinking.
• Experience  Problem-solving & root cause analysis.
• Experience Automation & process improvement.
• Experience Risk management & resilience planning.
• Experience Technical leadership and mentoring.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with IBM TS7700 or similar enterprise storage subsystems.
• Knowledge of Dell replication technologies (SRDF).
• Familiarity with Top Secret security considerations for storage access.
• Experience with automation tools and scripting (REXX, CLIST).
• Exposure to z/OS modernization and hybrid cloud storage integration.
• 8–12+ years of z/OS systems programming or storage architecture experience.

Education:

• Master's Degree in Computer Science, Electronics Engineering, or equivalent PLUS 10 Years of experience.
• Ten (10) years of additional relevant experience may be substituted for education.

Clearance: 

• The ability to pass a Tier 4/HIGH Background Investigation.

Location:

• Remote, USA.
• Monday - Friday (8:00 AM - 4:30 PM CST).

Pay Range:

• The pay for this position ranges from $85,730 to $103,500.
• The actual salary offer will carefully consider a wide range of factors, including your skills, qualifications, experience, and location.
• Also, certain positions are eligible for additional forms of compensation, such as bonuses.
• TISTA associates are eligible to participate in our comprehensive benefits plan! More information can be found here: https://tistatech.com/working-at-tista/