Mainframe Performance

Mainframe Performance & Capacity Engineer Job Summary Build high-performing, scalable, enterprise-grade Platform services and build capability in others to do the same. This includes applying critical thinking, design thinking and problem solving in an agile team environment to solve complex technical problems with high quality solutions and lead all phases of the development lifecycle to deliver against business requirements at an optimal cost to serve. Job Description Platform Design, Deployment & Optimization Lead the performance engineering, capacity planning, and optimization of Mainframe platforms to ensure stability, efficiency, and scalability in line with business demand and technology strategy. Translate business, service, and technical requirements into capacity and performance design components that enable reliable and cost-effective mainframe services. Identify performance-critical areas, workload trends, and tuning opportunities early in the lifecycle and proactively drive continuous improvement. Stay current with IBM Z Systems technologies, capacity management tools (e.g. RMF, SMF, SCRT), and industry best practices, and incorporate insights into platform optimization strategies. Design and maintain scalable, resilient, and cost-efficient mainframe performance frameworks, aligned to enterprise goals of self-service, stability, and automation. Apply deep technical expertise in z/OS, WLM, CICS, DB2, IMS, MQ, and storage subsystems to resolve complex performance challenges and enable optimal resource utilization. Select and integrate appropriate monitoring and analytic tools (e.g. Omegamon, MXG, SAS, RMF, SMF, IBM Z Performance and Capacity Analytics) to manage and forecast mainframe workload demands. Develop and maintain performance baselines, tuning standards, and architectural blueprints for consistent platform management across environments. Lead the performance validation and capacity testing lifecycle, ensuring system changes and upgrades meet service levels and cost objectives. Utilize workload analysis and performance data to drive fact-based decisions on resource allocation, MSU optimization, and software licensing. Drive continuous improvement initiatives to optimize CPU utilization, storage, and MIPS consumption, reducing operational costs while maintaining service reliability. Establish and enforce performance KPIs, SLAs, and OLAs, ensuring proactive monitoring, early warning systems, and capacity headroom for growth. Collaborate closely with infrastructure, application, and vendor teams to resolve systemic performance issues and ensure sustainable platform health. Maintain accountability for end-to-end mainframe platform performance, efficiency, and cost-to-serve, ensuring continuous alignment with business priorities. Accountability: Financial & Cost Optimization, Risk & Governance Own the mainframe cost model, ensuring optimal use of capacity resources and accurate forecasting of MSU growth and software costs. Analyse performance and cost data (including SCRT and MLC reports) to identify optimization opportunities and influence workload management decisions. Develop and present business cases and technical recommendations to support cost-saving initiatives and capacity investments. Support incident and disaster recovery management, applying root cause analysis and performance tuning expertise to minimize impact. Ensure compliance with Group architecture, risk, governance, and regulatory frameworks, maintaining accurate documentation and technical standards. Implement strong governance and monitoring controls for mainframe capacity planning, risk mitigation, and performance assurance. Accountability: People Provide technical leadership across performance and capacity teams, ensuring clear alignment to mainframe platform strategy and objectives. Build and mentor a high-performing team skilled in performance analysis, capacity planning, and mainframe tuning. Foster a culture of continuous improvement, technical excellence, and collaboration, ensuring cross-functional alignment and shared accountability. Coach and develop team members in performance engineering methods, diagnostic tools, and capacity modelling techniques. Lead and influence cross-platform collaboration to drive end-to-end performance visibility across the enterprise landscape. Promote adoption of agile practices within the mainframe engineering discipline to enhance responsiveness and delivery efficiency. Support knowledge