Mainframe Services Delivery Manager

Mainframe Services Delivery Manager

Technology is seeking a results-driven, self-directed individual to join Northern Trust as a Manager for the IBM Mainframe environment. This individual will be responsible for working with the Engineering Leads and the Managed Service Provider (MSP) in providing L1.5/L2/L3 escalation support, improving upon the current processes to precipitate better and faster support of mainframe services. The role will include ensuring that the MSP meets all established SLAs/KPIs, participating on critical SWAT calls to speed resolution and learn the business, creating reports in Service Now, performing trend analysis toward alert improvements and/or issue resolution, and driving the MSP root cause analysis process to meet reporting goals. We are seeking a candidate who has leadership potential, is passionate about his / her role and has good general technical understanding to lend to excellence in the Mainframe space.

This position is as a liaison between engineering team and Managed Service Provider overseeing the Operations of the Mainframe infrastructure environment. Tasks include:

• Providing excellent, customer centric service
• Approving quality infrastructure changes: changes that are formed correctly, completed without change violations and errors and causing no production outages
• Ensuring incident, problem, vulnerability, request, change ticket SLAs are met using Service Now
• Driving SWAT issues without needing the engineering team assistance in timely manner – e.g., taking charge, drive decisions, and demonstrating take charge / excellent comm skills
• Following up on all tickets breaching SLA to work consistently on vendor accuracy, speed, and customer service experience
• Meeting with MSP management bi-weekly to drive performance – which entails tracking ticket statistics and trends
• Working with management from other teams to ensure that multi-tower research rapidly moves forward
• Completing audit requests for data for Enterprise Middleware Services and Performance and Analytics teams
• Ensuring timely patches and fixes are applied
• Motivating the team toward automation creations and process improvements
• Working well with a global team, leadership/management, other technical and business teams

Responsibilities 

• • Risk management – ensuring proper coverage / resources throughout shifts with appropriate numbers and levels of resources
  • Leadership of SWAT calls, direction of research, response to questions / reporting during / after the event
  • Ensuring that documentation for major SINCs is created, reviewed, acceptable for executive audiences
  • Driving the MSP toward successful DR capability
  • Ensuring that the MSP performs capacity management and forecasting
  • Ensuring that the MSP performs configuration management
  • Driving the MSP toward root cause analysis with other towers
  • Attesting to updates in the CMDB
  • Queue / SLA management (overseeing the MSP in this role)
  • Trend analysis to highlight opportunities for improvement
  • Driving the MSP toward ensuring hot line coverage, on call rotational updates in Service Now
  • Driving the MSP toward training and support documentation maintenance
  • Onboarding of new MSP members
  • Audit response management 
  • Metrics / Reporting
  • ITSM approvals and compliance updates
  • Attendance at change management discussion meetings
  • Attending the Change Approval Board (CAB) in support of ServiceNow changes for the Mainframe tower
  • Quarterly access review oversight
  • Regular meetings with vendor, NT vendor office, and Engineering teams to maintain / build relationships

Qualifications - External

 Required:

• 8+ years managing in the technical field of a business environment
• Past experience in managing and organizing effectively within a dynamic environment where parallel projects need planning, guidance and agility
• Experience in using current industry standard business tools for communication, collaboration, planning, tracking and reporting.
• Excellent analytical, organizational, time management, verbal, and written skills and be detail-oriented
• Experience in leading / driving Major Incident calls to speed resolution
• Self-starter with ability to work independently under pressure and react quickly and in support of changing priorities
• Able to multi-task in a fast-paced organization
• Able to interact effectively and cooperatively with partners and consultants at all levels
• Able to engage, inspire, influence people
• 3+ years of ITSM process experience: Service-Now or similar ticket system
• Bachelor's Degree in applicable field with related course work in a technology, engineering, banking, government, or similar environment with regulations
• Previous management / leadership experience, with a demonstrated ability to effectively collaborate and influence others while ensuring all targets are met, on schedule and within parameters
• Proficient written and oral communication skills

Preferred:

• Committed to high quality standards and making continuous improvements
• IBM Mainframe or Iseries experience
• ITIL certified
• Able to think conceptually - need to understand the appropriate level of detail to create in models to solve problems
• Able to build consensus, use active listening skills, and work harmoniously with others in getting a job done while promoting a culture of teamwork, excellence, and integrity
• Able to work in a face-paced environment, and adapt to change