Linux on Z / zSystems Engineer

This is an excellent opportunity for Linux on Z / zSystems Engineer professionals to be part of leading-edge technology projects. Cognizant's Cloud, Infrastructure & Security Services Practice provides end-to-end solutions covering architecture, design, implementation, management, and on-going support across the entire enterprise technology infrastructure. Our services include a spectrum of management, consulting, and systems integration services to help our clients maximize value in their infrastructure resources, while optimizing infrastructure performance and cost.

Project is to simplifying and digitising client's technology stack while continuing to operate large-scale mainframe and Linux estates. This role owns the Linux-on-Z platform footprint: ensuring resilience, performance, security and smooth integration with cloud and distributed services.

Key responsibilities

• Design, deploy, administer and operate Linux guests running on IBM Z (Linux on Z / LinuxONE) including z/VM and LPAR environments.
• Manage lifecycle tasks: provisioning, patching, kernel tuning, backups and system upgrades for RHEL/SLES on Z.
• Implement automation for repeatable operations (Ansible, Terraform, shell/python), CI/CD pipelines for platform-level changes.
• Monitor platform health, investigate incidents, perform root-cause analysis and drive permanent fixes.
• Collaborate with mainframe z/OS, storage, networking and middleware teams to manage cross-platform integration (batch scheduling, channel/subsystem config, FICON storage).
• Implement and maintain platform security controls, hardening and compliance (integration with IAM, secrets management, encryption).
• Advise on migration or co-existence strategies for modern workloads (containers on Z, virtualization strategy, cloud on-ramps).
• Maintain runbooks, architecture diagrams and operational runbooks; contribute to capacity planning and evergreen/refresh projects.

Required Skills

• Strong administering Linux on IBM Z or Linux ONE (RHEL/SLES on Z) - strong hands-on experience with z/VM, LPAR management and guest lifecycle.
• Solid Linux sysadmin skills: kernel tuning, package management, troubleshooting, scripting (bash + Python preferred).
• Experience with automation tools: Ansible, Terraform or equivalent.
• Understanding of mainframe hardware/IO concepts (channel subsystem, FICON, zSeries fundamentals) and basic z/OS interplay.
• Good knowledge of monitoring/observability (CA WatchTower) and incident management (ITIL practices).