Summary: The IBM i (AS/400) Systems Administrator is responsible for the stability, security, performance, and continuity of the IBM i platform hosting our customized, mission-critical RPG-based ERP/WMS ecosystem. This role ensures high availability of core business processes, manages reliable Disaster Recovery (DR) replication using Maxava, and oversees our hybrid infrastructure spanning on-premises IBM Power Systems and IBM PowerVS Cloud environments.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Platform Administration & Operations: Administer IBM i environments (LPARs, HMC, hardware/storage). Manage the OS/PTF lifecycle, monitor subsystems, batch operations, advanced job scheduling, and system housekeeping. High Availability & Disaster Recovery: Own the DR strategy end-to-end. Operate and tune Maxava replication, manage the IBM PowerVS Cloud DR environment, and execute regular, validated failover testing.
Backup & Recovery: Architect and maintain the backup strategy utilizing BRMS, ensuring data integrity and successful restore testing. ERP/WMS Support: Provide infrastructure-level support for the RPG-based ERP/WMS. Coordinate application deployments, change management, and troubleshoot across application, database, and OS layers. Performance & Capacity Management: Tune CPU, memory, and disk I/O.
Optimize batch jobs and Db2 for i database performance using modern IBM i SQL services. Security & Compliance: Manage user profiles, object authority, system values, audit logging (QAUDJRN), and ensure compliance with security frameworks. Integration & Automation: Maintain network connectivity, secure protocols (SFTP, APIs), and EDI integration flows. Automate routine administration tasks using CL and QShell/bash.
Documentation: Maintain rigorous SOPs, runbooks, and configuration management (CMDB). Nice-to-Have: Experience migrating on-premises IBM i workloads to PowerVS Cloud. Exposure to modern DevOps/automation tools on IBM i. Formal IBM Certifications (e.g., IBM Certified System Administrator - IBM i). Experience supporting major IBM i ERPs or WMS platforms. Success Profile: Own DR end-to-end Strong Maxava and journaling expertise Experience with ERP/WMS systems Hybrid on-prem and cloud environment knowledge Strong security and audit discipline MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS: Education & Experience 5+ years administering IBM i (AS/400, iSeries, System i) in 24/7 production environments.
Demonstrated success with OS/PTF upgrades, HA/DR, BRMS, and performance tuning. Prior experience migrating or operating on new-generation Power Systems (Power9/Power10/Power11). Core Technical Skills IBM i Administration: LPAR/HMC/VIOS, device/IFS management, system values, service tools. Backup & Recovery: BRMS, SAV/RST strategies, encryption, restore drills, and media/VTL governance. HA/DR: PowerHA for i, MIMIX/iTera (or equivalent), replication design, DR runbooks/testing.
Security: QAUDJRN, object authorities, exit points, TLS/SSL and certificate lifecycle (DCM), vulnerability patching. Automation: CL, QShell, PASE; familiarity with Python/Rexx for ops scripting. Database (Db2 for i): SQL tuning, indexes/access paths, journaling, commitment control, reorgs, Visual Explain. Scheduling & Monitoring: IBM i scheduler or enterprise tools (Robot, Control M), Collection Services/Navigator/ACS, and third party performance tools.
Networking: TCP/IP stack, DNS/routing, ACS/ODBC, SFTP/FTPS/SSH; exposure to MQ is a plus. Preferred Skills: Hands-on with Power11 capacity planning, shared processor pools, and dynamic LPAR moves. Firmware/HMC/VIOS lifecycle planning aligned to IBM best practices for newest hardware generations. Storage acceleration experience (flash/NVMe), SAN zoning/NPIV, and performance troubleshooting across the I/O stack.
PowerHA advanced scenarios (IASP, multi site), Precisely MIMIX tuning and audit, or storage based replication. Security add ons (e.g., Fortra Powertech), SIEM integration, and MFA for IBM i. DevOps awareness: RDi, RPG free format expo