Solution/Modernization Architect (Mainframes)

About the Position

We are seeking a dedicated Solution/Modernization Architect (Mainframes) to join our team. In this role, you will be pivotal in designing and leading complex modernization and migration initiatives for enterprise clients, with a strong focus on legacy modernization, mainframe transformation, and application replatforming.

Location: Canada is desired but we also consider other locations with occasional business trips to Toronto, ON.

Engagement type: Part-time on pre-sales activities, discovery phase; full-time as more load appears. Contract agreement.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture and discovery phases for IBM mainframe modernization programs, covering application, data, batch, transaction, and infrastructure domains.
• Assess existing IBM z/OS environments, including COBOL, JCL, CICS, Db2, IMS, VSAM, GDG, flat files, MQ, and related integrations, to define modernization scope, risks, dependencies, and migration waves.
• Design end-to-end modernization strategies for legacy workloads, including replatforming, refactoring, decomposition, phased migration, and coexistence patterns.
• Define migration strategies across different modernization paths such as rehost, replatform, refactor, decomposition, and phased transformation.
• Lead technical assessments of legacy applications, including static and dynamic analysis, dependency mapping, batch/job flow analysis, transaction boundary analysis, schema conversion strategy, and business logic extraction.
• Design migration approaches for Db2 and IMS-backed data landscapes, including schema conversion, data transformation, CDC-based migration, reconciliation, archive/retention strategy, and cutover planning.
• Define modernization patterns for transactional systems, batch processing, event-driven architectures, API-led integration, and hybrid environments.
• Facilitate workshops and architecture discussions with customer stakeholders, delivery teams, and leadership, translating complex legacy platform constraints into practical modernization roadmaps.
• Prepare architecture documents, migration plans, discovery outputs, estimates, proposals, and solution narratives for IBM mainframe transformation engagements.
• Provide governance and architectural oversight throughout project delivery, helping teams make sound decisions during implementation, testing, cutover, and hypercare.
• Contribute to pre-sales and solutioning activities for mainframe modernization opportunities, including technical qualification, delivery assumptions, risk framing, and modernization roadmap creation.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in solution architecture, cloud architecture, or technical leadership roles.
• Proven track record of designing and delivering complex migration or modernization solutions in enterprise environments.
• Strong understanding of IBM mainframe application landscapes, including COBOL, JCL, CICS, Db2, IMS.
• Experience designing architectures for enterprise applications, distributed systems, and data platforms.
• Good understanding of legacy modernization challenges, including monolith decomposition, batch processing migration, data migration, and integration with on-premises systems.
• Experience working with relational databases and migration strategies, including schema conversion, data validation, CDC-based migration, and cutover planning.
• Ability to identify delivery risks, architecture trade-offs, and mitigation strategies early in the project lifecycle.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to explain complex technical topics in a structured and business-friendly way.
• English - C1/C2.

Nice to Have

• Familiarity with modernization and migration tools such as AWS SCT, AWS Transform, AWS Blu Age, CAST Imaging, vFunction, or similar assessment/refactoring platforms.
• Experience with modernization of batch workloads, job orchestration, and migration of online transactional systems.
• Familiarity with observability and APM platforms such as Datadog, Dynatrace, AppDynamics, OpenTelemetry, or similar tools.
• Experience in regulated industries such as financial services, insurance, healthcare, or public sector.

We Offer

• Opportunity to work remotely with occasional business trips to Toronto, Canada.
• Contract agreement with potential for full-time engagement as load increases.

About the Company

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