Role Overview
We are seeking a highly skilled Systems Engineer / Infrastructure Engineer to support and enhance enterprise data center environment. This role will be responsible for building, automating, and managing Linux-based infrastructure that hosts mission-critical, Java and other modern language-based applications. The ideal candidate will bring strong expertise in infrastructure automation (Ansible) along with hands-on experience supporting middleware platforms such as IBM WebSphere, IBM MQ, and Connect:Direct, and working within structured enterprise deployment pipelines.
- Provision, configure, and maintain physical and virtual servers in a Linux-based data center environment
- Design, develop, and maintain Ansible playbooks and roles for infrastructure provisioning, configuration management, and automation
- Automate operational workflows and ensure consistency across environments using Infrastructure as Code practices
- Install, configure, and support IBM WebSphere Application Server (v9) environments
- Manage and support application deployments using IBM UrbanCode Deploy (uDeploy) and integrate with CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins)
- Support and troubleshoot enterprise applications (java and other modern language based) running on Linux
- Monitor system performance, logs, and infrastructure health; proactively identify and resolve issues
- Administer and support IBM MQ for messaging and IBM Connect:Direct for managed file transfers
- Troubleshoot middleware, application, and infrastructure issues across multiple environments
- Perform patching, upgrades, and lifecycle management of servers and middleware components
- Support release management processes, ensuring compliance with enterprise change and approval workflows
- Work closely with development, DevOps, and application teams for deployments and issue resolution
- Maintain detailed system and process documentation
- Participate in on-call support rotation for production systems
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field
- 6+ years of experience in systems engineering, infrastructure engineering, or system administration
- Must-Have Skills (in order of importance)
- Ansible (Infrastructure Automation)
- Strong hands-on experience creating and maintaining Ansible playbooks and roles for Linux-based environments. Proficiency with YAML, inventories, host groups, variables, loops, and conditionals.
- Linux Administration (Basic to Intermediate)
- Comfort navigating Linux file systems, executing shell commands, and reviewing system/application logs for troubleshooting.
- IBM WebSphere Application Server (v9)
- Solid understanding of installation, configuration, administration, and troubleshooting of WebSphere environments.
- IBM UrbanCode Deploy (uDeploy) / Jenkins
- Creating and managing components, applications, and deployment processes
- Managing deployments across multiple environments
- Handling versioned artifacts and troubleshooting failures
- Integrating with CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins)
- Following enterprise release, promotion, and approval processes
- IBM Connect:Direct
- Solid understanding of file transfer processes including monitoring transfers, process definitions, and troubleshooting failures.
- IBM MQ
- Working knowledge of messaging fundamentals including queues, producers/consumers, message formats, and common application errors.
OpenShift / Kubernetes
- Experience deploying and managing containerized workloads, including namespaces, builds, deployments, services, and troubleshooting pods.
- Understanding of topics, partitions, producers/consumers, replication, and troubleshooting messaging issues.
- Knowledge of configuration, deployment, and troubleshooting in Liberty environments.
- Experience with implementation, upgrades/patching, monitoring, and issue resolution.
- Working knowledge including basic query writing, application connectivity, and performance troubleshooting.
- Experience with job scheduling, dependencies, alerting, monitoring, and recovery procedures.
Locations: Pittsburgh, PA
About Techstra Solutions
Techstra Solutions is a certified woman-owned (WBENC) management consulting firm specializing in strategy, technology, and implementation services for large organizations undergoing digital and talent transformation. Our experienced team partners with clients to co-create innovative solutions in applications, data, AI, and automation that accelerate measurable, sustainable change. From advisory consulting through technical execution, we are dedicated to driving world-class business solutions that fit your strategic requirements and deliver results. For more information: www.techstrasolutions.com
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field
- 6+ years experience in systems engineering, infrastructure engineering, or system administration
- Ansible expertise: create and maintain playbooks and roles (YAML, inventories, host groups, variables, loops, conditionals)
- Linux administration (navigate file systems, shell commands, logs, troubleshooting)
- IBM WebSphere Application Server (v9) installation, configuration, administration, troubleshooting
- IBM UrbanCode Deploy (uDeploy) and Jenkins experience for release automation and CI/CD integration
- IBM Connect:Direct administration and troubleshooting of managed file transfers
- IBM MQ working knowledge: queues, producers/consumers, message formats, troubleshooting
- Experience supporting Java and other modern language-based enterprise applications on Linux
- Infrastructure as Code and automation for provisioning, configuration, and operational workflows
- Patching, upgrades, lifecycle management of servers and middleware components
- Monitoring system performance, logs, and infrastructure health; proactive issue resolution
- Experience with enterprise release management processes and change/approval workflows
- Participation in on-call support rotation for production systems
- OpenShift / Kubernetes experience (preferred)
- Apache Kafka familiarity (preferred)
- WebSphere Liberty knowledge (preferred)
- Pega Platform experience (preferred)
- Databases: MongoDB / Oracle working knowledge (preferred)
- Scheduling tools: CA7 / Control-M experience (preferred)
What We Do
Techstra Solutions is a certified woman-owned consulting firm that provides strategy, technology and implementation support to large organizations undergoing digital and talent transformation. The rapid pace of technology innovation required to remain competitive, juxtaposed with the slow rate of change in many organizations, causes most to struggle. To be successful companies must drive new ways of working including the use of technology/analytics and new skillsets (hard/soft) deep into their culture so that they are able to rapidly and continuously react to change. They must also apply new approaches that empower their employees, ensuring its sustainability. At Techstra Solutions we focus on four key areas, otherwise known as the 4 A’s: Automation (Robotic Process Automation (RPA)/Intelligent Automation), Analytics (Reporting/Analytics/AI/ML), Application Modernization (Cloud, Mobility, etc), and Agile-based solutions (DevOps).
