Mainframe Migration Test Architect

Preferred Profile

A seasoned Mainframe Test Architect and Quality Leader with deep experience in migration and modernization programs, capable of building the testing strategy, tooling ecosystem, automation framework, and governance model necessary to successfully deliver a complex enterprise migration from legacy Mainframe environments to z/OS while minimizing business and operational risk.

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced Test Architect to lead the end-to-end testing strategy, planning, governance, tooling, and quality assurance approach for a large-scale z/VSE to z/OS migration program.

This role will be responsible for defining the overall testing framework, establishing risk-based testing methodologies, driving quality governance, and ensuring comprehensive validation of applications, infrastructure, data, security, and operational processes throughout the migration lifecycle.

The ideal candidate will possess deep Mainframe testing and modernization expertise and have experience leading testing efforts for Mainframe migrations, platform transformations, or large-scale legacy modernization initiatives. A key responsibility of this role is establishing a risk-based testing strategy, ensuring testing effort is aligned to the scope, complexity, and business impact of migration-related changes rather than applying uniform testing across all components.

Additionally, this role will be responsible for defining and implementing the testing toolchain and automation strategy required to support the migration program, including test management, automation, data reconciliation, regression testing, defect management, and AI-assisted testing capabilities.

Key Responsibilities

Test Strategy & Governance

• Define and own the overall migration testing strategy, framework, roadmap, and governance model.
• Establish testing standards, quality gates, entry/exit criteria, and release readiness processes.
• Develop a risk-based testing methodology aligned to migration waves and deployment milestones.
• Establish traceability between migration changes, risks, business requirements, and test coverage.
• Provide executive reporting on testing progress, quality metrics, risks, and release readiness.

Risk-Based Testing & Change Impact Assessment

• Lead application, infrastructure, and operational impact assessments to understand migration-related changes.
• Develop a risk-ranking framework to classify components based on:
• Code modifications
• JCL conversion impacts
• Platform configuration changes
• Data migration impacts
• CICS transaction changes
• Interface dependencies
• Security changes
• Operational and scheduler impacts
• Business criticality
• Define testing depth and coverage based on migration risk and business impact.
• Optimize testing effort by focusing on high-risk and high-business-value components.
• Maintain a Migration Testing Risk Register and Quality Heat Map.
• Identify migration-specific risks and ensure mitigation plans are incorporated into testing activities.

Test Tooling, Automation & AI Strategy

• Define the overall testing tool architecture and strategy for the migration program.
• Evaluate, select, and implement testing tools supporting:
• Test management
• Defect management
• Test automation
• Data reconciliation
• Batch validation
• Regression testing
• Performance testing
• Reporting and dashboards
• Establish automated validation approaches for batch jobs, file comparisons, data reconciliation, and migration verification.
• Design reusable automation frameworks and testing accelerators.
• Identify opportunities to leverage AI-enabled testing capabilities for:
• Test case generation
• Impact analysis
• Regression optimization
• Defect clustering and analysis
• Test productivity improvement
• Establish testing KPIs and quality metrics to measure effectiveness and automation adoption.

Test Planning & Design

• Develop comprehensive testing plans covering:
• System Testing
• System Integration Testing (SIT)
• End-to-End Business Process Testing
• Regression Testing
• Data Validation & Reconciliation Testing
• Performance & Volume Testing
• User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
• Operational Readiness Testing
• Cutover & Rollback Validation Testing
• Define test environments, test data strategy, and environment governance.
• Ensure test coverage aligns with migration risk profiles and business priorities.

Mainframe & Migration Validation

• Define testing coverage for:
• COBOL applications
• Assembler programs
• Easytrieve applications
• CICS transactions
• JCL conversion and batch processing
• VSAM files
• DL1-dependent applications and data structures
• File transfers and interfaces
• Security configurations and access controls
• Enterprise scheduling platforms
• Infrastructure and operational procedures
• Validate functional equivalence and operational readiness of workloads migrated to z/OS.
• Ensure reconciliation of data, interfaces, and business processes before production deployment.
• Validate production support, monitoring, scheduling, and recovery procedures.

Federated Test Leadership

• Coordinate testing activities across:
• Mainframe Teams
• Application Teams
• Infrastructure Teams
• Security Teams
• Operations Teams
• Business SMEs
• Establish testing standards, reusable assets, and governance across workstreams.
• Lead defect triage, prioritization, and remediation activities.
• Drive issue resolution and dependency management across teams.
• Mentor test leads and testing workstreams throughout the program.

Cutover Readiness & Deployment Validation

• Define mock migration, deployment rehearsal, and cutover validation strategies.
• Validate production deployment procedures and rollback capabilities.
• Ensure critical business processes successfully execute during migration rehearsals.
• Assess operational readiness and support preparedness.
• Provide Go/No-Go recommendations for migration releases.

Required Qualifications

Mainframe & Migration Experience

• 10+ years of experience in Test Architecture, Test Management, or Quality Engineering leadership roles.
• Strong knowledge of Mainframe application development, testing, and migration methodologies.
• Hands-on experience with:
• z/OS
• COBOL
• Assembler
• Easytrieve
• CICS
• JCL
• VSAM
• DL1-related environments
• RACF, ACF2, or Top Secret
• Batch processing frameworks
• Enterprise scheduling platforms
• Experience supporting Mainframe modernization, migration, platform transformation, or large-scale legacy remediation programs.
• Experience validating high-volume business-critical workloads and operational processes.
• Prior z/VSE migration experience is preferred but not required.

Testing Tools & Automation Experience

• Experience selecting and implementing enterprise-scale testing toolsets.
• Experience with test management, defect management, reporting, automation, and quality governance tools.
• Proven experience implementing automated regression, reconciliation, and data validation frameworks.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted testing platforms and productivity tools.
• Experience integrating testing activities into DevOps and CI/CD processes where applicable.

Modern Mainframe Engineering Experience

• Experience with modern Mainframe development and testing environments such as:
• IBM Developer for z/OS (IDz)
• VS Code-based Mainframe tooling
• Git-based source control
• Enterprise DevOps toolchains
• Understanding of modern software engineering practices applied to Mainframe environments.

Risk-Based Testing Expertise

• Proven experience implementing risk-based testing methodologies for large-scale transformation programs.
• Strong ability to conduct migration impact assessments and translate findings into targeted testing strategies.
• Experience prioritizing test coverage based on technical, operational, business, and compliance risks.
• Demonstrated ability to balance quality, coverage, risk, and program timelines.

Leadership & Communication

• Experience leading large, cross-functional testing organizations.
• Strong stakeholder management skills across business and technology teams.
• Exceptional executive communication and governance reporting capabilities.
• Ability to influence senior leaders, architects, and delivery teams in complex transformation programs.

Key Deliverables

• Enterprise Test Strategy
• Risk-Based Testing Framework
• Migration Test Plan
• Test Coverage Matrix
• Testing Toolchain Strategy & Architecture
• Automation & Regression Testing Strategy
• AI-Enabled Testing Adoption Roadmap
• Test Environment & Test Data Strategy
• Impact Assessment & Risk Heat Map
• Data Reconciliation & Validation Framework
• SIT & End-to-End Test Plans
• Defect Management Process
• Cutover Rehearsal Plan
• Operational Readiness Assessment
• Go/No-Go Readiness Assessments
• Executive Quality Dashboards