EY - GDS Consulting - AIA - Mainframe - Manager

The opportunity

We are seeking an experienced Manager – Mainframe Modernization to lead our AI-Driven Legacy Transformation practice. The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise across mainframe ecosystems, AI/ML-driven modernization strategies, and cloud technologies, combined with strong leadership, stakeholder management, and team-building capabilities to deliver large-scale digital transformation programmes.

You will own the end-to-end modernization strategy, drive cross-functional collaboration with C-suite leaders, business stakeholders, and architecture teams, and lead a team of engineers and specialists to successfully migrate mission-critical mainframe workloads to modern, scalable, cloud-native platforms using AI-powered automation frameworks.

Your key responsibilities

Technical Excellence:

• Strategic Leadership and Stakeholder Management
  • Define and own the mainframe modernization strategy aligned with business objectives and enterprise technology roadmaps.
  • Collaborate with senior stakeholders, business leaders, and architecture teams to prioritise modernization initiatives and secure executive buy-in.
  • Evaluate and recommend modernization paths — rehosting, refactoring, rebuilding, or replacing — based on cost-benefit analysis, risk assessment, and business impact.
• Mainframe Systems Assessment and Governance
  • Oversee comprehensive assessments of mainframe applications (COBOL, JCL, VSAM, DB2, CICS, IMS, Assembler) to identify modernization opportunities, risks, and dependencies.
  • Establish governance frameworks, quality gates, and standards for modernization delivery across the portfolio.
  • Drive technical debt identification, quantification, and systematic reduction across the legacy estate.
• AI-Driven Modernization and Automation
  • Champion the adoption of AI tools, LLMs, and custom AI agentic workflows for automated code analysis, refactoring, and code translation at scale.
  • Define and operationalise AI pipelines, prompt engineering standards, and context engineering best practices to maximise modernization throughput and accuracy.
  • Evaluate emerging AI/ML technologies and integrate them into the modernization toolchain to maintain competitive advantage.
• Team Leadership and Capability Building
  • Lead, mentor, and grow a team of mainframe modernization engineers, developers, and analysts.
  • Build team capabilities in AI-driven modernization, cloud-native development, and DevOps practices.
  • Conduct architecture reviews, code reviews, and provide technical guidance to ensure delivery excellence.
• Target-State Architecture – APIs and Microservices
  • Architect and oversee the design of target-state systems, including API integrations, microservices, and event-driven architectures.
  • Ensure modernized solutions are scalable, resilient, and aligned with enterprise architecture standards.
• Cloud and Platform Integration
  • Lead the migration of mainframe workloads to cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) using AI-driven and automated solutions.
  • Ensure seamless integration of legacy systems with cloud-native services, containerised deployments (Docker, Kubernetes), and CI/CD pipelines.
  • Drive adoption of infrastructure-as-code, observability, and security best practices for modernized workloads.
• Reporting, Documentation, and Business Impact
  • Create and present executive-level reporting on modernization progress, business impact, risks, and ROI.
  • Maintain comprehensive technical documentation including system designs, AI pipeline architectures, and modernization roadmaps.
  • Track and communicate KPIs related to migration velocity, quality, cost savings, and operational efficiency.

Skills and Attributes:

• Educational Background
• Bachelor / master’s degree in computer science, AI, Any Engineering or quantitative background preferred.

Professional Experience

• 10+ years of experience with legacy mainframe systems (COBOL, JCL, Assembler, CICS, DB2, IMS, VSAM) with at least 3–4 years in a leadership or managerial capacity.
• Proven track record of leading large-scale mainframe modernization or digital transformation programmes.
• Deep expertise in data migration, integration, ETL, and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud).
• Strong proficiency in programming/scripting languages (Python, Java, etc.).
• Expert-level knowledge of APIs, microservices architecture, and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Extensive experience with AI tools, LLM API calls, prompt engineering, and context engineering for automating code analysis and modernization workflows.
• Experience with enterprise modernization platforms (Micro Focus, AWS Mainframe Modernization, Azure Migrate, Google Cloud Dual Run) is a plus.
• Hands-on experience building or managing AI/ML pipelines for code transformation at scale.

Soft Skills

• Exceptional client engagement and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to translate complex business requirements into practical, high-quality technical solutions.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and leadership abilities.
• Experience with Agile/SAFe delivery methodologies and managing distributed/global teams.

Preferred Certifications

• Cloud certifications (AWS/Azure/GCP), AI/ML certifications, enterprise architecture (TOGAF), or mainframe-related certifications are a plus.

Why Join Us

• Be at the forefront of AI-driven mainframe modernization across enterprise clients.
• Work with global clients to drive real business impact through large-scale digital transformation.
• Collaborate with a team of modernization experts, AI specialists, and industry leaders in a highly innovative and entrepreneurial environment.

What we offer

EY Global Delivery Services (GDS) is a dynamic and truly global delivery network. We work across six locations – Argentina, China, India, the Philippines, Poland and the UK – and with teams from all EY service lines, serving our clients locally and globally with innovation and at scale.

• Continuous learning: You'll develop the mindset and skills to navigate whatever comes next.
• Success as defined by you: We'll provide the tools and flexibility, so you can make a meaningful impact, your way.
• Transformative leadership: We'll give you the insights, coaching and confidence to be the leader the world needs.
• Diverse and inclusive culture: You'll be embraced for who you are and empowered to use your voice to help others find theirs.

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