Advanced Middleware Engineer

Company

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

When you join the Federal Reserve—the nation's central bank—you’ll play a key role, collaborating with leading tech professionals to strengthen and protect our economic, financial and payments systems. We invest in contemporary and emerging technology each year to support the Federal Reserve and our economy, and we’re building a dynamic and diverse team for our future.

The Infrastructure, Platforms & Operations portfolio supports the strategic direction and product delivery for System IT infrastructure and operations, as well as the alignment of technology to business strategies. The team serves as the business partner for secure and reliable IT products, services, and operations.

Position Overview
We are seeking an Advanced Middleware Engineer to lead the design, implementation, and modernization of enterprise Java application hosting capabilities. The ideal candidate will serve as a advanced technical subject matter expert responsible for supporting critical payment systems and applications for FRFS (Fedwire and Retail Payment Services), Markets, and other lines of business. This role will drive application modernization initiatives, including IBM WebSphere migrations, containerization, cloud adoption, and the integration of AI-driven automation to enhance operational efficiency.

Your Responsibilities:

Platform Administration & Modernization

• Support Java application offerings consumed by FRFS, Markets, and other lines of business

• Lead FRFS Retail IBM FTM 4.0 upgrade project and migration to Red Hat OpenShift and IBM WebSphere Liberty environments

• Support FRFS FedWire and Retail Spring and Java tech debt remediation through adoption of IBM WebSphere MORe and/or Liberty

• Manage migration efforts from IBM WebSphere ND to Liberty and containerized environments

• Support Java application servers in both Cloud (AWS FarGate/ECS/EKS) and CoLo environments

Automation & Orchestration

• Design, build, and manage automation and orchestration capabilities for Java application servers

• Lead efforts to further automate, orchestrate, and enable self-service processes for Java application support

• Develop and implement AI-driven solutions to streamline team processes and improve operational efficiency

• Create and maintain automation frameworks to reduce manual intervention and enhance service delivery

Innovation & Emerging Technologies

• Conduct proof of concept initiatives and create implementation patterns for new vendor Java application technologies

• Lead efforts to assess and implement AI capabilities for process optimization

• Evaluate and implement micro-service architectures and modern cloud-native capabilities

• Research and adopt emerging Java technologies and best practices

• Assess future use cases and recommend appropriate Java application and micro-service solutions

Technical Leadership & Support

• Act as the team's most senior technical subject matter expert for Java application server technologies, automation/orchestration, containerization, and AI initiatives

• Provide advanced level support for Java application products underpinning team offerings

• Conduct root cause analysis for complex technical issues and implement preventive measures

• Mentor team members and provide technical guidance on Java application infrastructure

• Collaborate with application development teams and other lines of business to support modernization initiatives

• Create and maintain technical documentation, architecture diagrams, and standard operating procedures

Your Experience:

Required Skills & Experience

Java Application Technologies (Mandatory)

• 10+ years of hands-on experience administering IBM WebSphere Application Server (ND, Traditional, and Liberty)

• Proficiency in Java application deployment, configuration, and troubleshooting

• Experience supporting Spring Framework and Spring Boot applications

• Understanding of enterprise Java patterns and best practices (J2EE/Jakarta EE)

Container & Cloud Platforms (Mandatory)

• 3+ years of hands-on experience with Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform (OCP)

• Strong experience with containerization technologies (Docker, Podman)

• Proficiency with AWS container services (ECS, EKS, Fargate)

• Experience with Kubernetes administration and orchestration

• Knowledge of container security, networking, and storage management

Operating Systems & Scripting (Mandatory)

• Advanced proficiency in Linux/Unix administration (RHEL, AIX, or similar)

• Strong scripting skills (Bash, Python, or similar)

• Experience with writing Terraform code for orchestration

• Experience with Windows Server environments for Java application hosting

• Proficiency in file system management, permissions, and networking

Automation Tools (Mandatory)

• Working knowledge of Ansible for configuration management and deployment automation

• Ability to create and maintain Ansible playbooks and roles

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI, or similar)

• Familiarity with version control systems (Git, Bitbucket)

• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) principles

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with IBM WebSphere MORe

• Knowledge of payment systems (ACH, Fedwire etc)

• Experience with API management platforms and microservices architectures

• Certifications in IBM WebSphere, Kubernetes or AWS

• Experience with monitoring and observability tools (Dynatrace, Splunk, ELK stack, Prometheus, Grafana)

• Knowledge of database technologies (Oracle, DB2, PostgreSQL)

• Experience with message queuing systems (IBM MQ, Kafka, RabbitMQ)

• Familiarity with Agile/SAFe methodologies and DevOps practices

Technical Competencies

• Strong understanding of networking concepts (TCP/IP, DNS, load balancers, firewalls)

• Experience with SSL/TLS certificates and PKI infrastructure

• Deep knowledge of JVM internals, garbage collection, and performance tuning

• Ability to read and analyze Java thread dumps, heap dumps, and application logs

• Understanding of high availability and disaster recovery architectures

• Knowledge of ITIL processes, change management, and incident response

• Experience with capacity planning and performance optimization

Soft Skills

• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with a strategic mindset

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for technical and non-technical audiences

• Proven leadership abilities and experience mentoring junior team members

• Ability to work independently and lead cross-functional initiatives

• Strong organizational and time management skills with ability to manage multiple priorities

• Customer service oriented mindset with focus on business outcomes

• Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with changing priorities

• Flexibility to provide after-hours support when required for critical initiatives

• Collaborative approach with ability to influence and drive consensus across teams

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field

• Equivalent work experience may be considered in lieu of degree

• Advanced degree or relevant certifications preferred

Work Environment

• Hybrid/Remote work options available

• Occasional on-call rotation required for production support

• May require participation in off-hours maintenance windows for system upgrades and migrations

• Periodic travel may be required for team collaboration or vendor engagements

Additional Details:

Locations:

The selected candidate will reside within a reasonable commuting distance defined by the employing Reserve Bank and will work full-time onsite.

• Eligible Locations for Hire:  Boston, MA- New York, NY- Philadelphia, PA- Cleveland, OH- Richmond, VA- Atlanta, GA- Chicago, IL- St. Louis, MO- Minneapolis, MN- Kansas City, MO- Dallas, TX- San Francisco, CA.

• The following Reserve Bank locations are preferred due to the concentration of System IT team members in these locations: Richmond, Charlotte, Dallas, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City.

As a Federal Reserve System National Business Line, it is standard practice to post System IT positions in multiple Districts to provide transparency and equitable opportunities. Internal candidate(s) selected for this position will remain employed by their current employing District and serve as an employee of System IT*. The candidate’s new job title and associated pay range will be determined by the employing District, and they will be subject to the employing District’s people policies and practices.

*Current remote employees will not be guaranteed to keep their remote status with their employing bank.

The expected starting salary range for this position is between $176,000 and $208,200 annually in addition to annual performance-based discretionary bonuses. Final salary and offer will be determined based on the applicant’s relevant experience, skills, internal equity, and alignment with geographic and other market data. 

*The listed salary is applicable to 7th District. Final offers are determined by factors including the candidate’s qualifications, internal alignment considerations, district assignment, and geographic location. 

What we Offer

• Comprehensive benefits package includes medical, dental, vision, prescription drug coverage, 401k savings plan, retirement plan, paid time off, transit benefit, onsite gym and subsidized cafeteria

• A learning environment with opportunities to gain new skills and grow your career

Additional Requirements

• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States without the need for visa sponsorship now or in the future.

• This position has additional screening requirements due to the information accessed while performing the job. These additional screenings would be initiated at the time of offer acceptance and could take approximately two months to be completed. The screening covers areas such as education/employment verification, criminal history, credit history, and reaches out to your references and people that know you well.

• As a condition of employment, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago employees must comply with the Bank’s ethics rules, which generally prohibit employees, their spouses/domestic partners, and minor children from owning securities, such as stock, of banks or savings associations or their affiliates, such as bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies. If you or your spouse/domestic partner or minor child own such securities and would not be willing or able to divest them if you accepted an offer of Bank employment, you should raise this issue with the recruiter for this posting, who can provide you contact information for our ethics official if necessary.

Always verify and apply to jobs on Federal Reserve System Careers or through verified Federal Reserve Bank social media channels.

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression, or veteran status.

Full Time / Part Time

Full time

Regular / Temporary

Regular

Job Exempt (Yes / No)

Yes

Job Category

Information Technology Family Group

Work Shift

First (United States of America)

The Federal Reserve Banks are committed to equal employment opportunity for employees and job applicants in compliance with applicable law and to an environment where employees are valued for their differences.

Always verify and apply to jobs on Federal Reserve System Careers (https://rb.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/FRS) or through verified Federal Reserve Bank social media channels.

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