Linux Programme Manager

Linux Programme Manager Location: hybrid, 2 days per week onsite in Sheffield Inside IR35: Day rate from £500-£650 per day Essential Consulting are working with a Financial Services client who are looking for an experienced Linux Programme Manager / Senior Infrastructure Project Manager to lead the delivery and operational launch of a supported RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) hosting service on IBM LinuxONE / IBM Z. This is not a generic infrastructure or mainframe PM position. Candidates must have a genuine Linux background and ideally previous experience delivering Linux on IBM Z / LinuxONE environments. You must have sufficient technical knowledge to challenge engineering teams, understand dependencies and drive technical decisions. Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, build and launch of a supported RHEL hosting service on IBM LinuxONE / IBM Z.
• Coordinate Linux, mainframe, network, storage, security and service-management teams.
• Define the service offering, including RHEL versions, server sizing, environments, availability and target workloads.
• Manage platform capacity, virtualisation, networking, storage, security and management-tooling dependencies.
• Validate application, middleware and vendor compatibility with Linux on IBM Z (s390x).
• Establish the operating model covering provisioning, patching, monitoring, backup and production support.
• Lead pilot delivery covering application compatibility, performance, recovery and support processes.
• Drive operational readiness, service catalogue creation, onboarding and production go-live.
• Own programme plans, RAID, dependencies, suppliers, budgets and key delivery decisions. Essential Experience
• Strong Linux / RHEL infrastructure experience.
• Experience delivering Linux on IBM Z / IBM LinuxONE.
• Knowledge of LPARs, IFL capacity and z/VM or KVM virtualisation.
• Understanding of enterprise Linux provisioning, patching, hardening, monitoring, backup and automation.
• Experience launching infrastructure services into production, including SLAs, support models, disaster recovery, operational acceptance and service catalogues.
• Strong cross-platform delivery experience spanning Linux, mainframe and wider infrastructure teams.
• Senior Programme / Project Management experience delivering complex infrastructure programmes. LNKD1UKTJ