Mainframe Data Center Engineer in Hampshire

The Data Centre Mainframe Engineer role sits within the Data Centre Engineering and Operations team and is based in Basingstoke, with limited travel to other Visa locations as required. This position is responsible for supporting the mainframe and storage hardware environments within the Visa Basingstoke Data Centre, as well as future UK locations. The role operates as part of a global team and includes ownership of day‑to‑day operational activities across these environments.

Key responsibilities include:

• Planning, installation, relocation, and decommissioning of modern, high‑end mainframe and storage equipment within the data halls.
• Installation, maintenance, and support of structured cabling systems.
• Diagnosis and resolution of hardware and cabling issues.
• Contributing to and supporting internal projects, working closely with cross‑functional teams to ensure successful delivery while maintaining operational stability and adherence to data center standards.

Responsibilities:

• Installing cabling and infrastructure.
• Managing installation of mainframes and associated hardware.
• Maintaining microcode levels to VISA’s preferred levels by liaising with vendor.
• Managing vendors while onsite performing install and break‑fix activities.
• Diagnosing problems to ensure correct vendor hardware engineering group is involved.
• Working with Engineering and Facilities teams to ensure that all planned Changes are prepared and executed successfully.
• Performing 24 hour on‑call support.
• Managing and tracking incident and change management tickets in line with internal guidelines.
• Troubleshooting and resolving incidents on Mainframe and Storage hardware environments, in adherence to data center processes regarding incident tracking, response, and documentation.
• Working with planning team members to coordinate installation of hardware and cabling systems.
• Providing updates of the physical layout of equipment and cabling infrastructure utilizing data center information management tools (DCIM).
• Working with engineering and vendors to assess new technology and their impact to the data center infrastructure from a space, power, cooling and structured cabling perspective.
• Establishing key relationships with other data center teams and internal support teams.
• Serving as escalation point to facilities, network, open systems, systems engineering and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level support groups.
• Participating and performing governance related policies, procedures, key controls, etc.
• Driving continuous improvement initiatives to optimize data center operational efficiency.

Qualifications:

• 5+ Years of Data Center hardware experience.
• 5+ Years experience in the Mainframe hardware environment.
• 5+ Years experience with the Storage hardware environment.
• Working knowledge of IBM, Cisco, Brocade, SecureAgent, Hitachi and other Mainframe/Storage-related hardware.
• Competent in Data Center Operations and procedures.
• Experience with installing and managing fiber cabling, copper cabling, racks, cabinets, and other data center infrastructure.
• Familiar with both ServiceNow Ticket Management system and Nlyte DCIM tool would be an advantage.
• Ability to manage vendors appropriately.
• Ability to work on‑call rotation and support onsite activities during off‑hours periods.
• Relevant certified data center certification such as CNET and Uptime.
• Must have a successful track record of working in a 24x7 critical data center environment with experience of hardware network and cabling systems.
• Candidate must be driven, self‑motivated, and can hit the ground running.
• Ability to structure, manage, and coordinate cross‑organization projects and processes with multiple stakeholders.