Linda Skosana
Senior Engineer
Salary / Daily rate
Johannesburg, South Africa
Freelance, open to permanent contract
Skills
Languages
About me
Intro
Senior Mainframe Storage Engineer with over 20 years of experience in enterprise storage management, specializing in IBM z/OS environments. Proven expertise in DASD and tape technologies, disaster recovery, and performance tuning across global financial and tech institutions in South Africa, Ireland, and the Czech Republic. Highly skilled in tools such as DFSMS, DFHSM, RMM, CA1, DSCLI, and ISMF, with strong leadership, mentoring, and incident management capabilities. Quick to adapt and eager to learn, I bring a structured, detail-driven approach to every engagement.
Work experience
Senior Engineer
AIB
Nov 2022 - May 2023
7 months
Ireland, Shefford SG17 5QL, UK
• Monitored DASD and tape storage utilization and performance. • Modified and tested SMS constructs using ISMF and TSO. • Managed DFHSM control data sets and retention definitions. • Supported upgrades of DFSMS, HSM, and DFP systems.
IT Specialist
Kyndryl
Jul 2021 - Oct 2022
1 year 4 months
Czechowice-Dziedzice, Poland
• Oversaw IBM DS8K and TS7700 environments, including disk/tape replication. • Handled disaster recovery testing and storage configuration. • Served as SME on Stellantis, CERP, and Swiss Life accounts. • Mentored new staff and supported customer migrations.
IT Specialist
IBM
May 2005 - Jul 2021
16 years 3 months
Johannesburg, South Africa
• Configuration and support of IBM mainframe infrastructure including IBM DS8K, IBM TS7700 VTS and grids. • Account management and customization of storage applications and software including SMS, ISMF, RMM and HSM. • Disaster recovery planning and testing, managing disk and tape replication. • Collaborate with service leads for project solutions. • Migrate new customer accounts into the IBM environment. • Mentor other team members to build their understanding in changes to infrastructure and support. • Storage SME on the RSA, JLR, Aer Lingus and Boots accounts • Storage Team Lead
First National Bank
Mar 1995 - Dec 2003
8 years 10 months
Randburg, South Africa
Storage Administrator
Apr 1997 - Dec 2003
6 years 9 months
Randburg, South Africa
• Responsible for the Y2K project from the storage perspective • Responsible for dasd migration from IBM Ramac to EMC Symmetrix dasd • Responsible for dasd migration from EMC Symmetrix to HDS Thunder 9500 • Disaster Recovery and Disaster Recovery tests.
Operations Analyst
Mar 1995 - Mar 1997
2 years 1 month
Randburg, South Africa
• Responsible for scheduling and monitoring the main Hogan production batch. • First level support for batch job failures • Online monitoring of IMS regions and ATMs • Performed system IPL when required.
Education
GIBS Business School (Gordon Institute of Business Science)
Intermediate Management Programme
2015 - 2015
1 year
University of the Western Cape
Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Computer Science
1986 - 1988
3 years
University of Zululand
Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.)
1983 - 1984
2 years
Meadowlands High School
Mathematics
1981 - 1982
2 years
Licenses & certifications
DFSMS Implementation - Code: SS84G
Issued: Feb 2022
Interskill - Mainframe Specialist - IBM Mainframe Environment - Fundamentals 2.4
Issued: Sep 2021