Sr Lead - Infrastructure Change Manager - Middleware

About Northern Trust:

Northern Trust, a Fortune 500 company, is a globally recognized, award-winning financial institution that has been in continuous operation since 1889.

Northern Trust is proud to provide innovative financial services and guidance to the world’s most successful individuals, families, and institutions by remaining true to our enduring principles of service, expertise, and integrity. With more than 130 years of financial experience and over 22,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

Position: Change Manager – Infra Middleware Operations
 

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE 

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Technology, or related field 
• 7+ years of experience in IT operations, with at least 5 years focusing on change management 
• Strong understanding of one or more of these Middleware messaging, hosting, reporting, and ETL technologies such as: IBM WebSphere MQ, Solace, Kafka, Infosphere DataStage, Control Data Capture, WebLogic, Tomcat, Apache, Microsoft Dot Net 
• Microsoft Azure DevOps (Scrum master experience desired but not required) 
• In-depth knowledge of ITSM frameworks (e.g., ITIL) 
• Experience with ITSM tools (e.g., ServiceNow, BMC Remedy) 
• Excellent project management and organizational skills 
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities
• Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills  
   

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES 

Change Strategy and Policy: 

• Develop and maintain a comprehensive change management strategy aligned with ITSM frameworks and financial industry best practices 
• Participate in the creation and update of change management policies and procedures for all platform teams 
• Attend and represent all distributed Platform teams changes at the Change Advisory Board (CAB) 
• Attend and represent all distributed Platform teams changes at the Major Events Advisory Board (MEAB) 
• Attend and represent all distributed Platform teams changes at the Weekly Infrastructure Change Review 

Change Request Management: 

• Oversee the entire change lifecycle, from submission to closure 
• Review and classify change requests based on risk, impact, and urgency 
• Ensure proper documentation of all changes in the ITSM tool 

Risk Assessment and Mitigation: 

• Conduct thorough risk assessments for proposed changes across all platforms 
• Assist in the development of risk mitigation strategies and rollback plans 
• Ensure compliance with financial industry regulations (e.g., SOX, GDPR, PCI DSS) 

Change Scheduling and Coordination: 

• Manage the change schedule to minimize disruption to financial operations 
• Coordinate change windows with business units, considering peak transaction periods, moratoriums and major events 
• Manage dependencies between changes across different platforms 

Stakeholder Management and Communication: 

• Develop and execute communication plans for all platform changes 
• Liaise with various stakeholders, including platform teams, application owners, and senior management 
• Conduct pre-implementation and post-implementation briefings 
   

​Change Implementation Oversight: 

• Monitor change progress and ensure adherence to approved plans 
• Make go/no-go decisions for critical changes 
• Coordinate with platform teams during change execution 

Post-Implementation Review and Reporting: 

• Conduct post-implementation reviews (PIRs) for significant changes 
• Analyze change success rates and identify areas for improvement 
• Provide plans for any failed change to ensure that there are no repeat occurrences 
• Compile and distribute change reports to management 

Continuous Improvement: 

• Regularly review and update change management processes 
• Review change trends for templating opportunities and implement templating 
• Implement automation to streamline change processes where possible 
• Stay updated on best practices for change management in Middleware technologies 
• Participate in creation and follow through on any change health plans as applies 
   

​Incident and Problem Management Interface: 

• Coordinate with Incident and Problem Management teams to handle changes resulting from major incidents or recurring issues 

Compliance and Audit Support: 

• Maintain comprehensive records of all changes for audit purposes 
• Prepare reports and documentation for internal and external audits 
• Ensure change processes meet regulatory requirements specific to financial institutions 
   

Training and Knowledge Transfer: 

• Develop and deliver training programs on change management processes 
• Facilitate knowledge sharing sessions between different platform teams 

Vendor and Third-Party Management: 

• Coordinate with vendors for changes related to UNIX, Linux, Windows, and VMware systems 
• Ensure third-party changes adhere to the institution's change management processes 

 
Requirements

As a partner at Northern Trust, you must actively manage and mitigate risk and act with integrity. In accordance with our core values of service, integrity, and expertise, you are expected to: 

• Adhere to all applicable risk management programs, policies, and procedures. 
• Complete all mandatory training by the deadline. 
• Understand how your behavior could expose Northern Trust, its clients, and financial markets to different types of risk. 
• Ensure that Northern Trust or its clients are not exposed to inappropriate or excessive risk. 
• Escalate any risk concerns, including those resulting from mistakes / errors to a manager or business unit risk officer. 
• Exercise diligence regarding cyber-security  
• Cooperate with internal control functions (including first-line Control, Risk, Compliance, Audit, self-assigned, etc.) and applicable regulatory bodies.  
• Avoid conflicts of interest or behaviors that might produce unfair outcomes for Northern Trust or its clients or damage the integrity of financial markets.  

KEY COMPETENCIES 

• Strategic thinking and planning 
• Risk assessment and management 
• Stakeholder management 
• Conflict resolution 
• Decision-making under pressure 
• Attention to detail 
• Adaptability and flexibility 
• Continuous improvement mindset 

WORK SCHEDULE 

• Full-time position, typically Tuesday to Saturday - 3 days a week in the office 
• May require occasional evening and weekend work for critical changes 
• On-call rotation may be required for emergency changes 

Working with Us:

As a Northern Trust partner, greater achievements await. You will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture in an organization where financial strength and stability is an asset that emboldens us to explore new ideas.

Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to assisting the communities we serve! Join a workplace with a greater purpose.

We’d love to learn more about how your interests and experience could be a fit with one of the world’s most admired and sustainable companies! Build your career with us and apply today. #MadeForGreater

Reasonable accommodation

Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at MyHRHelp@ntrs.com.

We hope you’re excited about the role and the opportunity to work with us. We value an inclusive workplace and understand flexibility means different things to different people.

Apply today and talk to us about your flexible working requirements and together we can achieve greater.