Technical Support Lead Analyst

Role Summary

This role provides Level 2 production support for business-critical applications running on the IBM i / AS400 platform.

The Production Support Analyst is responsible for incident resolution, system monitoring, batch operations, operational recovery and controlled configuration or data changes, helping to maintain stable, reliable and well-controlled application services.

This is not a development role; however, strong knowledge of RPG and the IBM i platform is required to analyseissues, troubleshoot effectively, supportroot cause analysis and provide clear technical context to L3 development teams when permanent code fixes are required.

Role Overview

You will support the Policy Administration System and related operational services running on IBM i / AS400, ensuring smooth day-to-day operation, service stability and effective support across critical transaction windows and overnight batch processing.

The role operates in an ITIL-aligned and Agile environment, working closely with L1 support, L3 engineering, infrastructure, application owners and business stakeholders. Work is managed primarily through ServiceNow and Jira, with a focus on timely resolution, strong ticket discipline, effective communication and continuous service improvement.

Key Responsibilities

1. Incident & Request Management

• Manage and resolve incidents, service requests and support-related changes through ServiceNow in line with agreed processes and service levels.
• Act as the primary Level 2 escalation point for issues raised by L1 support teams.
• Investigate, triage and progress issues promptly to minimise business impact and reduce service disruption.
• Maintain clear ticket ownership, timely updates, accurate categorisation and high-quality resolution notes.
• Communicate clearly and professionally with business users, application owners and support stakeholders on issue status, impact and next steps.

2. Technical Troubleshooting & RCA

• Analyse and troubleshoot application and platform issues using RPG code knowledge, IBM i operational understanding, logs, job output and system diagnostics.
• Perform root cause analysis for incidents and recurring issues, documenting findings clearly and accurately.
• Provide clear defect analysis, reproduction steps, technical evidence and support context where permanent fixes require L3 development involvement.
• Work closely with L3 development and engineering teams to support timely implementation of permanent corrective actions.
• Identify repeat issues, known error patterns and operational pain points, and contribute to the Problem Management process where appropriate.

3. Configuration & Data Changes

• Perform controlled application configuration updates in line with agreed procedures and governance requirements.
• Execute approved data fixes and corrections in accordance with audit, compliance and change control standards.
• Ensure all configuration and data changes are properly authorised, documented, tested where required and tracked through the appropriate change management process.
• Maintain accurate evidence and completion notes to support auditability and operational control.

4. Batch Processing & Operational Support

• Provide operational support for end-of-day, overnight and other critical batch processing windows.
• Monitor batch jobs and operational processes to ensure critical transactional processing completes successfully.
• Investigate and resolve batch failures, processing delays, job errors and performance-related issues.
• Escalate batch or operational issues promptly where additional technical, infrastructure or business support is required.
• Participate in rotational shift, out-of-hours or on-call support arrangements where required.

5. Monitoring, Alerts & Performance

• Monitor system health, job performance, application alerts and operational indicators to support service stability.
• Respond to alerts, investigate exceptions and take appropriate corrective action.
• Identify trends, recurring issues and emerging risks that may impact application performance or reliability.
• Support continuous improvement activity focused on service stability, operational resilience and reduced repeat incidents.

6. Collaboration & Delivery Support

• Collaborate with L1 support teams on triage, escalation and effective handover of support issues.
• Work with L3 development teams to support defect analysis, permanent fix delivery and post-incident follow-up.
• Engage infrastructure teams where platform, network, database, scheduling or environment dependencies contribute to service issues.
• Participate in Agile ceremonies where relevant, including stand-ups, planning discussions and retrospectives.
• Support releases, upgrades, patches and planned changes from a production support and operational readiness perspective.

7. Documentation & Knowledge Management

• Create and maintain support runbooks, knowledge articles, troubleshooting guides, RCA documentation and known issue records.
• Ensure operational documentation is accurate, complete, accessible and aligned to agreed support processes.
• Document incident resolutions, workarounds and recovery steps clearly so they can be reused by the wider support team.
• Identify documentation gaps and contribute to continuous improvement of operational knowledge and support standards.

Qualifications / Knowledge

Technical Skills

• Strong working knowledge of the IBM i / AS400 / iSeries platform.
• Strong RPG, RPGLE or RPG IV knowledge for code analysis, troubleshooting and incident investigation.
• Good understanding of SQL and DB2 for i.
• Working knowledge of CL, job control concepts, logs, queues, batch processing and system diagnostics.
• Experience with batch processing, job scheduling and operational recovery.
• Experience using IT service management tools, with ServiceNow preferred.
• Experience using issue tracking or Agile delivery tools, with Jira preferred.

Experience

• Proven experience in a Level 2 application production support role.
• Experience supporting business-critical transactional systems and operational services.
• Experience supporting batch operations, critical processing windows and production recovery activity.
• Experience working in shift-based, rotational or on-call support environments.
• Exposure to ITIL-aligned incident, request, problem and change management processes.
• Experience working in Agile delivery or support environments is desirable.

Soft Skills

• Strong analytical, diagnostic and problem-solving skills.
• Clear, professional communication with both technical teams and business users.
• High level of ownership, accountability and follow-through.
• Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced production environment.
• Calm and structured approach to incident handling, escalation and operational recovery.
• Practical, service-minded and continuous improvement oriented.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting policy administration systems or similar core business platforms.
• Experience in healthcare, insurance, financial services or other regulated environments.
• ITIL Foundation certification or equivalent practical service management experience.
• Experience with ServiceNow, Jira, batch scheduling tools or IBM i operational tooling.
• Experience contributing to service improvement, problem management or operational readiness activities.

Career Progression

This role provides a strong pathway into senior application support, technical support leadership, production support operations, service management or application service ownership roles.

Successful candidates will develop deeper expertise in IBM i application support, incident and problem management, operational recovery, stakeholder communication, service performance improvement and production support transformation.

About The Cigna Group