Introduction
At IBM, work is more than a job. It is a calling: To build. To design. To code. To consult. To think along with clients and sell. To make markets. To invent. To collaborate. Not just to do something better, but to attempt things you have never thought possible. Are you ready to lead in this new era of technology and solve some of the world's most challenging problems? If so, let's talk.
About Business Unit
IBM Cloud is the global public cloud platform from IBM, one of the most secure, scalable, and enterprise-ready cloud platforms in the world. IBM Cloud powers thousands of enterprises with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings delivered across public, private, and hybrid cloud models.
Within IBM Cloud, the Network Underlay organization is responsible for designing, building, and operating the physical and software-defined network infrastructure that underpins IBM Cloud's global fleet of data centers. NetTools is the automation and tooling engineering team within Network Underlay. We build the software systems that allow network engineers to provision, configure, monitor, and manage network infrastructure at scale, across dozens of data centers globally.
The Network Automation mission within NetTools develops and operates three interconnected platforms: NCS/Axon (Network Configuration Service), the system that automates the full lifecycle of network switch configuration from initial rack bring-up to day-to-day operations; SSOT (Source of Truth) and Hivemind, the authoritative data stores for network configuration state in classic and next-generation data center environments respectively; and the associated monitoring, validation, and reporting pipelines that keep our network infrastructure compliant, observable, and reliable.
Your role and responsibilities
Software Developers at IBM are the backbone of our strategic initiatives to design, code, test, and provide industry-leading solutions that make the world run today. Planes and trains take off on time, bank transactions complete in the blink of an eye, and the world remains safe because of the work our software developers do. At IBM, you will use the latest software development tools, techniques, and approaches and work with leading minds in the industry to build solutions you can be proud of.
As a Back-End Developer on the NetTools Network Automation team, you will own and deliver production-grade back-end services and automation pipelines that are critical to the daily operation of IBM Cloud's network infrastructure. You will work alongside senior engineers building and evolving the Axon/NCS platform and the SSOT/Hivemind systems, taking on direct ownership of components from design through delivery.
Your responsibilities will include:
- Implement and automate infrastructure solutions: design, develop, and maintain back-end Python microservices that implement Day-0 (initial network provisioning, Zero Touch Provisioning) and Day-2 (operational changes, firmware updates, configuration drift remediation) automation workflows. This includes owning REST API endpoints, YAML-driven input processing, and Jinja2-based configuration generation pipelines that produce switch configurations deployed across IBM Cloud data centers.
- Build and maintain automated test frameworks: design, implement, and own unit, integration, and end-to-end regression tests for the Axon/NCS platform. Establishing reliable test coverage and a dedicated test environment is a key team priority, and this role will drive that work forward, including authoring test cases, identifying edge conditions, and validating end-to-end workflow correctness.
- Build and set up CI/CD pipelines in OpenShift and Kubernetes environments: administer automated CI/CD systems and tools that support the development and test lifecycle of NCS/Axon services, ensuring reliable and repeatable delivery of changes to production.
- Own SSOT and Hivemind integration work: design and deliver the interfaces between NCS/Axon and the SSOT/Hivemind data platforms (backed by NetBox and CockroachDB), ensuring that network context data (rack topology, port mappings, cable connections, device inventory) is reliably consumed and validated by the automation workflows.
- Support the compliance and security integrity of the environment: contribute to the NCS Overhaul initiative by hardening service components, improving Docker container configuration practices, writing operational runbooks, and ensuring the platform meets IBM's security and compliance requirements.
- Partner with cross-functional teams on alerting and monitoring: collaborate with Network Engineering, Data Center Operations, and program managers to develop and maintain observability for mission-critical NCS services, and provide technical escalation support for infrastructure operations teams.
Required education
High School Diploma/GED
Preferred education
Bachelor's Degree
Required technical and professional expertise
- Back-end development in Python: demonstrated experience writing and maintaining production Python services, including REST API design and consumption (e.g., Flask, FastAPI, or equivalent), JSON/YAML data processing, and service-layer business logic.
- Version control and collaborative development with Git: proficiency working in a Git-based team workflow, including branching strategies, pull requests, code reviews, and CI/CD integration.
- Containerization and deployment: working knowledge of Docker (building, configuring, and running containers) and familiarity with container orchestration via Kubernetes or OpenShift. NCS runs as containerized workloads on IBM's Fabric Container Platform.
- REST API design and HTTP fundamentals: ability to design, implement, document, and consume RESTful APIs. The Axon architecture exposes Day-0 and Day-2 network build APIs consumed by multiple service teams across IBM Cloud.
- Automated testing and software quality: experience writing unit and integration tests, building regression test suites, and applying software quality practices in a production-critical environment.
Preferred technical and professional experience
- Working knowledge with one or more operating systems: Ubuntu (preferred), RHEL, or CentOS Linux.
- Working knowledge with one or more programming tools: Bash, PowerShell, Python, Ruby, or Go.
- Working knowledge with key infrastructure tools: Ansible, Chef, or equivalent configuration management tooling.
- Familiarity with template engines such as Jinja2 or Helm. Configuration generation in NCS is built on Jinja2 templates rendered from YAML-based rack context inputs.
- Basic understanding of networking concepts: IP addressing (IPv4/IPv6), VLANs, switching, routing fundamentals, or exposure to Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP). Intellectual curiosity about network infrastructure at scale is a strong plus.
- Working knowledge with monitoring and observability technologies: Zabbix (preferred), Splunk, or Grafana.
- Working knowledge with ServiceNow, JIRA, Confluence, and GitHub
ABOUT BUSINESS UNITIBM Systems helps IT leaders think differently about their infrastructure. IBM servers and storage are no longer inanimate - they can understand, reason, and learn so our clients can innovate while avoiding IT issues. Our systems power the world's most important industries and our clients are the architects of the future. Join us to help build our leading-edge technology portfolio designed for cognitive business and optimized for cloud computing.
YOUR LIFE @ IBMIn a world where technology never stands still, we understand that, dedication to our clients success, innovation that matters, and trust and personal responsibility in all our relationships, lives in what we do as IBMers as we strive to be the catalyst that makes the world work better.
Being an IBMer means you'll be able to learn and develop yourself and your career, you'll be encouraged to be courageous and experiment everyday, all whilst having continuous trust and support in an environment where everyone can thrive whatever their personal or professional background.
Our IBMers are growth minded, always staying curious, open to feedback and learning new information and skills to constantly transform themselves and our company. They are trusted to provide on-going feedback to help other IBMers grow, as well as collaborate with colleagues keeping in mind a team focused approach to include different perspectives to drive exceptional outcomes for our customers. The courage our IBMers have to make critical decisions everyday is essential to IBM becoming the catalyst for progress, always embracing challenges with resources they have to hand, a can-do attitude and always striving for an outcome focused approach within everything that they do.
Are you ready to be an IBMer?
ABOUT IBMIBM's greatest invention is the IBMer. We believe that through the application of intelligence, reason and science, we can improve business, society and the human condition, bringing the power of an open hybrid cloud and AI strategy to life for our clients and partners around the world.
Restlessly reinventing since 1911, we are not only one of the largest corporate organizations in the world, we're also one of the biggest technology and consulting employers, with many of the Fortune 500 companies relying on the IBM Cloud to run their business.
At IBM, we pride ourselves on being an early adopter of artificial intelligence, quantum computing and blockchain. Now it's time for you to join us on our journey to being a responsible technology innovator and a force for good in the world.
IBM is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, or other characteristics protected by the applicable law. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.
OTHER RELEVANT JOB DETAILSIBM offers a competitive and comprehensive benefits program. Eligible employees may have access to:
- Healthcare benefits including medical & prescription drug coverage, dental, vision, and mental health & well being
- Financial programs such as 401(k), cash balance pension plan, the IBM Employee Stock Purchase Plan, financial counseling, life insurance, short & long- term disability coverage, and opportunities for performance based salary incentive programs
- Generous paid time off including 12 holidays, minimum 56 hours sick time, 120 hours vacation, 12 weeks parental bonding leave in accordance with IBM Policy, and other Paid Care Leave programs. IBM also offers paid family leave benefits to eligible employees where required by applicable law
- Training and educational resources on our personalized, AI-driven learning platform where IBMers can grow skills and obtain industry-recognized certifications to achieve their career goals
- Diverse and inclusive employee resource groups, giving & volunteer opportunities, and discounts on retail products, services & experiences
We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable law.
This position was posted on the date cited in the key job details section and is anticipated to remain posted for 21 days from this date or less if not needed to fill the role.
IBM will not be providing visa sponsorship for this position now or in the future. Therefore, in order to be considered for this position, you must have the ability to work without a need for current or future visa sponsorship.
The compensation range and benefits for this position are based on a full-time schedule for a full calendar year. The salary will vary depending on your job-related skills, experience and location. Pay increment and frequency of pay will be in accordance with employment classification and applicable laws. For part time roles, your compensation and benefits will be adjusted to reflect your hours. Benefits may be pro-rated for those who start working during the calendar year.
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