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
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.
