Entry Level Cloud Infrastructure Network Monitoring and Automation Software Engineer - San Jose CA - 2027

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.