Entry Level Cloud Infrastructure Network Monitoring and Automation Software Engineer

About the Role

As a Back-End Developer on the NetTools Network Automation team, you will own and deliver production-grade back-end services and automation pipelines 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.

Key Responsibilities

• 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.
• Build and maintain automated test frameworks: design, implement, and own unit, integration, and end-to-end regression tests for the Axon/NCS platform.
• Build and set up CI/CD pipelines in OpenShift and Kubernetes environments.
• Own SSOT and Hivemind integration work: design and deliver interfaces between NCS/Axon and the SSOT/Hivemind data platforms (backed by NetBox and CockroachDB).
• 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 platform compliance.
• 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 critical NCS services, and provide technical escalation support.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• 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.
• REST API design and HTTP fundamentals: ability to design, implement, document, and consume RESTful APIs.
• Automated testing and software quality: experience writing unit and integration tests, building regression test suites, and applying software quality practices.

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.
• Basic understanding of networking concepts: IP addressing (IPv4/IPv6), VLANs, switching, routing fundamentals, or exposure to Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP).
• Working knowledge with monitoring and observability technologies: Zabbix (preferred), Splunk, or Grafana.
• Working knowledge with ServiceNow, JIRA, Confluence, and GitHub.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree