Research Engineers / Research Scientists

Myjob; Zürich; On-site; CHF 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM Research Zurich is expanding its team of researchers to build the next generation of large-scale data systems. You will design and implement core components, including query execution engines, schedulers, and distributed resource management, working deep in the system stack.

We seek engineers and scientists who excel at systems research and production engineering, with strong programming skills in C++, Java, or Scala, and experience with Spark, Presto/Trino, or Flink.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Distributed Systems, Databases, or related field, or equivalent industry experience
• Strong experience building distributed systems or large-scale infrastructure software
• Excellent programming skills in C++, Java, or Scala
• Experience working with large-scale data processing frameworks or query engines (e.g., Spark, Presto/Trino, Flink)
• Experience designing or applying optimization techniques for complex systems, using analytical methods, heuristics, or machine learning

Responsibilities

• Design and build core components of next-generation data platforms, including query execution engines, schedulers, and distributed resource management layers
• Work deep in the system stack; contribute to both systems engineering and systems research as fits interests and background
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver scalable data processing capabilities

Skills

Distributed Systems

C++

Java

Scala

Spark

Presto/Trino

Flink

Query optimization

Serverless

Education

Master's degree in Computer Science

Tools

Spark

Presto/Trino

Flink

Parquet

Arrow

Iceberg

Job description

Research Engineers / Research Scientists

Next-Generation Data Systems

Ref. 2025_016

About the Roles

At IBM Research Zurich, we are expanding our team with multiple engineers and researchers to build the next generation of large-scale data systems that support both modern data workloads and traditional enterprise workloads. Our goal is to design platforms capable of executing complex queries and workflows efficiently across heterogeneous engines, storage layers, and hardware. We focus on core systems challenges such as query optimization, cross-engine query routing, serverless scheduling and resource management. These systems must support diverse workloads while delivering strong performance, scalability, and reliability. Our work combines systems research and production engineering, and many of the technologies we develop become part of products and open-source platforms used at scale.

What You Will Do

You will design and build core components of next-generation data platforms. Much of this work happens deep in the system stack, including query execution engines, schedulers, and distributed resource management layers. Depending on your interests and background, your work may focus more on systems engineering, systems research, or a combination of both.

What we are looking for

We are looking for engineers or scientists who enjoy working deep in the stack, designing and building the infrastructure that powers large-scale data processing systems. You are comfortable reasoning about query execution plans, distributed scheduling, resource management, and systems performance. You enjoy understanding how complex systems behave at scale and improving them. You are curious about how modern workloads—including multimodal data processing and agent-based workflows-should influence the architecture and behavior of next-generation data systems.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Distributed Systems, Databases, or related field, or equivalent industry experience
• Strong experience building distributed systems or large-scale infrastructure software
• Excellent programming skills in C++, Java, or Scala
• Experience working with large-scale data processing frameworks or query engines (e.g., Spark, Presto/Trino, Flink)
• Experience designing or applying optimization techniques for complex systems, using analytical methods, heuristics, or machine learning

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working on query engines, query optimizers, or execution runtimes
• Experience building distributed schedulers or resource managers
• Familiarity with serverless or elastic compute architectures
• Experience working with columnar data formats and table formats (Parquet, Arrow, Iceberg)
• Experience contributing to large open-source systems
• Interest in applying ML or analytical models to improve system performance (e.g., cost models, scheduling policies)
• Experience with hardware acceleration for data processing, such as GPUs, vectorized execution, SIMD, or specialized accelerators
• PhD in Computer Science or a related field is a plus

Why Join Us

• Work on systems that ship in products and open-source projects used at scale
• Collaborate with a global team across Europe, Africa, US, and India
• Influence the architecture of next-generation data platforms
• Access real-world workloads and cutting-edge infrastructure

Diversity

IBM is committed to diversity at the workplace. With us you will find an open, multicultural environment. Excellent flexible working arrangements enable all genders to strike the desired balance between their professional development and their personal lives.