Associate Data Engineer 2027

IBM; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM's Associate Data Engineer program invites university hires to harness data to uncover stories and patterns. You will contribute to data gathering, storage, and both batch and real-time processing, collaborating with diverse teams to decide suitable data systems and the data required for insightful analysis.

As an Associate, you'll translate business needs with the Architect and Client, design scalable cloud-based architectures, optimize data pipelines, and create dashboards and reports for

Qualifications

• Ability to apply statistical and ML techniques.
• Basic understanding of Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure).
• Proficiency in Java, Python, and Scala to build data pipelines.
• Experience with ETL/ELT tools for data prep.
• Experience with Linux, SQL, Spark, Hadoop, and Java.
• Experience with data warehousing design and analytics pipelines.
• Willingness to travel up to 100% based on project requirements.

Responsibilities

• Design scalable data architecture for cloud environments.
• Optimize data pipelines for performance.
• Work with ETL/ELT ingestion pipelines.
• Collect and analyze data to identify trends for insights.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate requirements.
• Present findings to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ensure data integrity through cleaning and preprocessing.
• Explain business requirements to solution teams.
• Contribute to data gathering, storage, and real-time processing.

Skills

Statistics & ML basics

Cloud fundamentals

Programming: Java, Python, Scala

ETL/ELT pipelines

SQL & Data querying

Apache Spark / Hadoop

Travel willingness

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Tools

dbt

Snowflake

BigQuery

Airflow

CI/CD basics

Job description

Introduction

Come forge the future like an IBMer

Ready to think boldly, work with some of the world's most recognized brands, andkick-start your career?Welcome to the IBM's Associate Program for universityhires.

From day one, you'll collaborate with global clients and contribute to projects that help organizations solve their toughest challenges across digital transformation, cloud strategy, AI adoption, and process redesign - working alongside a global cohort of diverse, ambitious peers. As an Associate, you'll have access to industry-recognized certifications, digital badges, and a minimum of 40 hours of structured learning per year on IBM's AI-driven learning platform - supported by coaches, mentors, and thriving professional communities across practices. IBM's culture of internal mobility means you'll have the freedom to explore new technologies, industries, and career paths as your interests evolve.

Bring your curiosity. Grow your skills. Build what's next - like an IBMer.

Your Role And Responsibilities

As an Associate Data Engineer at IBM you will harness the power of data to unveil captivating stories and intricate patterns. You'll contribute to data gathering, storage, and both batch and real-time processing.

Collaborating closely with diverse teams, you'll play an important role in deciding the most suitable data management systems and identifying the crucial data required for insightful analysis. As a Data Engineer, you'll tackle obstacles related to database integration and untangle complex, unstructured data sets.

These positions are anticipated to start in 2027.

Key Responsibilities May Include

• Assist in designing and implementing scalable data architecture and management systems tailored for modern cloud environments.
• Work on optimizing existing data pipelines and processes for improved performance.
• Work with ETL/ELT ingestion pipelines.
• Collect and analyze data to identify trends, providing clients with actionable insights to enhance marketing, operational, and business practices.
• Participate in troubleshooting data-related issues, working to solve challenges and data inconsistencies.
• Create visually compelling and user-friendly data visualizations, dashboards, and reports to effectively communicate findings to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ensure the integrity, accuracy, and reliability of data through rigorous data cleaning, validation, and preprocessing procedures.
• Work with the project team to prioritize and translate Client requirements and define current and future operational scenarios (processes, models, use cases, plans, and solutions). Work collaboratively with the Client and the Architect to ensure proper translation of business requirements to solution requirements.
• Present analytical findings and recommendations clearly and concisely, demonstrating the value of data-driven decision-making to clients.

Consulting Skills

• Advocates business process transformation by analyzing application portfolios across the ecosystem to identify process optimization and automation opportunities, leveraging planning, project management, and Agile methodologies to drive effective solutions.
• Demonstrates strong communication, problem-solving, adaptability, and teamwork skills, with a collaborative mindset, curiosity to learn, and the ability to clearly articulate ideas, ask insightful questions, and recommend solutions.

Preferred Education

Bachelor's Degree

Required Technical And Professional Expertise

• Ability to incorporate a variety of statistical and machine learning techniques.
• Basic understanding of Cloud (AWS, Azure, etc).
• Ability to use programming languages like Java, Python, Scala, etc., to build pipelines to extract and transform data from a repository to a data consumer.
• Ability to use Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) tools and/or data integration, or federation tools to prepare and transform data as needed.
• Ability to use leading-edge tools such as Linux, SQL, Python, Spark, Hadoopand Java.
• Exposure to ETL/ELT projects, data warehouse design, analytics pipelines, and capstone data engineering
• Willingness to travel up to 100%, based on project requirements.

Preferred Technical And Professional Experience

• Preferred Bachelor’s degree in a related field (Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Math, MIS, Engineering).
• Preferred Skills/Tech: SQL, Python,dbt, Snowflake, Big Query, Airflow, data modeling, CI/CD basics.
• Preferred Certifications: SnowProcore, Databricks Data Engineer Associate, Google Associate Cloud Engineer or Data Engineer coursework
• General skills: GenAI literacy - prompt engineering, RAG, fine-tuning, and evaluation of generative models.