Associate Data Engineer 2027

IBM; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM is seeking an Associate Data Engineer to harness data for stories and patterns, supporting batch and real-time processing. You will work with diverse teams to select data management systems and identify data requirements for insightful analysis.

The role involves optimizing pipelines, ETL/ELT work, and delivering dashboards and reports to clients, with emphasis on data quality and clear communication of findings. Roles may start in 2027.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related field is required.
• Experience or ability to apply statistics and machine learning techniques.
• Basic understanding of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, etc.).
• Proficiency in programming languages used to build data pipelines (Java, Python, Scala).
• Experience with ETL tools and data integration or federation tooling.
• Familiarity with Linux, SQL, Python, Spark, Hadoop, and Java.
• Willingness to travel up to 100% based on project requirements.

Responsibilities

• Assist in designing scalable data architecture and management systems for modern cloud environments.
• Optimize data pipelines and ETL/ELT processes for performance.
• Collect and analyze data to identify trends and provide actionable insights.
• Create data visualizations, dashboards, and reports for stakeholders.
• Ensure data integrity through cleaning, validation, and preprocessing.
• Translate client requirements into solution requirements with the project team.

Skills

Statistics & ML

Cloud basics

Programming: Java/Python/Scala

ETL tools

SQL/Spark/Hadoop

Data pipeline design

GenAI literacy

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Linux

Snowflake

Job description

Introduction

Come forge the future like an IBMer Ready to think boldly, work with some of the world's most recognized brands, and kick-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. To give yourself the best opportunity for success, we advise applying only to roles that align with your skills and experience, rather than applying broadly across all entry-level positions. You'll receive a status update email for each application, so be sure to check your IBM Careers account regularly — it's the best way to get a centralized view of which roles you have active applications against.

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, BigQuery, Airflow, data modeling, CI/CD basics.
• Preferred Certifications: SnowProCore, Databricks Data Engineer Associate, Google Associate CloudEngineer or Data Engineer coursework
• General skills: GenAI literacy - prompt engineering, RAG, fine-tuning, and evaluation of generative models.