Enterprise Systems Performance Intern

International Business Machines Corporation; City of Poughkeepsie (NY); Hybrid; USD 61,000 - 143,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid holidays

Sick leave

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Family medical leave

Disability benefits

Job summary

IBM is seeking a Performance Engineering Intern in Poughkeepsie to analyze enterprise workloads, build performance models, and develop benchmarks and automation. You will collaborate with IBM Z teams on computer architecture, OS, and performance tooling while applying classroom concepts to real‑world systems.

The role emphasizes strong analytical skills, programming in C/C++/Python/Java, and teamwork. A current Bachelor’s or Master’s degree pursuit is required, with preferred computer

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Fundamental understanding of computer architecture, operating systems, software development, or digital systems.
• Programming experience in one or more languages such as C, C++, Python, Java, or Assembly.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills.
• Strong communication and teamwork skills.

Responsibilities

• Analyzing real‑world enterprise workloads at scale to understand system behavior and uncover performance opportunities using processor, memory, I/O, operating system, and application‑level performance data.
• Building and using models to evaluate processor and system performance.
• Developing performance tests, benchmarks, tools, and automation.
• Supporting computer architecture, performance tracing, modeling, and workload characterization.
• Exploring AI and Generative AI to improve performance analysis and engineering productivity.
• Collaborating with architects, hardware designers, software developers, and performance engineers.

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Master's Degree

Job description

At IBM, work is more than a job - it's a calling: To build. To design. To code. To consult. To think along with clients and sell. To make markets. To invent. To collaborate. Not just to do something better, but to attempt things you've never thought possible. Are you ready to lead in this new era of technology and solve some of the world's most challenging problems? If so, lets talk.

Your role and responsibilities

The IBM Z Performance and Architecture organization helps design and optimize the technologies behind IBM Z, IBM's flagship enterprise computing platform. IBM Z powers some of the world's most demanding business applications, processing massive volumes of transactions while delivering high levels of reliability, security, and performance.

What makes IBM Z unique is that IBM engineers the entire system stack, including processor architecture, hardware, firmware, operating systems, virtualization technologies, middleware, applications, and performance tooling. This end-to-end ownership allows our teams to solve complex problems across the full computing stack and deliver highly integrated solutions for mission-critical enterprise workloads.

Our work spans computer architecture, operating systems, performance engineering, data analytics, automation, workload analysis, and applied AI.

As an intern, you may work on projects involving:

Analyzing real-world enterprise workloads at scale to understand system behavior and uncover performance opportunities using processor, memory, I/O, operating system, and application-level performance data

Building and using models to evaluate processor and system performance

Developing performance tests, benchmarks, tools, and automation

Supporting computer architecture, performance tracing, modeling, and workload characterization

Exploring AI and Generative AI to improve performance analysis and engineering productivity

Collaborating with architects, hardware designers, software developers, and performance engineers

This role provides an opportunity to apply classroom concepts to real-world enterprise systems and contribute to the development and performance of future IBM Z technologies.

Required education

High School Diploma/GED

Preferred education

Bachelor's Degree

Required technical and professional expertise

Currently pursuing a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field

Fundamental understanding of computer architecture, operating systems, software development, or digital systems

Programming experience in one or more languages such as C, C++, Python, Java, or Assembly

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

Strong communication and teamwork skills

Preferred technical and professional experience

Computer Architecture and Processor Design

Operating Systems and Systems Programming

System Performance Engineering, Analysis, or Optimization

Processor, Memory, and I/O Architecture

Performance Modeling, Benchmarking, or Workload Analysis

Probability and Statistics or Operations Research

C/C++, Python, Assembly, or SystemVerilog

Linux/Unix or RISC-V

Multi-Core Systems or Digital Logic Design

Data Analysis and Automation

AI, Machine Learning, or Generative AI

ABOUT BUSINESS UNIT

IBM Systems helps IT leaders think differently about their infrastructure. IBM servers and storage are no longer inanimate - they can understand, reason, and learn so our clients can innovate while avoiding IT issues. Our systems power the world’s most important industries and our clients are the architects of the future.Join us to help build our leading-edge technology portfoliodesigned for cognitive business and optimized for cloud computing.

YOUR LIFE @ IBM

In a world where technology never stands still, we understand that, dedication to our clients success, innovation that matters, and trust and personal responsibility in all our relationships, lives in what we do as IBMers as we strive to be the catalyst that makes the world work better.

Being an IBMer means you’ll be able to learn and develop yourself and your career, you’ll be encouraged to be courageous and experiment everyday, all whilst having continuous trust and support in an environment where everyone can thrive whatever their personal or professional background.

Our IBMers are growth minded, always staying curious, open to feedback and learning new information and skills to constantly transform themselves and our company. They are trusted to provide on-going feedback to help other IBMers grow, as well as collaborate with colleagues keeping in mind a team focused approach to include different perspectives to drive exceptional outcomes for our customers. The courage our IBMers have to make critical decisions everyday is essential to IBM becoming the catalyst for progress, always embracing challenges with resources they have to hand, a can-do attitude and always striving for an outcome focused approach within everything that they do.

Are you ready to be an IBMer?

ABOUT IBM

IBM’s greatest invention is the IBMer. We believe that through the application of intelligence, reason and science, we can improve business, society and the human condition, bringing the power of an open hybrid cloud and AI strategy to life for our clients and partners around the world.

Restlessly reinventing since 1911, we are not only one of the largest corporate organizations in the world, we’re also one of the biggest technology and consulting employers, with many of the Fortune 500 companies relying on the IBM Cloud to run their business.

At IBM, we pride ourselves on being an early adopter of artificial intelligence, quantum computing and blockchain. Now it’s time for you to join us on our journey to being a responsible technology innovator and a force for good in the world.

IBM is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, or other characteristics protected by the applicable law. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.

OTHER RELEVANT JOB DETAILS

Supplemental 1 employees may be eligible for up to 8 paid holidays, minimum of 56 hours paid sick time and the IBM Employee Stock Purchase Plan. IBM offers paid family medical leave and disability benefits to eligible employees where required by applicable law.
This position was posted on the date cited in the key job details section and is anticipated to remain posted for 15 days from this date or less if not needed to fill the role.
We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable law.

IBM will not be providing visa sponsorship for this position now or in the future. Therefore, in order to be considered for this position, you must have the ability to work without a need for current or future visa sponsorship.

The compensation range and benefits for this position are based on a full-time schedule for a full calendar year. The salary will vary depending on your job-related skills, experience and location. Pay increment and frequency of pay will be in accordance with employment classification and applicable laws. For part time roles, your compensation and benefits will be adjusted to reflect your hours. Benefits may be pro-rated for those who start working during the calendar year.

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Job Title

Performance Engineering Intern - Poughkeepsie

Date posted

13-Oct-2026

Job ID

136760

City / Township / Village

POUGHKEEPSIE

State / Province

New York

Country

United States

Work arrangement

Hybrid

Area of work

Infrastructure & Technology

Employment type

Co-Op (Fixed Term)

Contract type

Internship

Projected Minimum Salary per year

61,200.00

Projected Maximum Salary per year

142,800.00

Position type

Internship

No Travel

Company

(0147) International Business Machines Corporation

Shift

General (daytime)

Is this role a commissionable/sales incentive based position?