Staff Backend Engineer – Real-Time AI & Streaming

IBM; United States; Remote; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM Software seeks a senior backend engineer to design and deliver large-scale distributed systems for real-time AI workloads. You will own end-to-end features across multiple services, from design through deployment, influencing cross-team technical decisions and ensuring robust, scalable infrastructure.

The role requires deep expertise in distributed systems, Kubernetes, and proficiency in Go/Java/Python, plus strong communication to align stakeholders and drive dependable delivery.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of distributed systems or cloud-native backend production experience.
• Strong Kubernetes knowledge and patterns (control loops, API servers, high-scale control planes).
• Proficiency in Go, Java, or Python, and willingness to work across all three.
• Track record leading cross-team technical work with ambiguous requirements.
• Excellent written and verbal communication to align diverse stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Design and build backend services that run AI/inference on real-time data.
• Own features end to end—from design to rollout—across multiple services.
• Make cross-team technical calls on model lifecycle, inference routing, and agent execution.
• Ensure high quality, test coverage, and operability for production infrastructure.
• Mentor engineers with code reviews and design feedback; support on-call duties.

Skills

Distributed systems

Kubernetes

Go/Java/Python

Cross-team leadership

Design docs

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Master's Degree

Tools

Kubernetes

Job description

IBM Software seeks a senior backend engineer to design and deliver large-scale distributed systems for real-time AI workloads. You will own end-to-end features across multiple services, from design through deployment, influencing cross-team technical decisions and ensuring robust, scalable infrastructure.

The role requires deep expertise in distributed systems, Kubernetes, and proficiency in Go/Java/Python, plus strong communication to align stakeholders and drive dependable delivery.