Staff Software Engineer - Real-Time AI & Streaming

IBM; Tucson (AZ); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

IBM Software is seeking an experienced backend engineer to own delivery of distributed, cloud-native backend services that power AI and real-time data processing. You will design and ship components that span APIs, model lifecycle, and inference routing, while ensuring reliability and operability of production systems.

You will lead cross-team technical work, write design docs, and mentor peers, with a focus on scaling streaming data platforms and real-time AI capabilities across services.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience designing and operating distributed systems.
• Strong knowledge of Kubernetes and distributed-systems patterns.
• Proficiency in at least one of Go, Java, or Python and willingness to work across all three.
• Proven track record leading cross-team technical work and turning requirements into designs.
• Excellent written and verbal communication to align diverse teams.

Responsibilities

• Design and build backend services that run AI and model inference on real-time data.
• Own features end to end and drive decisions across teams.
• Make technical calls on systems spanning multiple services and lifecycles.
• Ensure code quality, tests, documentation, and operability for live inference.
• Mentor engineers and contribute to cross-team code reviews and design reviews.
• Participate in on-call for the services your team owns.

Skills

Distributed systems

Backend systems

Go/Java/Python

Kubernetes

Cross-team collaboration

Design documentation

System design

Education

Master's Degree

Tools

Go

Java

Python

Kubernetes

Job description

IBM Software is seeking an experienced backend engineer to own delivery of distributed, cloud-native backend services that power AI and real-time data processing. You will design and ship components that span APIs, model lifecycle, and inference routing, while ensuring reliability and operability of production systems.

You will lead cross-team technical work, write design docs, and mentor peers, with a focus on scaling streaming data platforms and real-time AI capabilities across services.