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Forward Deployed Engineer - Entry Level

IBM

California, USA · Texas City, TX, USA

Posted on Feb 11, 2026

Introduction

A career in IBM Software means you’ll be part of a team that transforms our customer’s challenges into solutions.

Seeking new possibilities and always staying curious, we are a team dedicated to creating the world’s leading AI-powered, cloud-native software solutions for our customers. Our renowned legacy creates endless global opportunities for our IBMers, so the door is always open for those who want to grow their career.

IBM’s product and technology landscape includes Research, Software, and Infrastructure. Entering this domain positions you at the heart of IBM, where growth and innovation thrive.

The Client Adoption Team, embedded within IBM’s Software Development organization and deployed directly with clients, is aimed at accelerating client outcomes and better connecting product development to real-world value. Our Forward Deployed Engineers help clients deploy, integrate, and realize value from zTPS strategic software offerings more quickly through low-friction experiences.

The mission of this team is to reduce time-to-value and ensure measurable outcomes through hands-on technical enablement, best-practice deployment patterns, and a tight feedback loop between client experience and product design.

Your role and responsibilities

As a Forward Deployed Engineer, you will work directly with clients and internal IBM teams to help deploy, adopt, and operationalize strategic zTPS software offerings. This role combines hands-on technical work, client collaboration, and continuous learning.

You will work closely with IBM clients, product and engineering teams, and IBM field and account teams across pre- and post-sales motions to help clients move from initial proof of value to production-ready deployment and full value realization.

You will gain exposure to one or more of the following areas, with opportunities to specialize over time:
· AI-Assisted DevOps: watsonx Code Assistant for Z, Test Accelerator for Z, HashiCorp Terraform for Z
· AI-Driven IT Operations: IBM Concert for Z, watsonx Assistant for Z
· AI-Embedded Transaction Processing: AI Platforms and AI Toolkit (AI Optimizer) on Z with Spyre
· Automated Security Management: HashiCorp Vault for Z

The Forward Deployed Engineer role is for you if
· You enjoy deeply understanding how systems work, and you experiment, iterate, and keep going until something works.
· You have a bias for action, are resourceful, and can figure things out even when documentation is incomplete. People describe you as having tenacity.
· You are comfortable working with people or are excited to build that skill through client interaction.
· You are energized by the idea of using your engineering background to be a trusted partner to end users.
· You are open to ambiguity and see fast-moving environments as an opportunity to grow, influence, and be a change agent.
· You are highly organized, ownership-minded, and service-oriented.
· You consider yourself a lifelong learner and enjoy keeping up to date on the latest industry trends and techniques.

You do not need to know everything on day one. If this role excites you, but you don’t meet every requirement, we encourage you to apply.

What you’ll do
· Communicate both technical concepts and business value to different audiences.
· Assist with pilots and proof-of-value engagements and help transition successful use cases into production and value realization.
· Work directly with the end client, planning for and executing implementation plans.
· Collaborate with the assigned IBM account teams who are responsible for ensuring the right client sponsors and champions are actively involved.
· Validate key performance measurements have been met upon successful implementation.
· Interact with IBM development labs to provide product feedback, shaping feature design, roadmap prioritization, and release quality.
· Engage as needed for product support.
· Contribute to and deploy reusable assets such as documentation, playbooks, scripts, and best practices to scale enablement.

Success in this role is measured by the team’s impact on client adoption and deployment outcomes, including :
· Supporting faster adoption by helping customers move deployments from weeks to days.
· Contributing to broad adoption across entitled clients, with most adopting within the first two quarters.
· Supporting the creation of client stories following completed engagements.
· Helping identify issues early and supporting timely resolution to reduce critical situations.
· Participating in a feedback loop between client deployments and product development.

Required education

High School Diploma/GED

Preferred education

Bachelor's Degree

Required technical and professional expertise

* Strong written and verbal communication skills.
* Comfortable working with global teams across time zones and cultures.
* Familiarity with both various project management methodologies (Agile, Waterfall), including sprint planning, retrospectives, and iterative delivery.
* Strong organizational skills and ability to manage dependencies across teams and anticipate risks in delivery.
* Experience with two or more of the following: Operating system administration skills (Linux, Windows, zOS), TCP/IP network and LDAP administration skills, APM solutions on IBM Z platform IBM CICS and/or IMS admin skills, Enterprise COBOL development skills e.g. read, write, modify, troubleshoot. Java development skills e.g. read, write, modify, troubleshoot
* Exposure to two or more of the following: OpenTelemetry (OTeL), Ansible Automation Platform, programming languages common to automation e.g. REX, JCL, YAML, working with Large Language Models and RAG models, working with Conversational AI, working with VS Code.
* Interoperating COBOL and Java within a zOS subsystem is a bonus.

ABOUT BUSINESS UNIT

IBM Software infuses core business operations with intelligence—from machine learning to generative AI—to help make organizations more responsive, productive, and resilient. IBM Software helps clients put AI into action now to create real value with trust, speed, and confidence across digital labor, IT automation, application modernization, security, and sustainability. Critical to this is the ability to make use of all data, because AI is only as good as the data that fuels it. In most organizations data is spread across multiple clouds, on premises, in private datacenters, and at the edge. IBM’s AI and data platform scales and accelerates the impact of AI with trusted data, and provides leading capabilities to train, tune and deploy AI across business. IBM’s hybrid cloud platform is one of the most comprehensive and consistent approach to development, security, and operations across hybrid environments—a flexible foundation for leveraging data, wherever it resides, to extend AI deep into a business.

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

IBM offers a competitive and comprehensive benefits program. Eligible employees may have access to:

- Healthcare benefits including medical & prescription drug coverage, dental, vision, and mental health & well being

- Financial programs such as 401(k), cash balance pension plan, the IBM Employee Stock Purchase Plan, financial counseling, life insurance, short & long- term disability coverage, and opportunities for performance based salary incentive programs

- Generous paid time off including 12 holidays, minimum 56 hours sick time, 120 hours vacation, 12 weeks parental bonding leave in accordance with IBM Policy, and other Paid Care Leave programs. IBM also offers paid family leave benefits to eligible employees where required by applicable law

- Training and educational resources on our personalized, AI-driven learning platform where IBMers can grow skills and obtain industry-recognized certifications to achieve their career goals

- Diverse and inclusive employee resource groups, giving & volunteer opportunities, and discounts on retail products, services & experiences

We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable law.

This position was posted on the date cited in the key job details section and is anticipated to remain posted for 21 days from this date or less if not needed to fill the role.

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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