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Senior Backend Software Developer - IBM Quantum

IBM

Software Engineering

California, USA · Texas City, TX, USA

Posted on Mar 21, 2026

Introduction

We are seeking an experienced Senior Backend Software Developer to guide key backend technologies and initiatives within IBM Quantum. In this role, you will lead complex technical efforts, break down large-scale engineering problems, and drive cross-functional collaboration across research, engineering, and product teams.

Your work will directly contribute to the innovation and reliability of distributed systems powering quantum workloads. You will apply deep technical expertise to deliver scalable, secure, and high‑performance services that enable quantum applications in optimization, AI, and scientific discovery.

This role emphasizes technical leadership, ownership of major components, and consistent delivery of business value.

Your role and responsibilities

You’ll be responsible for designing and developing robust, high‑performance systems across multiple services and critical components of the IBM Quantum platform. This includes improving service efficiency, strengthening fault tolerance, and driving the productization of essential infrastructure and execution services. Through active participation in architectural discussions and technical design sessions, you will help shape scalable and resilient platforms that support quantum workloads with reliability and precision.

Our work plays a fundamental role in transforming complex quantum research into scalable, real‑world solutions that define the next era of computing. Joining this team as a Senior Software Engineer means stepping into a high‑impact role where you'll architect, build, and optimize services powering both cloud and on‑premise quantum infrastructures—ensuring they meet the performance, security, and reliability standards required by cutting‑edge scientific and enterprise applications.

Key Responsibilities:

Design, build, and maintain high‑performance, scalable backend services and APIs that enable interaction between quantum processors, classical systems, and end users.
Design and develop distributed system components that improve performance, reliability, and scalability for quantum workloads running on cloud and on‑premise environments.
Collaborate with cross‑functional teams including researchers, frontend developers, product managers, and DevOps engineers to deliver robust and integrated solutions.
Apply deep technical knowledge to propose improvements, solve complex issues, and enhance developer experience, operational efficiency, and system performance.
Contribute to the evolution of backend architecture by participating in design discussions, code reviews, and technical decision-making processes.
Ensure adherence to security best practices and reliable execution workflows, maintaining high standards for service quality and availability.
Shape and elevate a top-tier engineering team through leadership.
Understand stakeholder needs and incorporate them into high‑quality solutions that provide business value and improve user experience.
Innovate solutions that are pivotal to the quantum computing community and scientific research.
Apply AI‑driven insights to guide architectural decisions, optimize distributed services, and enhance overall system resilience.

Required education

Bachelor's Degree

Preferred education

Master's Degree

Required technical and professional expertise

Strong proficiency in backend development using TypeScript, JavaScript, Golang, Python, or similar programming languages for building production‑grade systems.
Extensive experience designing and maintaining scalable service architectures, including REST, gRPC, microservices, event-driven services, and distributed components.
Solid understanding of distributed systems concepts—including concurrency, load balancing, service orchestration, caching, and data consistency.
Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, Docker, and containerized deployments.
Proficiency with SQL databases (e.g., PostgreSQL) and familiarity with designing data models for high‑throughput systems.
Experience building and operating cloud‑native systems and services running across multiple environments (cloud, on‑prem, hybrid).
Demonstrated experience with CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code, automated testing, and modern DevOps practices.
Proficiency with monitoring tools (Grafana, Sysdig, Prometheus) and incident‑driven improvements.
Experience with event-driven architectures and messaging systems.
Excellent communication skills for stakeholder and cross-functional collaboration.
Experience using AI-assisted development tools (e.g., code generation, automated refactoring, test creation, or debugging assistants) to improve engineering productivity and code quality.

Preferred technical and professional experience

Experience with HPC schedulers such as slurm or LSF, from using such components to developing them.
Prior exposure to hybrid cloud, multi-cluster orchestration, or high‑performance computing environments.
Contributions to open-source or inner-source projects.
Familiarity with AI-powered observability platforms or tools capable of detecting anomalies, performance regressions, or unusual workload patterns.
Experience exploring or adopting new AI technologies that enhance developer productivity, service reliability, or operational efficiency.

ABOUT BUSINESS UNIT

IBM Research is the organic growth engine of IBM and an innovation engine for our customers and partners. As part of this mission, IBM Research anticipates and examines 'What's Next in Computing' to ultimately create and integrate the technologies the world relies upon to solve big challenges and unlock new opportunities. We create and pioneer new markets for IBM, our partners and customers as exemplified in our ongoing quest to reach practical and large-scale quantum computing. Across IBM Research, we realize the power and potential to accelerate discovery with our partners and clients by combining the power of high performance computing, AI, and Quantum, all integrated through the hybrid cloud.

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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