Software Developer Python Developer

Job description

**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.

**Your role and responsibilities**

We are seeking experienced Python Developers to join the ContextForge MCP Gateway team.


ContextForge is an open-source production-grade gateway, proxy, and registry for Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers and A2A Agents.

It federates MCP and REST services, providing unified discovery, auth, rate-limiting, observability, virtual servers, multi-transport protocols, plugins and an Admin UI: https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge


As an Experienced Python Developer, you will design and implement complex features for MCP protocol, distributed systems, and AI agent orchestration.

You will take ownership of significant technical components, mentor junior developers, and contribute to architectural decisions.

This role requires strong expertise in distributed systems, async Python, and production service development.


Your Role And Responsibilities


Technical Leadership


• Design and implement complex features: federation logic, virtual server composition, A2A orchestration


• Own significant technical components: authentication system, caching layer, protocol handlers


• Make architectural decisions for your domain areas with guidance from Engineering Manager


• Lead technical discussions and code reviews within the team


• Mentor Band 6-7 developers through pair programming and code reviews


Core Development


• Build sophisticated MCP protocol handlers: JSON-RPC, tools/prompts/resources, session management


• Design multi-tenant auth systems: OAuth2, JWT, SSO (OIDC), RBAC middleware, team isolation


• Implement distributed federation: Redis pub/sub, mDNS discovery, peer health checks, conflict resolution


• Create A2A agent integration: LangChain runtime, metrics collection, complex workflow orchestration


• Develop multi-transport protocols: SSE, WebSocket, stdio, streamable-HTTP with advanced features


• Optimize performance: caching strategies, database query optimization, async patterns


System Design & Architecture


• Design scalable systems: horizontal scaling, load balancing, failover strategies


• Implement production-ready patterns: circuit breakers, retry logic, rate limiting, backpressure


• Build observability: OpenTelemetry instrumentation, Prometheus metrics, structured logging


• Design for security: threat modeling, input validation, secrets management, RBAC enforcement


• Plan database schema: migrations, indexing strategies, query optimization


Code Quality & Excellence


• Maintain 90%+ test coverage: unit, integration, E2E, mutation testing


• Implement comprehensive error handling and recovery mechanisms


• Write technical documentation: architecture decisions, API specs, runbooks


• Establish best practices and coding standards for the team


Contribute to CI/CD improvements: test automation, deployment pipelines, quality gates

**Required technical and professional expertise**

Python Development (5+ years)


• Few years of software development experience in Python with strong expertise


• Deep knowledge of Python 3.11+ features: async/await, type hints, protocols, dataclasses, decorators


• Expert-level experience with FastAPI or similar async frameworks (aiohttp, Starlette)


• Strong understanding of async Python: asyncio patterns, event loops, concurrent execution


• Advanced database skills: SQLAlchemy 2.0, complex queries, migrations, performance tuning


Distributed Systems


• Experience designing and building distributed systems in production environments


• Knowledge of distributed system patterns: caching, message queues, service discovery, load balancing


• Hands-on experience with Redis: caching, pub/sub, distributed locks, rate limiting


• Understanding of consistency models, CAP theorem, eventual consistency


• Experience with multi-region deployments and data replication


API & Protocol Design


• Expert-level REST API design with OpenAPI/Swagger documentation


• Experience with JSON-RPC or similar RPC protocols


• Understanding of API versioning, backward compatibility, deprecation strategies


• Knowledge of transport protocols: HTTP/2, SSE, WebSocket, gRPC


• Experience with API gateways, proxies, or similar middleware systems


Security & Authentication


• Deep understanding of OAuth2 flows: authorization code, client credentials, refresh tokens


• Experience implementing JWT-based authentication and token validation


• Knowledge of RBAC, ABAC, and policy-based authorization systems


• Understanding of security best practices: OWASP Top 10, secure coding, threat modeling


• Experience with secrets management and encryption (at-rest and in-transit)


Production Operations


• Experience with observability: OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Grafana, distributed tracing


• Knowledge of containerization: Docker, container networking, multi-stage builds


• Understanding of CI/CD: GitHub Actions, automated testing, deployment strategies


• Experience with production incidents: debugging, root cause analysis, post-mortems


• Proficiency with Linux environments and shell scripting


Professional Skills


• Strong architectural thinking and system design capabilities


• Excellent problem-solving and debugging skills


• Ability to mentor junior developers and conduct thorough code reviews


• Strong written and verbal communication for technical documentation and discussions


• Self-directed with ability to lead projects from design to deployment

**Preferred technical and professional experience**

Advanced Python & Performance


• Experience with Python performance optimization: profiling, caching, async patterns


• Knowledge of Python internals: GIL, memory management, garbage collection


• Familiarity with Python C extensions or Rust bindings (PyO3)


• Experience with Python packaging and distribution: PyPI, wheels, source distributions


AI/ML Infrastructure


• Experience with AI infrastructure, LLM applications, or agentic systems


• Hands-on with OpenAI API, Anthropic API, LangChain, or similar frameworks


• Understanding of prompt engineering, RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), or agent orchestration


• Knowledge of AI observability: token tracking, latency monitoring, cost optimization


Advanced Distributed Systems


• Experience with Kubernetes: Helm charts, operators, service meshes


• Knowledge of federation patterns: GraphQL federation, multi-cluster coordination


• Understanding of edge computing and CDN integration


• Experience with distributed tracing and correlation across microservices


Security & Compliance


• Experience with security scanning: Bandit, Trivy, Grype, SAST/DAST tools


• Knowledge of compliance frameworks: SOC2, GDPR, HIPAA, audit logging


• Understanding of zero-trust architecture and network security


• Experience with penetration testing or security audits


Open Source & Community


• Active contributions to open-source projects (GitHub profile)


• Experience with community management or developer advocacy


• Technical writing: blog posts, documentation, tutorials


• Conference presentations or technical talks

IBM is committed to creating a diverse environment and 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, caste, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, veteran status, or other characteristics.

IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.

Required Skill Profession

Other General