Are you ready for IBM?

Job areas

You won’t find a company that offers more challenges, potential and access to so many different resources. At IBM, we provide you with the ideal environment to advance your career.

We invite you to explore the many positions at IBM that will enhance your skills and knowledge.

Consultant

Helping top-tier clients solve their most complex business problems

Our consultants help top-tier clients deal with their most complex business and technical issues. In business consulting, business analytics & optimization, business process design, systems integration and application design and management, our consultants transform the businesses of our clients by developing innovative solutions.

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  As an IBM consultant you’ll be working in a team-oriented environment that offers variety and intellectual challenge. You’ll team up with other talented professionals in an innovative and supportive workplace. You’ll learn valuable skills and enjoy unparalleled career, training and educational opportunities, with financial and other rewards linked to your growth and performance.

  
  

  Career Advancement
  Your professional development is good for you and it’s good for IBM.

  As a Consultant, you’ll progress through your career by demonstrating capabilities that are important to the clients we serve. These are clearly defined and communicated, so that goals can be set and progress measured in a meaningful way.

  Promotion to the next level in your career is based on the extent to which you have successfully demonstrated these capabilities. You will be assigned a contact to help you seek out projects that enhance your skills and advance your career.

  In addition to giving you some of the best on-the-job experience you can find, IBM provides universal access to e-learning for all employees, enabling you to take the training you need, when you need it. Classroom training and instructor-led workshops are also part of the curriculum, and the courses in this program support and accelerate your development every step of the way.

IT Specialist

Designing, implementing and maintaining complex IT solutions

IT Specialists represent IBM's ability to design, implement and maintain the complex solutions needed to solve our customers’ business problems.

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  IT Specialists are deployed across all of IBM's business units worldwide. Across these organisations, three broad client focus areas of IT Specialists are defined: services, technical sales, and technical support activities. IBM’s various business units require their employees to develop capabilities to satisfy their customer needs – client focus. As such an IT Specialist will need experiences and capabilities in three areas:

  • Client Focus – services, technical sales or technical support.
  • Technical focus – systems and infrastructure, software, or business integration solutions.
  • IT Plus – contributions and impacts on the business.

  
  

  Career Advancement
  On joining IBM, you will be offered guidelines to help you plan your education.

  The progression from level to level of the IT Specialist Profession involves:

  • Accreditation - validates that the new IT Specialist has built up the appropriate level of the fundamental skills of the profession, helps define the path for further growth in an IT Specialist role, and is a quality assurance process and logical precursor to Certification and Senior Certification.
  • Certification - validates that the IT Specialist has built experience and deep skills in the chosen role. In a sense, it provides a quality assurance status in the individual's ability to create architecture solutions without assistance.
  • Recertification – you must be recertified every three years once you have been certified.
  • Senior certification - validates that the Senior IT Specialist has achieved set business and technical leadership capabilities that mark the individual as a technical leader in the community.

  Due to the fast paced dynamic nature of our innovative company, you will discover a variety of opportunities to move across job roles should you wish to develop your career in different skill areas. As an example, some of the more common cross job category moves from IT Specialist to advance your career include moves to IT Architect, Consultant and Project Management.

Sales

Providing solutions that best meet our clients’ needs

IBM didn't become the world's leading technology powerhouse by just creating great products. We got where we are by selling great solutions. That's where you come in. Not only are our salespeople lucky enough to sell some of the world's most innovative IT solutions, they get to do so in one of the most dynamic and complex industries in the world.

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  IBM Sales professionals are responsible for the business relationship between clients and IBM, for the sale and support of IBM solutions, services, products and offerings, including those from IBM Business Partners. They work collaboratively to provide solutions that best meet our clients’ needs. The roles may specialise by industry, customer set, channel, brand, solution or offering.

  The IBM Sales Profession is the global home for all sellers in IBM, and is divided into five disciplines, focused on maintaining a unified profession of sellers and preserving those unique differences required for you to compete effectively. These five disciplines are:

  • Relationship sales/industry
  • Category Sales
  • Solution Sales
  • Specialty Sales
  • Territory Sales

  
  

  Career Advancement
  As a Sales professional, you will be offered a host of information (Learning Roadmaps and development models) to assist you in your development plans. The Sales Profession will provide guidance on how to strengthen your leadership competencies and skills, and will also work closely with the IBM Global Sales School to ensure sales education opportunities are optimized. The IBM Global Sales School has a well-earned reputation for serving the needs of advanced sales professionals as well as recently hired IBM sales professionals.

  And for those IBM sales people who demonstrate their value to IBM through sustained top performance, participation in IBM Sales Professional Certification is available. IBM Sales Professional certification is an important milestone in your career development and will broaden your career opportunities. Certification recognizes top performers and role models among sales professionals at IBM and provides an opportunity for sellers to enhance their value - to their customers, to IBM, and ultimately for themselves.

  You will also discover a variety of opportunities to move across job roles should you wish to develop your career in different skill areas. As an example, some of the cross job category moves from Sales to advance your career include moves to Consulting, Business Operations or IT Specialist.

IT Architect

Listening to clients, understanding their business and designing solutions

The role of the IT Architect involves listening working with clients to understand their business requirements and define the structure of information technology solutions. As an IT Architect, you will assist clients on their hardware and software infrastructure and help them decide which platform is best for their applications. You may also lead the technical sales team in their proposal activity. There are roles that include Technical Sales Architects (which can be on a sales plan – see sales roles), or Test architects.

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  Most IT Architects begin their careers as IT Specialists, since the IT Specialist profession has entry and staff levels within which the aspiring technical person can acquire the skills and experience which are prerequisite for starting a career as an IT Architect.

  
  

  Growing your skills
  IT Architect skills are grouped into two primary categories: fundamental skills and discipline skills. All IT Architects must develop proficiency in the fundamental skills. Growing your skills requires a combination of experience, education, training, coaching, and mentoring. Education and training can be separated into several forms including self study, e-learning, internships, classroom and seminars.

  In the IT Architect Profession we currently have 7 disciplines:

  • Application Architecture
  • Enterprise Architecture
  • Information Architecture
  • Infrastructure Architecture
  • Integration Architecture
  • Operations Architecture
  • Systems Engineering and Architecture

  
  

  Career Advancement
  The Worldwide IT Architect Education Guidelines help the IT Architects plan their education and gives advice on the education needed to achieve the required skills for Accreditation or Certification.

  The progression from level to level of the IT Architect Profession is validated at three checkpoints:

  • Accreditation validates that the new IT Architect has built up the appropriate level of the fundamental skills of the profession and helps define the path for further growth in an IT Architect Discipline.
  • Certification validates that the IT Architect has built experience and deep skills in the chosen discipline. In a sense, it provides a quality assurance status in the individual's ability to create architecture solutions without assistance.
  • Senior certification validates that the Senior IT Architect has achieved set business and technical leadership capabilities that mark the individual as a technical leader in the community.

  As an IT Architect, Education roadmaps which summarize the required and recommended education for Accreditation and Certification are also available.

Project Management

Leading projects with ultimate accountability for their success

Project Management covers a broad range of roles that apply a variety of project management processes and tools. They are involved with leading projects and are accountable for their success. Some of their responsibilities include project scoping and planning, developing cost structure, tracking and reporting deliverables, and contract and risk management. The Project Management roles can include Quality Assurance, Measurements and Reporting Analysts, software process improvement specialists, Project Office management, Project administration and many others.

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  Career Advancement
  The project management profession is one of several IBM global professions established to ensure availability and quality of professional and technical skills within IBM.

  The focus on project management in IBM was sharpened significantly in 1996, when IBM committed itself to "become a project-based business that applies and integrates project management into all core business processes and systems”. The Project Management Centre of Excellence (PM/COE), established in 1997, is charged with ensuring that IBM’s commitment to becoming a project-based enterprise is achieved. The PM/COE’s Professional Development initiative includes worldwide leadership of IBM’s project management profession, its qualification processes and IBM’s relationship with PMI (Project Management Institute), and project management skills development through education and mentoring.

  The IBM Project Management Profession Guide provides guidance on areas such career progression, key milestones and advice on the education needed to achieve the required skills for Accreditation or Certification.

  • Accreditation is the process by which a line manager reviews and verifies that professionals have successfully met requirement for an Associate or Advisory career milestone. If the requirements are met, the professional is ‘accredited’ at the appropriate level.
  • Certification is the process by which the Project Management Certification Board reviews and verifies that professionals have successfully met requirements for Senior PM, Executive PM or Executive Management career milestones.
  • Recertification – you must be recertified every three years once you have been certified.

  The progression from level to level of the Project Management Profession spans Associate, Advisory, Senior, Executive and Executive Management.

  You will discover a variety of opportunities to move across job roles should you wish to develop your career in different skill areas. As an example, some of the more common cross job category moves from Project Management to advance your career include moves to Project Executive, Sales or IT Specialist.

Software Development

Working in the heart of IBM’s software innovation developing cutting edge technologies

Software Development and Support at IBM perform in different roles – Writers, Testers, IT Support, User Centred Design, Performance Testing, Development and Build. They work in IBM Software Group (SWG), the world's second largest software business.

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  The Software Development professions has a number of technical areas in which careers may be developed:

  • Transaction Procession
  • WebSphere MQ and ESB
  • Information Management
  • Java Technologies
  • Service Registery
  • Storage Systems
  • User Technologies

  
  

  Career Advancement
  On joining IBM you will be given guidance on the type of work experience and achievements you will be expected to demonstrate to enable you to participate in IBM Professional Certification. Although earning a certification as an IBM employee is not required in most areas, it does provide several benefits. The most important benefit is to you as a developer or advocate of the product.

  Career advancement can lead to a number of senior positions including:

  • Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) – a position created as an extension of the technical hierarchies to recognize sustained technical achievement and contribution that are superior to those expected of senior professionals.
  • Distinguished Engineer (DE) – appointment to DE is a significant career event, recognizing sustained technical achievement and leadership. A Distinguished Engineer is responsible for unit technical leadership, is a member of a unit's executive team.
  • IBM Fellow - appointment to IBM Fellow by IBM's CEO is a rare and significant event and recognizes sustained inventiveness, innovative technical achievement, and visionary thought leadership. As technical consultant to senior executive management, IBM Fellows have broad responsibility for technical leadership and technical strategy formulation.

  Due to the fast paced dynamic nature of our innovative company, you will discover a variety of opportunities to move across job roles should you wish to develop your career in different skill areas. As an example, some of the cross job category moves from Software Development and Support to advance your career include moves to IT Specialist and IT Architect.

Business Operations

The functions that keep our business running

A number of job roles and business areas perform business operations, from Finance to Marketing, Human Resources to Legal and others.

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  • Finance

    Whether working as a generalist or specialist, Finance professionals can be involved in accounting, pricing, financial planning and forecasting, audit, business controls and analysis, investment analysis, funds management, cash planning, tax and other related activities. Finance opportunities cross both functions (for example, accounting to pricing) and business units (for example, software to services). Effective leaders, combine both deep technical knowledge and multiple functional experiences.

    Finance opportunities cross both functions (for example, accounting to pricing) and business units (for example, software to services). Effective leaders, combine both deep technical knowledge and multiple functional experiences.

    
    

    Career Advancement
    The Finance Development Model is the Learning Roadmap that guides the Finance Professional in planning their career in IBM. The Finance Development Model suggests Finance experiences that will be beneficial for gaining a broad set of knowledge and skills for career progression in Finance.

    Finance professionals may develop in the following subject areas or disciplines:

    • Accounting
    • Planning
    • Internal Audit and Business Controls
    • Financial Planning
    • Business Planning and Development
    • Pricing
    • Tax
    • Treasury and Cash Operations
    • Disbursements/Accounts Payable
    • Supply Chain Management

    Due to the fast paced dynamic nature of our innovative company, you will discover a variety of opportunities to move across job roles should you wish to develop your career in different skill areas. As an example, some of the more common cross job category moves from Finance to advance your career include moves to Business Operations, Sales Operations, Supply Chain or Marketing.

  • Marketing

    There are four disciplines - Market Management, Market Intelligence, Integrated Marketing Communications and Marketing Operations – all working together to increase IBM brand value and achieve business objectives. Ay one of these disciplines help identify marketplace opportunities and implement strategies driving customer relevant offerings, supported by optimal routes-to-market, technical solutions and integrated marketing communications, processes and tools. Examples of these four disciplines are given below, and additionally marketing hold job roles for researchers, channel enablement marketing, strategy and planning market management and segment analysis.

    
    

    Career Advancement
    The Marketing Education Roadmaps guide the Marketing Professional in planning their career in IBM. They suggest learning activities that will be beneficial for gaining a broad set of knowledge and skills for career progression in Marketing.

    Marketing professionals may develop in the following four core disciplines:

    • Market Management
    • Market Intelligence
    • Integrated marketing Communications (IMC)
    • Marketing Operations

    In order to develop a global understanding of marketing, it is preferable to move from one discipline to another but also to develop a keen understanding of the business in general and the sales environment in particular.

    Due to the fast paced dynamic nature of our innovative company, you will discover a variety of opportunities to move across job roles should you wish to develop your career in different skill areas. As an example, some of the more common cross job category moves from Marketing to advance your career include moves to Sales.

  • Human Resources

    Human Resources professionals are responsible for employee engagement, productivity, and governance through a variety of roles. They are involved in designing, creating, implementing and supporting initiatives and policies that attract, develop, retain and motivate the best available workforce. Specific areas of responsibility include compensation, benefits, learning, talent management, recruitment, work force relations, employee well-being, diversity, acquisition and outsourcing management, and HR partner (generalist) support.

    
    

    Career Advancement
    Successful HR careers include exposure to a variety of assignment and experiences. The HR Development Model is a resource, specifically targeted for HR professionals, that outlines key areas of expertise, jobs and experiences specific to the HR profession and which are essential for development and growth in a career in HR.

    HR professionals may develop in the following HR core disciplines:

    • Benefits
    • Compensation
    • Employee Relations
    • Workforce Diversity
    • Global Executive and Organisational Capability
    • HR Partner/Generalist
    • Learning
    • Talent Management
    • Mergers/Acquisitions/Commercial Engagements & Alliances

    Due to the fast paced dynamic nature of our innovative company, you will discover a variety of opportunities to move across job roles should you wish to develop your career in different skill areas. As an example, some of the cross job category moves from HR to advance your career include moves to Consulting, Sales, Sales Operations or Finance.