Hardware Engineer

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.

Qualify and test hardware servers and components such as CPU’s, Memory, Disk Drives, NIC Cards, Switch cards, O/S, Firmware, and Security Encryption used in IBM Cloud’s world-wide public data centers. Responsibilities will also involve working with the hardware verification team, networking team, compute team, research, procurement, shipping, software, and development teams to fully qualify and test products before they reach the field. Collaboration and interaction with multiple vendors is also required to communicate issues, specifications, debug failures, drive improvements, and understand new product introductions.

Your Role and Responsibilities
IBM Cloud Position in Bangalore, India for a Hardware Server Qualification support Engineer involving Programming, Automation, Security, Compliance, Qualification, Regression, Test, Diagnosis, and Repair. This role is related to component and server qualification for the latest x86 server technology, GPU accelerator technology (for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning workloads), and networking technology used in high density systems to support an enterprise Cloud customer base. The basic building blocks of cloud servers (compute, storage, and network) which include CPU’s, NIC cards, Memory DIMMs, Drives, and S/W must qualified for the IBM public cloud. This position is for a hardware developer responsible for qualifying hardware and firmware used on various components, cards, and boards which make up the latest servers used in IBM-Cloud Datacenters. The individual will work on a small team focused on developing and qualifying integrated hardware solutions to support IaaS (Information as a Service) on best of breed Cloud Architecture. The individual should be very detail oriented with excellent documentation and communication skills. Programming experience (Linux and Python) along with Hardware knowledge and familiarity with x86 computer servers, components, and GPU based systems is preferred. The candidate should also be familiar with server hardware subsystems including processor memory storage, I/O adapters, PCI busses and switches, and BMCs. Familiarity with FW/BIOS updates and settings and network booting is preferred and knowledge of JIRA, Redfish, and xCAT, and security vulnerabilities/compliance along with patching of systems out of compliance is a definite advantage.

Candidate is responsible for Qualification of Servers and System Qualification and support of Field Deploymentsd

• Booting Servers to test for existence and functionality of all components
• Qualification of Server level Secure Boot and Memory Boot
• Confirming all Secure Measures and encryption measures are compliant
• Testing proprietary Baseboard Memory Control / OpenBMC on all server configurations
• Automation of tests using Redfish for new products and regression on existing products
• Qualification of each new vendor version of BMC, BIOS, and firmware code
• Hardware upgrades and network connections

Required Technical and Professional Expertise
Required Skills – Candidate should be detail oriented with excellent documentation and communication skills and very comfortable/experienced in the following Lab Testing areas:

• Ability to program using Linux and Python
• Good understanding/familiarity of Python coding/Redfish/OpenBMC
• Comfortable with Server level BMC, BIOS, and firmware
• Automation of BMC and BIOS firmware updates to the field
• Familiarity with server bring-up including firmware/bios updates, bios settings, network boosting, and basic networking is very beneficial
• Clear Documentation and Communication of Results
• Strong understanding of server hardware and networking design

Preferred Technical and Professional Expertise
Preferred Skills: The preferred skills are a plus and candidates are not expected to possess all of these. On The Job training will be provided for new skills necessary

• Proficient at Qualification/Verification of server & component level Hardware & Firmware Functions, and Data Analysis
• Familiarity with server hardware design including processors, memory, storage drives, I/O adapters, BIOS, and BMC
• Good understanding of server hardware and components (CPUs, DIMMs, Drives, NIC Cards, etc.)
• Safety certified to work around high voltages (480VAC and 208VAC)
• Hands on working experience in an engineering lab environment.
• Familiar with typical datacenter power, cooling infrastructure, and datacenter energy efficiency