Solutions Architect: Storage & AI

Introduction

At IBM Global Sales, we bring together innovation, collaboration, and expertise to help clients solve their most complex business challenges. Working across industries and geographies, you’ll partner with colleagues, clients, and partners to co-create solutions that drive digital transformation and lasting impact.

Success in Global Sales is built on curiosity, empathy, and collaboration. You’ll connect technical understanding with strong people skills, building trusted relationships and shaping solutions that improve business and society. With world-class onboarding, continuous learning, and a supportive culture, IBM offers the tools and opportunities to grow your career. Join us and be part of a global team that’s passionate about driving innovation and making a difference.

Your Role And Responsibilities

As a Senior Storage Architect , you will be the technical lead for IBM’s most strategic AI infrastructure opportunities. This role is for a high‑level specialist who can bridge the gap between high‑performance storage and high‑speed networking. You must be able to out‑architect niche competitors like VAST, Weka, and DDN , and act as a trusted peer to CIOs and CTOs during the solution design phase. You will ensure that the entire data path—from the storage disk through the network fabric to the GPU—is optimized for maximum throughput and minimum latency.

Key Responsibilities: AI Architecture & Networking Leadership

• Executive Technical Advisory: Partner with CIOs, CTOs, and IT Directors to align storage and networking strategy with business AI goals, focusing on eliminating I/O bottlenecks and maximizing GPU investment.
• Competitive Displacement: Proactively identify and exploit architectural weaknesses in VAST Data, Weka, and DDN. You will lead the "technical win" by proving IBM's superiority in scalability, parallel data access, and fabric efficiency.
• End‑to‑End AI Infrastructure Design: Architect high‑performance data pipelines, integrating IBM Storage Scale (GPFS) with NVIDIA DGX/SuperPOD systems, ensuring seamless integration with high‑speed network fabrics.
• Network Fabric Optimization: Design and troubleshoot the high‑performance networking required for AI, including InfiniBand and RoCE (RDMA over Converged Ethernet) architectures to support GPUDirect Storage (GDS).
• Technical Closure: Lead high‑visibility Proof of Concepts (POCs) and performance bake‑offs. You will own the technical success of the sales cycle, specifically proving performance at scale.
• Value‑Based Selling: Collaborate with Sales Specialists to create compelling business cases, translating technical throughput and networking efficiency into tangible ROI for the client.

Attributes of the Senior Architect

• The "Data Path" Expert: You understand that AI performance is a triad of Storage, Networking, and Compute. You know how to tune all three for peak efficiency.
• Consultative Closer: You don't just answer RFPs; you shape them by challenging client assumptions and showing them a better way to manage data at scale.
• Technical Authority: You are the smartest person in the room regarding parallel file systems and the low‑latency networking required to feed modern GPUs.

Required Technical And Professional Expertise

• Extensive experience in Technical Pre‑Sales, Architecture, or Sales Engineering for Enterprise Storage or High‑Performance Networking.
• Storage Scale Mastery: Expert‑level knowledge of IBM Storage Scale (GPFS) architecture, deployment, and performance tuning.
• Networking Expertise: Deep, hands‑on experience with InfiniBand (Mellanox/NVIDIA) and High‑Speed Ethernet (RoCE v2). Must understand subnet managers, adaptive routing, and fabric congestion management.
• Competitive Intelligence: Proven experience competing against or managing solutions from VAST Data, Weka, or DDN (EXAScaler/Lustre).
• AI Infrastructure: Extensive experience designing storage for NVIDIA GPU environments, including GPUDirect Storage (GDS) and RDMA‑enabled data paths.
• C‑Suite Presence: Demonstrated ability to present and defend complex technical architectures to Executive‑level leadership.
• Cloud Native Foundations: Proficiency in Red Hat OpenShift and Kubernetes, specifically for orchestrating data‑intensive AI/ML workloads.

Preferred Technical And Professional Experience

• Experience with NVIDIA Quantum (InfiniBand) and Spectrum (Ethernet) switch architectures.
• Knowledge of POSIX, NFS over RDMA, and S3/Object storage protocols.
• Experience in data‑heavy verticals like Financial Services (HFT), Life Sciences, or Autonomous Research.
• Industry certifications such as NVIDIA Certified Associate/Professional (Networking) or equivalent.