Lead API & Governance Engineer

We are partnering with a client to hire a Lead API Platform & Governance Engineer to drive the design, development, and governance of enterprise-wide API platforms. This role combines hands-on backend engineering with technical leadership, owning API standards, platform strategy, and modernization initiatives across a large organization. This opportunity is well suited to a senior API leader who enjoys building scalable platforms, setting engineering standards, and influencing technical direction at an enterprise level.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and lead enterprise API standards, reference architectures, design patterns, and lifecycle governance
• Design and build scalable, secure API services and shared platform components, contributing hands-on and through technical review
• Architect cloud-native, API-first platforms using microservices, event-driven patterns, containers, service mesh, and API gateways
• Establish governance for API versioning, deprecation, migration, observability, and operational maturity
• Drive modernization initiatives and reusable patterns to support AI-ready and intelligent system integrations
• Partner with enterprise architects and senior engineering leaders to align execution with long-term strategy
• Mentor engineers and technical leads on API design, security, and platform best practices
• Evaluate and guide selection of API gateways, integration platforms, observability tools, and developer enablement solutions
• Ensure API security, compliance, and adherence to industry standards
• Stay current on emerging technologies and assess practical enterprise adoption

Required Experience & Skills

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field
• 15+ years of experience in software engineering, platform development, and enterprise delivery
• Deep expertise in API-first architecture, microservices, event-driven systems, and modernization strategies
• Strong hands-on backend development experience (Java, Python, .NET/C#, Node.js, or TypeScript)
• Extensive experience building APIs using REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and asynchronous messaging
• Solid grounding in Domain-Driven Design, microservices, and enterprise integration patterns
• Proven experience with API gateways, service mesh technologies, Docker, and Kubernetes
• Experience with messaging and integration platforms (e.g., Kafka, Apache Camel, or managed equivalents)
• Experience working with SQL and NoSQL databases
• Familiarity with DevOps practices including CI/CD, infrastructure-as-code, and cloud automation
• Strong knowledge of API and cloud security (OAuth, JWT, mTLS, rate limiting, Zero Trust, OWASP API risks)
• Experience with observability and monitoring platforms (e.g., OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Grafana, OpenSearch)
• Proven ability to mentor engineers, influence across teams, and drive consistent technical outcomes
• Excellent communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Experience supporting audits, risk assessments, and compliance initiatives

Nice to Have

• Exposure to emerging interaction protocols such as MCP, A2A, or ACP

Compensation: $180,000-200,000

Salary is based on a range of factors that include relevant experience, knowledge, skills, other job-related qualifications.