System Engineer- Platform/API Gateway

The Systems Engineer Platform – API Gateway is responsible for developing, managing, and optimizing enterprise API platforms using both Apigee and Kong. This role ensures secure, scalable, and highly available API traffic across cloud and on‑prem environments, supporting enterprise integration and modernization initiatives. The engineer will operate and evolve a dual‑gateway strategy, supporting Apigee (cloud-native) and Kong (on‑prem / hybrid / cloud), while enabling standardization, observability, and long‑term migration.

This is an on-site position located in Springfield, MO.

Responsibilities and Duties:

API Design & Engineering
Design and build secure, high-performance APIs for distributed systems. Define API specifications (OpenAPI/Swagger), enforce consistent standards, and implement traffic management (rate limiting, transformations, logging). Develop API functionality in Java/Python, integrate with microservices and third-party systems, and optimize for GCP services (Cloud Functions, Run, Pub/Sub, Storage).

API Platform Administration (Apigee & Kong)
Manage API gateways (Apigee X, Kong) including proxies, portals, and platform infrastructure across cloud and hybrid environments. Monitor performance, troubleshoot issues, and optimize reliability, latency, and scalability. Develop custom policies/plugins and improve developer onboarding through well-designed portals and documentation.

Infrastructure as Code & CI/CD
Automate infrastructure with Terraform and build CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins) for API proxies and gateway configurations. Support secure, multi-environment deployments with integrated testing, approvals, rollback, and connections to Git, secrets management, and artifact repositories. Leverage GCP tools for scalable pipeline operations.

Security Engineering & Compliance
Implement API security using OAuth2, JWT, SAML, and API keys, integrated with identity providers (Okta, Azure AD). Enforce compliance (PCI, SOC2, HIPAA), apply OWASP best practices, and adopt Zero Trust principles using mTLS, IAM, and network controls to protect data and access.

Observability & Optimization
Monitor APIs using tools like Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, and GCP observability services. Track performance metrics, detect anomalies, and optimize latency and reliability. Define alerts, automate remediation, support on-call operations, and lead incident analysis.

Collaboration & Leadership
Work across architecture, DevOps, and security teams to ensure aligned API design and governance. Mentor engineers, promote API-first development, and contribute to design reviews, resilience testing, and product alignment.

Lifecycle & Governance
Manage the full API lifecycle from design to retirement. Maintain API catalogs, enforce governance standards (naming, access, SLAs), and ensure alignment with GCP policies and audit requirements.

Innovation & Continuous Improvement
Stay current with API and cloud trends, evaluate new tools, and lead PoCs to improve performance, security, and developer experience. Continuously refine services for better scalability and reuse.

Skills:

Required:

• 3+ years in software engineering, platform development, or systems integration, with strong backend and cloud-native architecture experience.
• 2+ years specializing in API management using Apigee (Edge/X) and Kong, including proxy development, policies, security, and traffic management.
• Proven ability to design and implement RESTful and event-driven APIs, integrating Java/Python services within microservices and DevOps environments.
• Hands-on experience with GCP (Cloud Run, Functions, Pub/Sub, Logging, IAM) and deploying/managing APIs in Apigee X.
• 3+ years working with Apigee (Edge/X) and strong experience with Kong API Gateway, including proxy development, custom policies, and managing multiple gateways in parallel.
• Expertise in designing scalable, secure RESTful APIs using OpenAPI/Swagger, with strong knowledge of versioning, rate limiting, quotas, and caching.
• Advanced programming skills in Java and Python for backend services, integrations, and gateway extensions (Node.js/scripting as a plus).
• Hands-on experience with GCP services (Apigee X, Cloud Run, Functions, Pub/Sub, IAM, VPC, Monitoring/Logging) and hybrid/multi-cloud networking.
• Strong DevOps background with CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Cloud Build), Terraform-based IaC, and Git-driven release workflows.
• Deep understanding of API security (OAuth2, JWT, SAML, API keys), encryption, and compliance standards (PCI, SOC2, HIPAA).
• Experience with ob