Lead Software Engineer (API Management)

Terms of Employment:
Contract Duration: 4 Months (Short-term contract, potential extension based on performance and budget)
Location: Remote (Must be based in approved East Coast states; must attend final round interview on-site in Reston, VA and be available for occasional on-site visits as required)

Overview:
Client is seeking an experienced Lead Software Engineer to join a dynamic enterprise integration team at a industry-leading organization. In this role, you will lead critical API migration efforts, moving API connections and DataPower configurations from legacy on-premises environments (IBM API Connect V10 and DataPower Gateway V10) to IBM API Connect SaaS and AWS API Gateway. Working within an Agile enterprise framework, you will design, develop, secure, and automate cloud integration flows to enhance performance and operational efficiency across the organization.

Key Responsibilities:
Participate in the migration of APIs, Products, Catalogs, Developer Portals, and DataPower configurations from IBM API Connect On-Prem to IBM APIC SaaS.
Design, develop, implement, test, and publish enterprise APIs across IBM API Connect V10, IBM APIC SaaS, and AWS API Gateway platforms.
Review API specifications for compliance with enterprise standards, API governance frameworks, security requirements, and best practices.
Establish and maintain API governance standards, development guidelines, reusable frameworks, and lifecycle management processes.
Design and support hybrid cloud integrations across IBM APIC SaaS, AWS API Gateway, cloud-native services, and on-premises systems.
Design, develop, and implement custom API and DataPower gateway flows, security policies, routing, mediation, and transformation services.
Develop deployment automation scripts, productivity scrapers, and automated testing frameworks using Node.js, Python, Bash, SoapUI, and Postman integrated into Jenkins and Bitbucket CI/CD pipelines.
Implement API security policies utilizing OAuth 2.0, JWT, OpenID Connect (OIDC), Single Sign-On (SSO), RBAC, IAM, Venafi, and CyberArk.
Utilize Amazon Q Developer and AI-assisted development tools to enhance engineering efficiency and code quality.
Monitor API platforms using Datadog, APIM Analytics, and observability tools to provide troubleshooting, incident triage, and root-cause analysis.

Required Qualifications:
Bachelor s degree in Computer Science or related field (or an additional 4 years of relevant experience in lieu of a degree).
Proven hands-on technical background with IBM API Connect V10 and IBM DataPower Gateway V10.
Demonstrated hands-on experience working with IBM API Connect SaaS.
Strong familiarity with OpenAPI Specification 2.0/3.0, SwaggerHub, and GraphQL.
Experience with API security implementation including OAuth 2.0, JWT, OIDC, and IAM standards.
Experience in automated API testing using SoapUI or Postman.
Ability to attend an on-site interview and work occasionally on-site at the Reston, VA office.

Preferred Qualifications:
Prior direct experience migrating API architectures from IBM APIC On-Prem/DataPower to IBM APIC SaaS.
Hands-on experience with AWS API Gateway implementation for internal application APIs.
Proficiency in development and scripting technologies such as Node.js, Python, Bash, Jenkins, Bitbucket/Git, and Terraform.
Experience with web scraping scripts for build/deployment automation.
Familiarity with AI-assisted developer tools like Amazon Q Developer.