API Security Engineer

Fiserv•Alpharetta, GA

About The Position

Help build a best-in-class API security program designed for the speed of modern financial services. This role is an opportunity to shape how APIs are secured end-to-end, design through runtime, using cutting-edge protection technologies and analytics, partnering closely with top engineers across product, platform, and security. You will help turn API telemetry into actionable intelligence, reduce risk at scale, and raise the bar for secure engineering across the organization. As an API Security Engineer, you will focus on protecting critical API ecosystems by combining secure-by-design guidance, runtime protections, automation, and data-driven governance. You will be hands-on with modern API security capabilities (discovery, posture, threat detection, abuse prevention, and response) and help integrate them into the DevSecOps lifecycle so teams can move fast without compromising trust. You’ll have the space and support to help build a program that is measurable, automated, and resilient—one that protects customers and enables teams to deliver with confidence. If you enjoy solving tough security problems, working shoulder-to-shoulder with strong engineers, and turning complex signals into simple, scalable controls, this is the role for you.

Requirements

5+ years related IT and cyber protection experience desired.
MS preferred or bachelor’s degree with equivalent work experience
Strong foundation in API security concepts: authN/authZ (OAuth2/OIDC, JWT), session/token handling, scopes/claims, rate limiting, schema validation, and common API abuse patterns.
Practical experience with runtime protection in one or more of: API gateways, WAF/WAAP, service mesh, ingress controllers, or specialized API security platforms.
Experience building automation in CI/CD and cloud-native environments (policy-as-code, scripting, pipelines, Git-based workflows).
Ability to use data and telemetry (logs, traces, metrics) to detect issues, tell a clear story, and drive priorities.
Working knowledge of secure software development and DevSecOps practices, and the ability to influence engineering outcomes through partnerships.
Comfort collaborating across security, SRE, platform, and application teams—clear communication, pragmatic decision-making, and strong follow-through.
Experience communicating with CISO/CIO/CTO level leadership.
CISSP or other professional cyber certification desirable
Expert knowledge of and experience with maintaining cyber technologies that can protect operational API systems, such as: Traceable, Salt Security, NoName

Nice To Haves

Experience with OpenAPI tooling, API testing, fuzzing, and contract testing.
Familiarity with threat modeling approaches and abuse-case analysis for APIs.
Experience aligning security controls to financial industry expectations and producing evidence that stands up to audit scrutiny.

Responsibilities

Implement and tune runtime controls (e.g., behavioral detection anomaly and abuse prevention, bot defense, schema enforcement, mTLS/OAuth validation, rate limiting, and threat response) across API gateways, service mesh, and edge layers.
Partner with engineering teams to define and promote secure API patterns (authentication/authorization, input validation, error handling, pagination, idempotency, versioning, and least-privilege access). Provide practical guidance aligned to OWASP API Security Top 10 and modern design standards (OpenAPI/JSON Schema).
Build automation that embeds API security into CI/CD (policy-as-code, automated checks against OpenAPI specs, secrets scanning, SAST/DAST/API testing, and runtime-to-ticket workflows). Reduce friction through reusable tooling and self-service guardrails.
Develop dashboards and analytics using API telemetry and security findings to measure risk, adoption, control effectiveness, and program outcomes. Translate signals into prioritized actions for engineering and leadership.
Help define governance for API inventories, ownership, classification, security requirements, exception handling, and control validation. Drive consistent standards across teams while enabling delivery velocity.
Work with product and platform teams to integrate security requirements into backlog planning, threat modeling, design reviews, testing, release readiness and incident response.
Map controls and program outcomes to relevant industry frameworks and expectations (e.g., NIST, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, FAPI, and OWASP guidance). Support audit readiness through clear control documentation and evidence automation.
Evaluate emerging technologies and technique for API discovery, posture management, and runtime detection. Pilot, measure, and scale what works.