IBM API Connect Consultant
About The Position
Seeking a senior API Platform Architect to lead the migration of enterprise APIs from IBM API Connect to K Gateway (Solo.io). The individual will be responsible for discovery, assessment, migration design, platform engineering, API security governance, and production rollout. The role requires strong expertise in API Gateway technologies, Kubernetes networking, API security, and enterprise scale modernization programs. Must Have Skills API Gateway Platforms Mandatory IBM API Connect API Gateway architecture API lifecycle management API security API governance REST APIs Strongly Preferred Solo.io K Gateway Gloo Gateway Kong Kubernetes & Cloud Native Must understand: Kubernetes Ingress Controllers Gateway API Envoy Proxy Service Mesh concepts Containerized workloads The K Gateway platform is built on Kubernetes and Envoy. Knowledge of traditional API management alone will not be sufficient. API Security Expert knowledge of: OAuth2 JWT OIDC Mutual TLS API authorization Rate limiting Throttling WAF integration DevOps Experience with: Git CI/CD Terraform Helm Kubernetes deployment automation API promotion pipelines Modern Integration Skills Good understanding of: Kafka Event driven architectures Async APIs Microservices Experience Requirements Mandatory 10+ years integration experience 5+ years API Gateway experience 2+ large scale API Gateway migrations Examples: IBM API Connect â¿¿ Kong IBM API Connect â¿¿ Apigee Apigee â¿¿ APIM DataPower â¿¿ API Gateway Key Responsibilities Discovery Assess IBM API Connect configurations Inventory APIs and dependencies Analyze policies and routing configurations Migration Design Define future state K Gateway architecture Design migration waves Create rollback strategies Re engineering Reverse engineer existing gateway configurations Modernize API policies Simplify legacy implementations where appropriate This reverse engineering capability is very important. Production Rollout Support cutover activities Troubleshoot production issues Optimize gateway performance Nice to Have (Would Differentiate Candidates) AI / Agent Gateway Experience If Citizens continues down the path discussed recently, experience with: MCP (Model Context Protocol) AI Gateways LLM Traffic Governance Agentic Architecture would be a major differentiator because Citizens is also evaluating a separate Agent Gateway platform
Requirements
- 10+ years integration experience
- 5+ years API Gateway experience
- 2+ large scale API Gateway migrations (e.g., IBM API Connect to Kong, IBM API Connect to Apigee, Apigee to APIM, DataPower to API Gateway)
- Expert knowledge of API Gateway Platforms: IBM API Connect
- Expert knowledge of API Gateway architecture
- Expert knowledge of API lifecycle management
- Expert knowledge of API security
- Expert knowledge of API governance
- Expert knowledge of REST APIs
- Expert knowledge of Kubernetes
- Expert knowledge of Ingress Controllers
- Expert knowledge of Gateway API
- Expert knowledge of Envoy Proxy
- Expert knowledge of Service Mesh concepts
- Expert knowledge of Containerized workloads
- Expert knowledge of OAuth2
- Expert knowledge of JWT
- Expert knowledge of OIDC
- Expert knowledge of Mutual TLS
- Expert knowledge of API authorization
- Expert knowledge of Rate limiting
- Expert knowledge of Throttling
- Expert knowledge of WAF integration
- Experience with Git
- Experience with CI/CD
- Experience with Terraform
- Experience with Helm
- Experience with Kubernetes deployment automation
- Experience with API promotion pipelines
- Good understanding of Kafka
- Good understanding of Event driven architectures
- Good understanding of Async APIs
- Good understanding of Microservices
Nice To Haves
- Solo.io K Gateway
- Gloo Gateway
- Kong
- Experience with MCP (Model Context Protocol)
- AI Gateways
- LLM Traffic Governance
- Agentic Architecture
Responsibilities
- Lead the migration of enterprise APIs from IBM API Connect to K Gateway (Solo.io).
- Discovery, assessment, migration design, platform engineering, API security governance, and production rollout.
- Assess IBM API Connect configurations.
- Inventory APIs and dependencies.
- Analyze policies and routing configurations.
- Define future state K Gateway architecture.
- Design migration waves.
- Create rollback strategies.
- Reverse engineer existing gateway configurations.
- Modernize API policies.
- Simplify legacy implementations where appropriate.
- Support cutover activities.
- Troubleshoot production issues.
- Optimize gateway performance.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
