Senior API Gateway Engineer

Akumen, Inc. • Reston, VA

4d

About The Position

As a Senior API Gateway Engineer (Kong Platform), you will lead the implementation, modernization, and optimization of enterprise API gateway solutions supporting mission-critical federal systems. This role requires deep expertise in API management, gateway architecture, cloud-native technologies, and enterprise integration. You will serve as a technical leader responsible for designing, deploying, configuring, and supporting Kong Enterprise and related API gateway technologies that enable secure, scalable, and highly available application integration.
The successful candidate will collaborate with software developers, platform engineers, DevSecOps teams, cybersecurity personnel, and infrastructure engineers to modernize API platforms, automate deployments, improve operational efficiency, and support enterprise digital transformation initiatives.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent experience).
• Five (5) or more years of experience implementing, administering, or supporting enterprise API gateway platforms.
• Hands-on experience with Kong Enterprise, Kong Konnect, or other enterprise API management platforms such as IBM webMethods, Apigee, MuleSoft, Azure API Management, AWS API Gateway, IBM API Connect, or WSO2.
• Experience designing secure RESTful APIs, OpenAPI specifications, authentication protocols (OAuth 2.0, OIDC, JWT), and API lifecycle management.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, Git-based development workflows, Infrastructure as Code, and DevSecOps practices.
• Strong troubleshooting, analytical, and technical communication skills.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen with the ability to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance.

Nice To Haves

• Experience implementing Kong Enterprise within Kubernetes or OpenShift environments.
• Experience with Docker, Helm, Terraform, Bicep, Ansible, or other automation technologies.
• Experience integrating API gateways with enterprise identity providers such as Active Directory, Azure AD, LDAP, or SAML solutions.
• Familiarity with observability platforms including Grafana, Prometheus, AppDynamics, ELK Stack, Splunk, or OpenTelemetry.
• Experience supporting Department of State, DoD, or other Federal Civilian agencies.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, configure, and maintain enterprise API gateway solutions using Kong Enterprise or comparable API management platforms.
• Develop secure API routing, traffic management, authentication, authorization, rate limiting, policy enforcement, and certificate management solutions.
• Lead API gateway modernization and migration initiatives, including legacy platform migration, configuration validation, and production cutovers.
• Integrate API gateway platforms with CI/CD pipelines, Infrastructure as Code, GitOps workflows, and cloud-native deployment processes.
• Configure and support developer portals, API catalogs, self-service onboarding, and API lifecycle management capabilities.
• Collaborate with application development, infrastructure, DevSecOps, cybersecurity, and operations teams to implement secure and scalable integration solutions.
• Troubleshoot gateway configuration, connectivity, performance, security, and production issues while providing technical leadership during incident response.
• Support containerized deployments using Kubernetes, OpenShift, and Docker while ensuring platform scalability and resiliency.
• Develop architecture documentation, implementation guides, operational procedures, and knowledge transfer materials.
• Stay current with emerging API management technologies, cloud platforms, Zero Trust principles, and federal cybersecurity best practices.

Benefits

• Akumen, Inc. is an equal employment opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made based on qualifications, merit, and business needs, and without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. We are committed to a respectful and inclusive workplace where all individuals have the opportunity to succeed. Akumen, Inc. maintains a drug-free workplace consistent with applicable local, state, and federal laws.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior