Senior Staff API Engineer (Apigee) - Banking & Integration

Ignite Banking

1d•Remote

About The Position

Ignite Banking is seeking a Senior Staff API Engineer with deep, hands-on Apigee experience to lead the design and delivery of enterprise API platforms for digital banking and open finance. This role is centered on API gateway engineering and integration architecture, with Apigee as a primary platform. You will design, build, and operate API proxies, security policies, and traffic management solutions, while also developing supporting Java-based microservices where needed. This role sits within our API Banking & Integrations team, working directly with client architecture and engineering teams to design and build modern, scalable integration solutions. This is a hands-on development lead role — you will be expected to actively design, build, and deliver APIs and microservices, while also guiding technical direction and setting standards across engagements. This is not a purely oversight or architecture role; success in this position requires strong engineering execution paired with the ability to lead by example. This is not a traditional development role — this individual will operate as a front-line consultant (“tip of the spear”), leading early-stage technical execution across multiple engagements. You will be expected to bring both strong engineering capability and a consultative mindset, helping clients navigate complex transformation initiatives. Candidates without recent, hands-on Apigee implementation experience will not be considered. This role is remote, however, strong preference will be given to candidates located in Charlotte or Raleigh, NC, who are open to working onsite with clients several days per week as engagement needs require.

Requirements

3–5+ years of hands-on Apigee experience (REQUIRED)
API proxy development
Policy configuration (OAuth2, mTLS, traffic management)
API products and developer app management
Strong experience designing and implementing API gateway solutions (Apigee preferred)
Experience with IBM DataPower in API gateway or integration roles
5+ years of experience building Java-based microservices (Spring Boot)
Strong experience designing and implementing REST APIs
Strong understanding of API design, JSON/XML, and service orchestration
Experience deploying services in Azure environments
Working knowledge of Kubernetes (AKS) and containerized applications
Familiarity with secure service-to-service communication (OAuth2, mTLS)
Prior experience working in a consulting or professional services environment
Ability to operate independently in client environments with limited direction
Strong communication skills with the ability to engage both technical and business stakeholders
Comfortable leading early-stage technical work and shaping solution direction
Experience working within banking or financial services environments
Familiarity with digital banking platforms, core banking integrations, or open banking architectures
Understanding of enterprise integration patterns and modernization strategies

Nice To Haves

Experience modernizing legacy integration platforms into API-first architectures
Exposure to event-driven or distributed system design patterns
Familiarity with observability tools (App Insights, Splunk, Dynatrace, etc.)

Responsibilities

Design, build, and manage Apigee API proxies, including policies, flows, and shared components
Implement security policies (OAuth2, mTLS, JWT validation, threat protection)
Configure traffic management (rate limiting, quotas, spike arrest, caching)
Design API products, developer apps, and access models
Develop reusable proxy patterns and governance standards
Build and expose APIs through APIGEE, including proxy configuration, policies, authentication, shared workflows, and routing
Design, develop, and maintain Java-based microservices (Spring Boot) supporting digital banking and open finance use cases
Develop reusable service patterns for system-to-system integrations across banking platforms
Implement API contracts, validation logic, and transformation layers (JSON/XML)
Design and implement API gateway solutions using APIGEE and IBM DataPower
Configure API proxies, security policies (OAuth2, mTLS), rate limiting, and traffic management
Support migration and modernization from legacy integration patterns to API-first architectures
Deploy and manage microservices in Azure cloud environments, including Kubernetes (AKS)
Work with DevOps teams to support CI/CD pipelines and containerized deployments
Ensure secure connectivity, certificate management, and network integration across environments
Act as a lead technical contributor in client engagements, helping shape solution direction early
Work directly with client architects, engineering teams, and stakeholders to define and refine integration approaches
Translate business and architectural requirements into practical, scalable technical solutions
Provide guidance on best practices for API design, integration strategy, and platform modernization
Build and execute unit, integration, and performance tests
Troubleshoot distributed systems using logs, tracing, and monitoring tools
Optimize services for performance, resiliency, and scalability in real-time environments