VP , Software Engineering Manager

LPL Financial•Fort Mill, TX

About The Position

LPL Financial is seeking an experienced and visionary VP, Software Engineering Manager - Kong Platform, & OneELK to lead the strategic direction, engineering execution, and operational excellence of the firm's API Management ecosystem. This leader will own the enterprise Kong platform and drive large-scale API modernization and migration initiatives across the organization. The ideal candidate will provide leadership for platform engineering teams responsible for API gateway services, developer enablement, API governance, security, observability, reliability, and cloud-native modernization. This role will partner closely with Architecture, Product, Infrastructure, Security, and Application Development organizations to accelerate adoption of modern API standards and platforms while ensuring scalability, security, and operational stability. This leader will be responsible for defining and executing the enterprise API strategy, enabling digital transformation initiatives, improving developer experience, and ensuring seamless migration from legacy integration solutions to Kong-based platforms.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or related field.
10+ years of technology leadership experience, including leading large engineering or platform organizations.
5+ years of experience managing API Management or Integration Platforms at enterprise scale.
3+ years experience with Kong Gateway, Kong Enterprise, API Gateway technologies, or similar platforms such as Apigee, AWS API Gateway, Azure API Management.
5+ years experience leading large-scale modernization and migration programs.

Nice To Haves

Deep Expertise in AI Technologies, EKS, Kafka and ELK
Strong knowledge of cloud-native architectures and modern software engineering practices.
Experience managing managers and leading geographically distributed teams.
Versatile with Agile methodology
Demonstrated success influencing senior executives and driving enterprise transformation initiatives.

Responsibilities

Own the enterprise Kong API Gateway platform strategy, roadmap, adoption, and operational excellence.
Lead engineering teams responsible for Kong Gateway, API management, developer portals, service mesh, API security, and supporting platform services.
Ensure platform scalability, reliability, resiliency, and compliance with enterprise standards.
Establish platform SLOs, performance metrics, and operational governance.
Lead enterprise-wide migration efforts from legacy middleware and API gateway technologies to Kong.
Develop modernization strategies for APIs, services, and integrations supporting business-critical platforms.
Drive standardization of API design, development, governance, and lifecycle management practices.
Establish reusable frameworks, tools, and automation capabilities to accelerate API onboarding and migration activities.
Build and lead high-performing teams of engineering managers, software engineers, platform engineers, and architects.
Drive adoption of DevSecOps, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code, and Site Reliability Engineering principles.
Promote engineering best practices, automation, continuous improvement, and operational maturity.
Champion developer productivity and platform self-service capabilities.
Partner with Enterprise Architecture to define API management standards, integration patterns, and modernization roadmaps.
Influence strategic technology decisions related to cloud adoption, microservices, service mesh, event-driven architecture, and distributed systems.
Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend investments that enable long-term business capabilities.
Ensure API platform alignment with cybersecurity, governance, and regulatory requirements.
Collaborate with Security teams to implement authentication, authorization, encryption, threat protection, and API security best practices.
Drive compliance with internal controls, audit requirements, and financial services regulations.
Serve as a trusted advisor to senior technology and business leaders.
Provide executive-level reporting on platform health, migration progress, risks, and operational metrics.
Collaborate across multiple technology organizations to prioritize platform investments and modernization initiatives.