Sr. Manager, Software Engineering – API Platform
To Apply for this Job Click HereJob: Sr. Manager, Software Engineering (API Platform)Location: Remote (Must reside in: Florida, Texas, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, or Wisconsin)Job Type: Direct Hir eWhat We Are Looking FoOur client is looking for a Sr. Manager, Software Engineering to lead the build-out of our next-generation API platform. This is a pivotal role: our APIs are the front door for every client application, third-party integration, and AI-powered experience we deliver. This role will own the strategy and execution to establish our company as the leader in trading APIs — creating the developer experience that drives adoption, increases trade revenue, and enables an ecosystem of innovators to build on our platform.The team will design, build, and operate API products spanning REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and emerging protocols like MCP (Model Context Protocol) to power AI agents and agentic workflows. Internally, this role will drive the adoption of gRPC as our high-performance service communication standard. Externally, this role will champion a world-class developer experience — from API design and documentation to SDKs, sandbox environments, and developer portal capabilities. This Sr. Manager will partner closely with Product Management, who owns the product roadmap and prioritization, while the Sr. Manager owns the technical vision, architecture, and engineering execution.The Sr. Manager, Software Engineering, will work with group Architects and cross-functional partners to drive technical innovation and optimize your team’s performance in a fast-moving business and technical environment. This role will provide leadership for Technical Leads and software development teams, participate in technology management planning sessions, coordinate execution with the enterprise architecture vision, and communicate with executive leadership. The successful candidate will develop a deep understanding of API consumers — both internal teams and external developers — to drive design decisions, execute product roadmaps, and act as the evangelist for our API platform. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape a critical growth vector for the company while leading a talented group of highly dedicated engineers.ResponsibilitiesServe as an inspirational and outcome-driven leader — execution and follow-up is everything
Own the technical strategy and technical roadmap for the API platform, spanning REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and AI-native protocols (MCP), partnering with Product Management on product strategy and prioritization
Drive API-first design principles across the organization, ensuring consistency, discoverability, and developer ergonomics across all API surfaces
Foster a developer-experience (DX) mindset: treat external and internal API consumers as customers, obsess over documentation quality, onboarding friction, and time-to-first-call
Lead the adoption of gRPC as the internal high-performance service protocol, establishing patterns, tooling, and best practices for teams across the organization
Define and enforce API governance standards including versioning, deprecation policies, rate limiting, authentication/authorization patterns, and SLA management
Collaborate closely with Product Management, Business, and executive stakeholders to translate business objectives into technical execution plans that drive trade revenue and platform adoption
Manage cloud-native infrastructure strategy on AWS and Kubernetes, optimizing for reliability, performance, and cost efficiency
Champion psychological safety within the team environment, modeling it and insisting on it as a core value
Select, assess, develop, mentor, manage, and retain top technical talent
Effectively manage people, including planning, assigning, and directing work; evaluating performance, addressing complaints, and resolving problems
Ensure knowledge sharing among the team to avoid information silos and address key-staff risks
Continuously refine development processes to improve overall performance and reduce friction to delivery
Manage and maintain Agile practices and track team performance based on outcomes
Clear roadblocks for teams to ensure delivery focus
Participate in business planning and communicate technical knowledge of vision for both current and future API products
Required QualificationsBS in Computer Science or related technical discipline, or equivalent work experience
7+ years of relevant team management and leadership experience in high-performance, business-critical environments
Superior understanding and execution of organizational goals and objectives
Strong presentation skills, excellent written and oral communication skills
Strong technical depth and raw intellectual ability
Deep expertise in API design, architecture, and lifecycle management across multiple paradigms (REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSockets)
Strong understanding of API gateway and management platforms (e.g., Kong, Apigee, AWS API Gateway) and service mesh technologies
Hands-on understanding of Protocol Buffers, OpenAPI/Swagger specifications, and schema-first API design
Strong knowledge of cloud-native architectures, AWS, Kubernetes, and container orchestration
Solid understanding of authentication and authorization patterns for APIs (OAuth 2.0, API keys, JWT, mTLS)
Strong understanding of Agile development methodologies, DevOps, continuous delivery, and related concepts
Experience with resource allocation and personnel management
Must be a team player that is assertive, passionate, and goal-oriented
Solid organization and prioritization skills
Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with the ability to pivot and adapt as needed
Strong understanding of software design principles and patterns
Expertise and demonstrated experience in systems design, development, implementation, and deployment processes
Demonstrated ability to make decisions regarding necessary team size and composition
Strong pattern recognition abilities to identify abstractions and processes that drive team success
Development background with proficiency in modern programming languages commonly used for API development (Go, Rust, TypeScript/Node.js, Python); hands-on coding is not required but the ability to evaluate technical tradeoffs and review architecture decisions is essential
Preferred QualificationsExperience in the brokerage or financial services industry, especially building APIs for trading or market data
Experience designing and operating developer portals, SDKs, and API documentation platforms
Knowledge of AI/ML integration patterns for APIs, including function-calling interfaces, streaming responses, and agent-to-API communication (e.g., MCP, tool-use protocols)
Experience with high-throughput, low-latency API systems serving real-time financial data
Understanding of regulatory requirements for API access controls, data distribution, and audit logging in financial services
Track record of growing API adoption and measuring developer experience through metrics (TTFB, error rates, adoption funnels)
Experience with infrastructure as code and automating deployments in cloud-native environments
Familiarity with service mesh architectures (Istio, Linkerd) and observability stacks for distributed API systems
To Apply for this Job Click HereEqual Employment Opportunity Statement
Gravity IT Resources is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic. All employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs.