Lead Enterprise API & Platform Engineer

Job Title: Lead Enterprise API & Platform EngineerLocation: New York, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania (Hybrid – 3 days onsite)About The CompanyThis organization operates at enterprise scale within a highly regulated environment and is focused on modernizing its technology landscape through API-first, cloud-native, and AI-enabled platforms. The culture values strong engineering discipline, innovation, collaboration, and alignment between business strategy and technology execution.Job SummaryWe are looking for a Lead Enterprise API & Platform Engineer to lead the design and delivery of enterprise technology platforms with a focus on API-first architecture, AI-native enablement, and modernization. This senior technical leadership role is responsible for shaping API and platform strategy, guiding engineering organizations, and ensuring alignment with enterprise business and technology objectives. The role partners closely with senior leaders, architects, and product teams to deliver scalable, secure, and future-ready platforms.Key ResponsibilitiesAPI & Platform Strategy: Serve as the technical authority for API standards, architecture patterns, orchestration, gateways, mediation, lifecycle management, and observability to ensure cohesive, scalable platform design.AI-Native Modernization: Design architecture strategies, reusable templates, and platform patterns that enable AI-native capabilities, including agent-to-agent communication and intelligent system integration.Scalable Platform Architecture: Design and implement secure, cloud-native platforms using microservices, event-driven systems, service mesh, container orchestration, and API and agent gateways.Lifecycle Governance & Standards: Define and enforce API lifecycle governance including versioning, deprecation, migration strategies, and platform observability while ensuring adherence to enterprise standards and best practices.Enterprise Collaboration: Partner with enterprise architects, principals, and senior leaders to define standards, evaluate technologies, publish roadmaps, and balance near-term delivery with long-term architectural vision.Engineering Leadership & Enablement: Mentor engineering teams on API design, platform engineering, AI integration, and operational excellence; promote continuous improvement and strong developer experience.Tooling & Technology Adoption: Lead the evaluation, selection, and operationalization of platforms and tools that support enterprise architecture, security, and scalable implementation.Strategic Influence: Collaborate with product and engineering leaders to drive key architectural decisions that ensure scalability, security, and alignment with business goals.RequirementsEducation: Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.Experience: 15+ years of experience in software development, architecture, and enterprise technology delivery.Architecture & Platforms: Deep expertise in cloud-native, service-oriented, and modernization architectures including microservices, event-driven systems, composable architecture, and API-first design.API Engineering: Extensive experience designing and building scalable APIs using REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and asynchronous messaging patterns.Platform Technologies: Proven experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes), service mesh (e.g., Istio, AWS Lattice), and API gateway platforms (preferably AWS-based).Integration & Messaging: Hands-on experience with integration frameworks and messaging platforms such as Apache Camel and managed Kafka services.Development & DevOps: Full-stack engineering experience with technologies such as Java, Python, .NET/C#, Node.js, React, or TypeScript; familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, Terraform, and infrastructure as code.Data & Persistence: Proficiency with SQL and NoSQL databases.Security & Compliance: Deep understanding of secure coding practices, cloud security principles, compliance frameworks, and advanced API security including OAuth 2.0/2.1, JWT, RBAC/ABAC, mTLS, Zero Trust, and OWASP API Security Top 10.Observability: Experience with monitoring and observability platforms such as OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Grafana, and OpenSearch.Leadership & Communication: Exceptional ability to mentor engineers, influence technical direction across teams, and communicate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.Preferred QualificationsExperience with emerging protocols and patterns such as MCP, A2A, or ACP.Experience participating in technology audits, risk assessments, and regulatory reviews.Demonstrated success driving enterprise modernization and API platform adoption at scale.BenefitsCompetitive Salary: Market-competitive compensation aligned to experience and role scope.Health and Wellness: Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and wellbeing programs.Work-Life Balance: Hybrid work model with flexibility where applicable.Professional Development: Ongoing learning, leadership development, and career growth opportunities.Additional Perks: Retirement programs and benefits designed to support long-term financial and personal wellbeing.