Role: KONG API Management (APIM) Engineer

Location: Local to Chicago is preferred (hybrid/on-site as required)

Experience Requirements

 Visa: No OPT/CPT

Total Experience: 10+ years in software engineering, integration, or platform engineering roles

KONG / API Management Experience: 1–2 years of hands-on experience with KONG API Management

Roles and Responsibilities

Design, configure, and support APIs using the KONG API Management platform, including gateway routing, plugins, and policy configurations.

Provide hands-on implementation and operational support for RESTful APIs and JSON-based integrations.

Implement and manage API security using OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, and related authentication and authorization mechanisms.

Support API lifecycle management, including onboarding, versioning, documentation, and deprecation.

Participate in APIM migration initiatives, including assessment, planning, and execution of migrations from legacy or alternate API management platforms to KONG.

Collaborate with application development, platform, and security teams to onboard APIs and ensure adherence to enterprise standards.

Troubleshoot and resolve API gateway, performance, security, and connectivity issues across development, test, and production environments.

Monitor API traffic, usage, and performance metrics and proactively identify and remediate issues.

Support CI/CD pipelines for API and gateway configuration deployments, where applicable.

Participate in design reviews, code reviews, and technical discussions related to API and integration architecture.

Develop and maintain technical documentation and provide knowledge transfer to support teams.

Operate with minimal supervision while contributing to continuous improvement of the APIM platform.

Must-Have Technology Stack

KONG API Management Platform (hands-on configuration and support)

RESTful API design and development

JSON-based integrations

OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect authentication frameworks.

API security concepts (JWT, token validation, rate limiting)

API lifecycle management

Version control systems (Git or equivalent)

Nice-to-Have Technology Stack

Experience with APIM migration projects.

Docker and Kubernetes exposure

CI/CD tools for API deployment and configuration

Cloud platform experience (AWS, Azure, or GCP)

Monitoring and logging tools used in API ecosystems.

Familiarity with enterprise integration patterns and middleware platforms