Kong Developer - API Gateway

DiceTek UAE

Al Ruways Industrial City

On-site

AED 901,652 - 1,393,463

Full time

14 days+

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Job summary

DiceTek UAE is seeking a Kong Developer - API Gateway in Abu Dhabi to support the design and administration of Kong API Gateway solutions. The ideal candidate should have a strong background in API development, security, and management. Responsibilities include creating secure API solutions and integrating backend services.

This full-time role requires significant experience in cloud platforms and collaboration with cross-functional teams to ensure scalable API connectivity.

Qualifications

5+ years of experience in API gateway development and administration.
Experience with Kong API Gateway and plugins.
Knowledge of API security measures including OAuth and OIDC.

Responsibilities

Design, configure, and maintain Kong API Gateway entities.
Develop custom Lua scripts to enhance functionality.
Manage API lifecycle and security controls.

Skills

Kong API Gateway

API management

Custom Lua scripting

RESTful APIs

Kubernetes

DevOps

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Postman

JMeter

Insomnia

Git

Job description

Kong Developer - API Gateway Job Snapshot Role: Kong Developer - API Gateway Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Industry: IT and Services Function: IT-Software Development Experience: 5-8 years Job Type: Full-time

Overview Kong Developer - API Gateway in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates is an IT and Services opportunity for an experienced Kong Administrator and Developer with strong expertise in API gateway configuration, API security, custom Lua scripting, Kong plugins, Kubernetes ingress, DevOps automation, and microservices integration. This role is suitable for a technical professional who can design secure and scalable API solutions, manage Kong Gateway environments, support API lifecycle needs, and help engineering teams deliver reliable API connectivity across enterprise platforms.

Job Details Country: United Arab Emirates City: Abu Dhabi Industry: IT and Services Function: IT-Software Development Salary: 22000-34000 (Estimated salary range based on similar jobs in the job city; please confirm the final offer with the employer). Gender: Any Candidate Nationality: Any Job Type: Full-time

Role Context The Kong Developer - API Gateway will support the design, configuration, development, automation, and administration of Kong API Gateway solutions. The role connects backend services, microservices, cloud platforms, security controls, and DevOps pipelines to ensure APIs are secure, performant, reusable, and aligned with business needs. Working closely with engineers, product managers, DevOps teams, security teams, and platform stakeholders, the developer will help build a controlled API ecosystem that supports scalability, traffic management, observability, access control, and reliable service integration.

Key Responsibilities

Design, configure, develop, and maintain Kong API Gateway entities including services, routes, plugins, consumers, upstreams, caching, and API management components.
Develop custom Lua scripts to extend Kong functionality and support advanced API gateway behavior.
Create, customize, test, and maintain Kong plugins for request handling, response transformation, security enforcement, traffic control, and customer-specific API requirements.
Integrate Kong with existing APIs, backend services, microservices, cloud platforms, and enterprise systems.
Manage API security controls including authentication, authorization, OAuth, OIDC, Auth0 integration, API keys, rate limiting, and Role-Based Access Control.
Implement traffic management features such as load balancing, caching, request routing, throttling, and performance optimization.
Apply request and response transformations based on customer, product, and technical requirements.
Monitor Kong Gateway performance, analyze logs, configure alerts, troubleshoot API errors, and resolve gateway-related issues.
Automate Kong configuration and deployment activities as part of DevOps and CI/CD pipelines.
Work with Kubernetes and Kong Ingress to support cloud-native API gateway deployments.
Maintain API documentation using Kong Developer Portal, OpenAPI specifications, and related documentation standards.
Collaborate with engineers, product managers, DevOps specialists, QA teams, and security stakeholders to align API solutions with business and technical goals.
Use API testing tools such as Postman, JMeter, Insomnia, or similar platforms to validate functionality, performance, and reliability.
Stay current with Kong Gateway features, API security trends, microservices patterns, and best practices for API management.
Document gateway configurations, plugin behavior, troubleshooting steps, API standards, deployment processes, and operational procedures.

Ideal Profile

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, or a related field.
Proven experience as a Kong Administrator, Kong Developer, API Gateway Developer, or similar API platform role.
Deep understanding of Kong architecture, gateway administration, plugin framework, routing behavior, and API lifecycle management.
Strong knowledge of API design principles, RESTful APIs, OpenAPI specifications, web services, and microservices architecture.
Practical experience developing scripts or extensions using Lua, Python, or similar scripting languages.
Hands‑on experience with Kong plugins, custom plugin development, request transformation, response transformation, caching, traffic policies, and gateway automation.
Good understanding of API security including OAuth, OIDC, Auth0, authentication, authorization, RBAC, rate limiting, and secure API access patterns.
Experience with DevOps principles, Git, CI/CD pipelines, automated deployments, and configuration management.
Experience with Kubernetes, Kong Ingress, containerized platforms, and cloud‑native API gateway environments.
Exposure to cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP.
Familiarity with API testing and validation tools such as Postman, JMeter, Insomnia, or similar solutions.
Kong certification or equivalent API gateway certification will be an advantage.
Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills with the ability to analyze gateway logs, traffic flows, routing errors, and performance issues.
Excellent communication and collaboration skills for working with development, product, DevOps, and security teams.

Skills Set