Kong API Gateway Specialist

Infoplus Technologies UK Limited

Greater London

Hybrid

GBP 90,000 - 140,000

Full time

6 days ago

Be an early applicant

Application generator

Don’t send a generic resume — generate a resume and cover letter tailored to this exact role.

Get past ATS filters

Job summary

Infoplus Technologies UK Limited seeks an experienced Kong API Gateway Specialist to lead governance, design, and lifecycle management of the enterprise API ecosystem. You will define standards, manage the API catalogue, and drive reuse across domains.

The role demands deep expertise in Kong, API security (OAuth2/OpenID Connect/JWT), and integration patterns. A senior, cross‑functional partner for architects and engineers, you will ensure scalable, secure APIs aligned with standards.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or related discipline.
Extensive experience in API management, governance, and API design practices.
Demonstrated ability to implement OAuth2, OpenID Connect, JWT, MTLS, and API security controls.

Responsibilities

Define and implement an enterprise-wide API Governance Framework.
Establish API standards, naming conventions, and development guidelines.
Develop and maintain API lifecycle management processes (design, develop, test, deploy, version, retire, monitor).
Create and govern API catalogue requirements, metadata standards, and documentation practices.
Drive API reusability and consistency across business domains.

Skills

API governance

Kong API Gateway

Security controls

OAuth2/OpenID/JWT

API lifecycle management

Cloud platforms (Azure/AWS/GCP)

CI/CD & DevOps

Kubernetes

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/Engineering/IT

Tools

Kong API Gateway

OpenAPI / Swagger

Job description

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Kong API Gateway Specialist to lead the development, implementation, and governance of our enterprise API ecosystem. This role will be responsible for establishing API governance standards, designing and managing API lifecycle processes, and driving the adoption of best practices across integration and middleware platforms.

The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in Kong API Gateway, API management, security, integration architecture, and governance frameworks. They will work closely with enterprise architects, development teams, security teams, and business stakeholders to ensure APIs are secure, scalable, reusable, and aligned with organizational standards.

Key Responsibilities

API Governance & Strategy

Define and implement an enterprise-wide API Governance Framework.
Establish API standards, design principles, naming conventions, and development guidelines.
Develop and maintain API lifecycle management processes, including design, development, testing, deployment, versioning, retirement, and monitoring.
Create and govern API catalogue requirements, metadata standards, and documentation practices.
Drive API reusability and consistency across business domains.

Kong API Gateway Administration

Design, implement, configure, and manage Kong API Gateway solutions.
Develop policies for traffic management, throttling, rate limiting, routing, and load balancing.
Manage Kong plugins and integrations to support security, authentication, and monitoring requirements.
Ensure high availability, performance, scalability, and operational resilience of the API platform.

Security & Compliance

Define and enforce API security standards and controls.
Implement authentication and authorisation mechanisms including OAuth2, OpenID Connect, JWT, and API key management.
Conduct security reviews and support regulatory compliance requirements.
Work closely with cybersecurity teams to ensure secure API exposure and consumption.

Integration & Middleware

Collaborate with integration teams to define API-led integration patterns.
Support enterprise integration initiatives involving middleware and microservices architectures.
Review and approve API designs to ensure alignment with governance standards and architectural principles.

API Monitoring & Reporting

Establish API performance metrics, KPIs, and governance dashboards.
Monitor API usage, health, reliability, and compliance.
Produce governance reports and recommendations for continuous improvement.

Stakeholder Engagement

Act as the subject matter expert for API management and governance.
Provide guidance and mentoring to development and integration teams.
Facilitate governance reviews, architecture discussions, and design workshops.

Required Skills & Experience

Technical Skills

Strong hands-on experience with Kong API Gateway (Enterprise or Open Source).
Extensive experience in API management and governance.
Strong understanding of RESTful APIs, OpenAPI Specifications (Swagger), and API design best practices.
Experience implementing OAuth2, OpenID Connect, JWT, MTLS, and API security controls.
Experience with API lifecycle management and API cataloguing solutions.
Strong understanding of integration technologies and middleware platforms.
Familiarity with cloud environments such as Azure, AWS, or GCP.
Experience with CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, and infrastructure automation.

Architecture & Governance

Experience creating and implementing enterprise API governance models.
Knowledge of enterprise architecture principles and integration patterns.
Experience establishing API standards, policies, and operating models.
Understanding of regulatory, compliance, and security considerations in API ecosystems.

Preferred Skills

Experience with developer portals and API marketplaces.
Knowledge of service mesh technologies and microservices architecture.
Experience with observability tools such as Grafana, Prometheus, Splunk, or Dynatrace.
Familiarity with containerisation and Kubernetes.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or related discipline.
Relevant certifications in API management, cloud platforms, integration technologies, or Kong are highly desirable.

Success Measures