Data power & Kong (Kong administrator + Datapower knowledge)

LPL Financials; Hyderabad; Hybrid; INR 3,500,000 - 5,500,000; Full time

Job summary

LPL Financials is expanding its Global Capability Center in Hyderabad and seeks a Senior Engineer, Middleware API Infrastructure with deep IBM DataPower and Kong expertise. You will drive platform automation, governance, and incident response for API gateways and messaging infrastructure.

You will install, configure, and manage Kong across environments, enforce security policies, and maintain runbooks. Strong scripting, Kubernetes, and observability tooling are essential for success in this role.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of middleware experience with deep expertise in IBM DataPower and Kong
• Advanced proficiency in DataPower policy development, GatewayScript, and XSLT
• 5+ years of experience in a platform engineering, API gateway, or infrastructure SRE role
• 3+ years of hands-on Kong Gateway administration (Enterprise preferred; OSS acceptable)
• Strong understanding of HTTP/S, REST, gRPC, WebSocket, and TLS/mTLS
• Experience with decK (declarative Kong config) and the Kong Admin API
• Proficiency in at least one scripting language: Python, Bash, or PowerShell
• Experience with Kubernetes (EKS, GKE, or AKS) and Kong Ingress Controller
• Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code tools: Terraform and/or Helm
• Practical experience with observability tooling (Grafana, Prometheus, Splunk, or Datadog)
• Comfortable working in an on-call rotation with defined SLA/SLO commitments.

Responsibilities

• Install, configure, upgrade, and patch Kong Gateway (Enterprise) across Dev, Test, and Production environments.
• Manage Kong entities services, routes, consumers, plugins, upstreams, certificates, and workspaces — via the Admin API, decK, and Terraform.
• Design and enforce plugin policies: rate limiting, OAuth 2.0/OIDC/JWT authentication, mTLS, request/response transformation, logging, and correlation-ID injection.
• Maintain and tune Kong Ingress Controller (KIC) configurations on Kubernetes clusters.
• Oversee Kong Manager (GUI) and Kong Developer Portal — access control, API documentation publishing, and developer onboarding.
• Act as Level 2/3 on-call support for Kong-related production incidents (P1/P2).
• Investigate and resolve gateway-layer issues: 4xx/5xx error spikes, latency outliers, plugin misconfigurations, upstream connectivity failures, and TLS certificate expiry.
• Perform root cause analysis (RCA) and author post-incident reports with corrective actions.
• Triage support tickets from internal API consumers and coordinate with upstream service owners.
• Maintain and test runbooks for common failure scenarios.

Skills

IBM DataPower

Kong

GatewayScript

XSLT

HTTP/S

REST

gRPC

WebSocket

TLS/mTLS

decK

Kong Admin API

Python

Bash

PowerShell

Kubernetes

Kong Ingress Controller

Terraform

Helm

Grafana

Prometheus

Splunk

Datadog

Tools

decK

Terraform

Helm

Kong Admin API

Kubernetes

Grafana

Prometheus

Splunk

Datadog

Job description

Hi,

Hope youre doing well

As discussed in the call please find the attachedJob description

LPL is a Fortune 500 wealth management firmin the US, supporting close to 30,000 financial advisorsand over 1,000 institutionsthrough its platforms and services. The firm manages approximately $1.9 trillion in assetsand has a global workforce of 9,000+ employees, continuing to grow year over year.

As part of this growth, LPL is expanding its global footprint through LPL GBSand setting up a Global Capability Center (GCC) in Hyderabadto build scalable business, technology, and operations capabilities.

About Company

https://careers.lplfinancial.in/in/en/jointalentcommunity

Job Overview

The Senior Engineer, Middleware API Infrastructure Engineer with expertise in IBM DataPower and Kong provides senior-level operational and architectural support for API gateway and messaging infrastructure. This role drives continuous improvement, automation, and governance for DataPower and Kong platforms.

Responsibilities

• Install, configure, upgrade, and patch Kong Gateway (Enterprise) across Dev, Test, and Production environments.
• Manage Kong entities services, routes, consumers, plugins, upstreams, certificates, and workspaces — via the Admin API, decK, and Terraform.
• Design and enforce plugin policies: rate limiting, OAuth 2.0/OIDC/JWT authentication, mTLS, request/response transformation, logging, and correlation-ID injection.
• Maintain and tune Kong Ingress Controller (KIC) configurations on Kubernetes clusters.
• Oversee Kong Manager (GUI) and Kong Developer Portal — access control, API documentation publishing, and developer onboarding.
• Act as Level 2/3 on-call support for Kong-related production incidents (P1/P2).
• Investigate and resolve gateway-layer issues: 4xx/5xx error spikes, latency outliers, plugin misconfigurations, upstream connectivity failures, and TLS certificate expiry.
• Perform root cause analysis (RCA) and author post-incident reports with corrective actions.
• Triage support tickets from internal API consumers and coordinate with upstream service owners.
• Maintain and test runbooks for common failure scenarios.

What are we looking for?

We’re looking for strong collaborators who deliver exceptional client experiences and thrive in fast-paced, team-oriented environments. Our ideal candidates pursue greatness, act with integrity, and are driven to help our clients succeed. We value those who embrace creativity, continuous improvement, and contribute to a culture where we win together and create and share joy in our work.

Requirements

• 8+ years of middleware experience with deep expertise in IBM DataPower and Kong
• Advanced proficiency in DataPower policy development, GatewayScript, and XSLT
• 5+ years of experience in a platform engineering, API gateway, or infrastructure SRE role.
• 3+ years of hands-on Kong Gateway administration (Enterprise preferred; OSS acceptable).
• Strong understanding of HTTP/S, REST, gRPC, WebSocket, and TLS/mTLS.
• Experience with decK (declarative Kong config) and the Kong Admin API.
• Proficiency in at least one scripting language: Python, Bash, or PowerShell.
• Experience with Kubernetes (EKS, GKE, or AKS) and Kong Ingress Controller.
• Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code tools: Terraform and/or Helm.
• Practical experience with observability tooling (Grafana, Prometheus, Splunk, or Datadog).
• Comfortable working in an on-call rotation with defined SLA/SLO commitments.

Preference

• Experience with containerized DataPower (DataPower on Kubernetes/OpenShift)
• Knowledge of event-driven integration patterns and Kafka/MQ bridging
• Kong Certified Professional or equivalent certification.
• Experience with service mesh technologies (Istio, Linkerd) alongside Kong.
• Familiarity with API security standards: OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML, API keys, JWT.