Section Head

BDO Unibank; Makati; On-site; PHP 1,800,000 - 3,200,000; Full time

Job summary

BDO Unibank, a leading Philippine bank, seeks a Section Head to define and govern enterprise API architectures driving digital transformation and interoperability across banking platforms. You will lead API strategy, governance, and technical leadership to deliver secure, scalable APIs aligned with global standards.

You will work onsite in Makati/Ortigas, collaborating with architects, product managers, and engineering teams to translate business needs into robust API designs and reusable

Qualifications

• 7+ years in software architecture/design.
• 3+ years in API architecture for banking/financial services.
• Proven experience in API strategy, governance and platform implementation.
• Willing to work onsite in Makati/Ortigas.

Responsibilities

• Define the API strategy, roadmap, and governance framework.
• Establish API design standards, best practices, and metrics.
• Maintain an API catalog and promote API-as-a-Product principles.
• Lead API-first design using Open API/Swagger and create diagrams/architectures.
• Evaluate API platforms (Apigee, MuleSoft, Kong) and integrate with CI/CD pipelines.
• Define disaster recovery, failover strategies, and observability.
• Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and training on API design.
• Participate in architecture review boards and roadmap planning.
• Monitor API performance and adoption; drive scalability improvements.

Skills

API architecture

Software architecture

Security models

CI/CD

Technical leadership

Open API/Swagger

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science/IT

Tools

Apigee

MuleSoft

Kong

Job description

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Business Unit: Information Technology Group

Department:

About BDO

BDO Unibank, Inc. is the Philippines’ leading full-service bank, offering a wide range of financial and digital banking services. Guided by our brand promise “We Find Ways,” we are committed to delivering easy, reliable, and customer-focused services. Build your career with a trusted industry leader.

Job Summary

As a Section Head, you will be responsible for defining, designing, and governing enterprise-grade API architectures for banking systems, ensuring alignment with the organization’s enterprise architecture blueprint, global banking standards, and regulatory requirements. The role drives API strategy, architecture governance, and technical leadership to deliver secure, scalable, and reusable APIs that enable digital transformation and interoperability across banking platforms.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic & Governance:

• Define the API strategy, roadmap, and governance framework aligned with business objectives and IT goals.
• Establish API design standards, best practices, and compliance metrics across the organization.
• Maintain an API catalog and promote API-as-a-Product principles for reuse and consistency.
• Assess the enterprise architecture blueprint and propose target-state API architecture aligned with BIAN service domains and ISO 20022 standards.
• Lead API-first design using Open API/Swagger and produce high-level and low-level sequence diagrams, reference architectures, and integration patterns.
• Ensure APIs are designed for reusability, modularity, and interoperability across banking domains.

Security & Compliance

• Define and enforce API security models (OAuth 2.0, JWT, TLS/mTLS) and ensure compliance with privacy regulations and industry standards (e.g., PCI DSS, GDPR).
• Implement secure-by-design principles, including input validation, encryption, and audit logging.

Performance & Scalability

• Compute rate limits and throughput based on non-functional requirements for high-volume banking transactions.
• Optimize APIs for low latency, high availability, and horizontal scalability; apply resilience patterns (circuit breaker, retry/backoff).

Platform & Operations

• Evaluate and manage API management platforms (Apigee, MuleSoft, Kong) and integrate with CI/CD pipelines.
• Define disaster recovery, failover strategies, and implement observability (logging, tracing, metrics).
• Work with solution architects, product managers, and engineering teams to translate business requirements into technical designs.
• Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and training on API design best practices.
• Participate in architecture review boards and roadmap planning.
• Conduct POCs for emerging API technologies and integration strategies.
• Monitor API performance and adoption; recommend improvements for scalability and developer experience.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field.
• At least 7 years in software architecture/design, with at least 3 years in API architecture for banking or financial services.
• Proven experience in API strategy, design governance, and platform implementation.
• Must be willing to work onsite and be assigned in Makati/Ortigas.

BDO Unibank, Inc. provides equal opportunity to all qualified candidates. Hiring decisions are based on job requirements and candidate qualifications, and shall not be influenced by any consideration of race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), national or ethnic origin, or disability.

The BDO, BDO Unibank, and other BDO-related trademarks are owned by BDO Unibank, Inc. BDO Unibank Inc. ® All Rights Reserved.