Lead API Developer

System One; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

System One in Pittsburgh seeks a Lead API Developer to architect, build, and optimize large-scale Java REST services, APIs, and microservices.

You will mentor a team, collaborate with cross-functional partners, and own deployment readiness from design through release, leveraging Jenkins and Git in a DevOps culture.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of hands-on Java/J2EE development experience.
• Strong Spring Boot and Microservices experience.
• Proven leadership of API developers.
• Experience with API standards and RESTful services.
• Experience with Angular and front-end tech.
• Familiar with DevOps and CI/CD.
• Experience with release management.
• Experience with API management platform Apigee.
• Excellent communication and collaboration.
• 8+ years RESTful or SOAP web services.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and maintenance of high-performance APIs and microservices.
• Mentor junior developers and promote best practices.
• Develop and unit test Java-based RESTful services.
• Review architecture designs and provide estimates.
• Collaborate with DevOps for deployments and releases.
• Research libraries and frameworks to accelerate development.
• Collaborate with stakeholders across business and technical teams.
• Drive release planning and manage change requests.

Skills

Java/J2EE

Spring Boot

Microservices

REST APIs

Leadership

Angular

CI/CD

Agile

Team collaboration

Tools

Git

Jenkins

uDeploy

Apigee

Swagger

Job description

Job Title: Lead API Developer
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Type: Permanent Full Time

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and maintenance of high-performance APIs and microservices.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to gather requirements, architect solutions, and ensure scalability, reliability, and security of APIs.
• Mentor junior developers, lead technical discussions, and promote best practices and standards.
• Develop and unit test Java-based RESTful services integrating with external client systems.
• Review design documents, provide feedback on architecture, approach, and estimates.
• Create technical designs for new systems and enhancements to existing systems.
• Translate detailed requirements into functional system designs.
• Participate in and drive release planning activities.
• Create and manage Change Requests (CRs) for deployments and production releases.
• Support and drive end-to-end release execution, including deployment and post-release validation.
• Troubleshoot, optimize, and support applications across environments.
• Work with DevOps tools such as Jenkins, uDeploy, and Git.
• Research and recommend libraries, tools, and frameworks to accelerate development.
• Collaborate closely with internal and external business, design, and technical stakeholders.
• Prioritize work, meet deadlines, and manage multiple initiatives effectively.
• Establish and maintain strong working relationships with clients, team members, and cross-functional partners.
• Communicate effectively across diverse teams and understand technical challenges.

Requirements

• At least 10+ years of hands-on experience in Java/J2EE development, troubleshooting, and deployment.
• Hands-on experience with modern technologies such as Spring Boot and Microservices architecture.
• Experience designing, developing, maintaining, and implementing APIs, microservices, and backend components.
• Proven leadership experience managing a team of API developers, providing technical guidance and mentorship.
• Strong knowledge of API standards, best practices, and service improvements.
• Experience developing and unit testing Java-based RESTful services.
• Ability to review design documents and provide feedback on architecture, approach, and estimates.
• Experience creating technical designs for new systems and system enhancements.
• Knowledge of release planning, change request management, and deployment processes.
• Familiarity with DevOps tools such as Jenkins, uDeploy, and Git.
• Hands-on experience with API management platforms such as Apigee.
• Strong collaboration skills with internal and external stakeholders.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Experience with Java/J2EE development, REST API, Spring Boot, Angular, XML, JSON, Swagger.
• 8+ years of experience with RESTful or SOAP web services.
• 5+ years of experience with Angular, CSS, JavaScript, HTML.
• 5+ years of experience with GitHub, Jenkins, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience writing unit tests for JavaScript code.
• Familiarity with Agile methodologies and Release Management.