Senior API Architect — Secure, Scalable APIs & Governance

Doist; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible PTO

Federal holidays off

Health insurance

401k with employer match

Life insurance

Disability insurance

Professional development

Cloud developer accounts

Referral bonuses

HQ office perks

Job summary

Senior API Solutions Architect at 540 will lead the architecture and governance of secure, scalable APIs for a government modernization effort in Arlington, VA. You will work with engineers, cybersecurity, and mission stakeholders to define API strategy, standards, and governance across Apigee, Gravitee, and related technologies.

You will guide delivery, establish reusable patterns, and mentor teams while ensuring alignment with DoW policies and enterprise integration standards.

Qualifications

• 9+ years of API architecture, integration, or software engineering experience.
• Experience leading enterprise API architectures for large-scale distributed systems.
• Advanced knowledge of RESTful API design, API lifecycle management, and governance.
• Hands-on experience with Apigee, Gravitee, or comparable platforms.
• Experience defining API gateway architecture, policies, routing, rate limits, and security controls.
• Experience developing API specifications using OpenAPI, Swagger, JSON Schema.
• Experience establishing API governance and reusable patterns across teams.
• Experience implementing versioning, backward compatibility, and change management.
• Experience implementing OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, JWT, PKI.
• Strong understanding of API security, zero trust, secure software development.
• Experience integrating APIs across cloud-native, microservices, event-driven, or SOA.
• Experience with cloud platforms, containers, CI/CD, automated testing.
• Experience leading architecture reviews, mentoring engineers, and influencing direction.
• Strong communication and documentation skills for technical and nontechnical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Lead the architecture and evolution of APIs, integration patterns, and standards supporting WDP.
• Translate mission and technical requirements into scalable API architectures and implementation strategies.
• Establish enterprise API governance across design, review, versioning, publishing, monitoring, and retirement.
• Define standards for RESTful APIs, OpenAPI specs, JSON schemas, and data exchange.
• Guide API gateways, policies, developer portals, and lifecycle processes using Apigee and Gravitee.
• Establish versioning and change-management strategies for backward compatibility.
• Define security patterns for authentication, authorization, encryption, rate limiting, threat protection, auditing.
• Lead architecture reviews and ensure API designs align with DoW standards and security requirements.
• Establish API monitoring and operational standards for performance and reliability.
• Guide integration across cloud-native, microservices, event-driven, and SOA architectures.

Skills

API architecture

Integration patterns

RESTful API design

OpenAPI/JSON Schema

OAuth 2.0/OpenID Connect

Security and zero trust

Cloud platforms

CI/CD

Mentoring

Documentation

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Engineering

Tools

Apigee

Gravitee

OpenAPI tooling

Job description

Senior API Solutions Architect at 540 will lead the architecture and governance of secure, scalable APIs for a government modernization effort in Arlington, VA. You will work with engineers, cybersecurity, and mission stakeholders to define API strategy, standards, and governance across Apigee, Gravitee, and related technologies.

You will guide delivery, establish reusable patterns, and mentor teams while ensuring alignment with DoW policies and enterprise integration standards.