VP, Kong Platform & API Modernization

lplfinancial; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

LPL Financial is seeking a VP, Software Engineering Manager to drive strategy and execution for the Kong Platform and OneELK, guiding API modernization across the firm.

You will lead platform engineers, emphasize security, observability, and cloud-native modernization, partnering with Architecture, Product, Infrastructure, Security, and Application Development teams to enable scalable, secure API platforms.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or related field.
• 10+ years of technology leadership experience, including leading large engineering or platform organizations.
• 5+ years of experience managing API Management or Integration Platforms at enterprise scale.
• 3+ years experience with Kong Gateway, Kong Enterprise, API Gateway technologies, or similar platforms such as Apigee, AWS API Gateway, Azure API Management.
• 5+ years experience leading large-scale modernization and migration programs.

Responsibilities

• Own the enterprise Kong API Gateway platform strategy, roadmap, adoption, and operational excellence.
• Lead engineering teams responsible for Kong Gateway, API management, developer portals, service mesh, API security, and supporting platform services.
• Ensure platform scalability, reliability, resiliency, and compliance with enterprise standards.
• Establish platform SLOs, performance metrics, and operational governance.
• Lead enterprise-wide migration efforts from legacy middleware and API gateway technologies to Kong.
• Develop modernization strategies for APIs, services, and integrations supporting business-critical platforms.
• Drive standardization of API design, development, governance, and lifecycle management practices.
• Establish reusable frameworks, tools, and automation capabilities to accelerate API onboarding and migration activities.
• Build and lead high-performing teams of engineering managers, software engineers, platform engineers, and architects.
• Drive adoption of DevSecOps, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code, and Site Reliability Engineering principles.
• Promote engineering best practices, automation, continuous improvement, and operational maturity.
• Champion developer productivity and platform self-service capabilities.

Skills

Leadership

Strategy & roadmaps

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering/IT

Tools

Kong Gateway

Kong Enterprise

API Gateway technologies

Apigee

AWS API Gateway

Azure API Management

Job description

LPL Financial is seeking a VP, Software Engineering Manager to drive strategy and execution for the Kong Platform and OneELK, guiding API modernization across the firm.

You will lead platform engineers, emphasize security, observability, and cloud-native modernization, partnering with Architecture, Product, Infrastructure, Security, and Application Development teams to enable scalable, secure API platforms.