IBM API Connect + IBM App Connect

Job Description

We are seeking 4+years experienced IBM DataPower - App Connect & API Connect (APIC) Consultant to own the development, coding, and administration of enterprise-level API management solutions. This role involves designing, developing, securing, and managing APIs and integrations using API Connect and App Connect. The ideal candidate will have strong technical expertise in API development, coding, security protocols, and the administration of API platforms, ensuring that systems meet performance, scalability, and security requirements

Responsibilities include:

API Development and Integration:

- Design and develop scalable RESTful and SOAP APIs using IBM API Connect, ensuring adherence to best practices for API lifecycle management.
- Implement robust integration solutions between internal and external systems, utilizing APIC for managing the entire API lifecycle.
- Customize and develop API policies, including security policies, traffic management, and routing rules, using DataPower and APIC.
- Develop custom code and transformation logic in Node.js, Java, Python, JavaScript, and XSLT for complex API use cases and advanced data handling.
- Design and implement API security mechanisms such as OAuth 2.0, SAML, JWT, Mutual TLS (mTLS), and other authentication and authorization frameworks.
- Lead the integration of legacy systems with API-driven architectures, ensuring smooth data and service migration.

API and DataPower Gateway Administration:

- Install, configure, and administer IBM DataPower Gateway and API Connect for secure and optimized API traffic routing.
- Deploy and manage API services across environments (Dev, Test, Prod) and ensure consistency and security across deployments.
- Administer and monitor APIC and DataPower clusters, performing load balancing, failover, and ensuring high availability (HA) of API services.
- Configure DataPower for advanced security functions, including encryption/decryption, SSL termination, and XML firewall policies.
- Manage API versioning, throttling policies, and API subscriptions, ensuring proper access control and governance.
- Implement and maintain logging, monitoring, and alerting using tools like Splunk, ELK, or other monitoring solutions to track API performance and identify bottlenecks or issues.

Scripting and Automation:

- Develop and maintain automation scripts (using Python, Bash, Ansible, or similar) to streamline API deployment, testing, and monitoring tasks.
- Automate the creation, deployment, and versioning of APIs using CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab, or Ansible).
- Write custom XSLT transformations and GatewayScript for DataPower to support advanced API routing, request/response transformation, and security policies.

Security and Performance Management:

- Ensure APIs are compliant with organizational security standards by configuring DataPower for API security, including message integrity, content-based routing, and data protection.
- Monitor and troubleshoot API performance issues, implementing optimization strategies for both DataPower and APIC.
- Implement traffic control policies using APIC and DataPower to manage traffic spikes, ensure SLAs, and prevent denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.
- Conduct vulnerability assessments and ensure that API services are regularly patched and updated to meet security compliance.

Collaboration and Leadership:

- Collaborate with DevOps teams to integrate API solutions into CI/CD pipelines, ensuring seamless automation of API management tasks.
- Work closely with security, networking, and infrastructure teams to ensure smooth deployment and integration of APIs with existing enterprise systems.
- Mentor junior developers and API engineers on API development best practices, coding standards, and troubleshooting techniques.
- Lead technical discussions with business and IT stakeholders to gather requirements and translate them into API solutions.

Certifications :

- IBM Certified Solution Developer - API Connect(Preferred)

Primary Skills :

- 4-6 years of experience with IBM APP & API Connect, with strong expertise in API design, development, and administration.
- Proficiency in developing APIs using Node.js, Java, or Python for backend logic and integration.
- Strong experience in scripting languages such as Python, Shell/Bash, and JavaScript for automating API-related tasks.
- Expertise in developing and maintaining DataPower services such as XML Firewall, Web Service Proxy, Multi-Protocol Gateway (MPGW), and API Gateway.
- Strong knowledge of API security standards including OAuth 2.0, SAML, JWT, and Mutual TLS (mTLS).
- Hands-on experience with XSLT, GatewayScript, and JavaScript for creating complex transformations and API routing rules.
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, Git, Ansible) for automating API deployments and managing multi-environment API releases.
- Knowledge of load balancing, high availability, and failover configurations for DataPower and API Connect environments.
- Strong familiarity with SOAP, REST, and microservices architectures.
- Experience with monitoring tools (e.g., Splunk, ELK, Datadog) to track API performance and identify bottlenecks.
- Knowledge of Kubernetes and Docker for containerized deployments is a plus.

Secondary Skills :

- Experience in IBM Data Power
- Experience in MQ
- Experience in CP4I