API Standards & Compliance Lead

**Job#: 3022677**

**Job Description:**

Apex Systems, a World-Class Technology Solutions Provider, is seeking applicants for the below position on behalf of our client. Please apply if interested and qualified. Please note that only qualified candidates will be contacted.

**Position:** API Standards & Compliance Lead

**Location:** 4 days/week on-site in Columbus, OH or Minneapolis, MN or Dallas, TX

**Duration:** Contract to Hire

**Type:** W2 contract, paid hourly. Upon FTE, salary + bonus potential. No C2C, 1099, or third-party submissions will be accepted. Only direct W-2 candidates will be considered.

**Industry:** Banking

**Pay Rate Range:** W2 $70-78/hr based on experience

**Role Clarity (What This Role Is / Is Not)**

- This is a governance, standards, and architecture leadership role---focused on policy, enablement, oversight, and measurable outcomes.

- Not a day-to-day software engineering or Apigee proxy development role.

- Limited hands-on configuration may be required to validate governance controls or demonstrate patterns.

**Position Summary**

As the **API Standards & Compliance Lead**, you will define, implement, and enforce enterprise-wide API governance frameworks that ensure consistency, security, and scalability across all APIs. This strategic role focuses on establishing API design standards, lifecycle governance, and compliance policies aligned with industry best practices and regulatory requirements. You will partner closely with Enterprise Architecture, Security, Platform Engineering, and Developer Experience teams to advance an **API-first** strategy and enable seamless integration across the enterprise.

You will shape our API strategy by balancing innovation with risk management---creating clear standards, operating models, and guardrails for API design, onboarding, publishing, versioning, and retirement. This role emphasizes **policy, architecture, enablement, and oversight** rather than hands-on software development.

**What You'll Do**

**Governance Framework & Standards**

- Define and maintain enterprise-wide **API design and governance policies** aligned with architecture principles and industry standards (OpenAPI, REST, GraphQL).

- Establish naming conventions, versioning guidelines, backward compatibility expectations, deprecation/retirement policies, and documentation standards.

- Run the **API Governance Board** (reviews, approvals, waivers) and maintain the governance operating model and RACI.

- Author and maintain reference architecture, standards playbooks, and reusable policy templates.

**Lifecycle Governance & Platform Integration (Apigee X)**

- Design and oversee **API onboarding workflows** via the Developer Portal, ensuring proper documentation, cataloging, and discoverability.

- Define governance processes integrated with **Apigee X** for publishing, runtime policies (e.g., quotas, rate limiting), and analytics.

- Ensure consistent use of **API products**, proxies, and catalogs; promote high-quality API definitions and reusability.

**Security & Regulatory Compliance**

Implement governance for **security patterns** (OAuth2, JWT, JWKS, mTLS) using **Apigee X** and **Ping Identity**.

Align APIs to regulatory requirements (e.g., **Open Banking**, **PSD2**, **HIPAA**, **GDPR**) and enterprise security standards.

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