Specialist Platform Engineer (API Datapower) at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Job Summary

• Apply platform engineering expertise, critical thinking, design thinking and problem solving skills in an agile team environment to produce well-organised, optimised and documented source code that successfully delivers platform features & components of the service & solves complex technical problems with high quality solutions.

Job Description

Are you ready to make a difference? 

• Join an exciting and dynamic team of API Gateway Platform Engineers, who are responsible for shaping the technical API economy for the bank.
• Work within the Platforms and Engineering Gateway technology tribe responsible for the development, design and run of the Datapower API Gateway platform.
• Apply platform engineering expertise, critical thinking, design thinking and problem-solving skills to produce well-organized, optimized and documented source code that successfully delivers platform features, components of the service and solves complex technical problems with high quality solutions.
• Capable of resolving escalated issues arising from operations of the Datapower API Gateway Platform.

Key accountabilities: (What you’ll get to do)

• Leverage platform engineering expertise and a working knowledge of specific platforms (physical Datapower Gateway appliances, API Connect v10, vmware, Kubernetes, AWS services) and their constituent parts to positively contribute to platform feature and service designs
• Automate tasks through appropriate tools and scripting e.g. Kubernetes, Python, Terraform
• Use and configure modern observability techniques leveraging e.g. aggregated logging via Elastic Search stack, Kafka, metrics via Prometheus / Grafana
• Leverage platform (service design and code) and engineering technical expertise to proactively identify risks and prevent defects
• Uphold our technical principles off: self-service, scalability, re-usability, resilience & stability in all development practices and deliver feature sets that sustainably deliver on these principles
• Enable problem resolution across technical teams, apply and or facilitate root cause analysis, deeply understand the root causes of issues and find ways to resolve them (sustainably)
• Optimize, refactor and reuse components to improve performance and maintainability – ensuring maximum efficiency, effectiveness, and return on investment
• Take accountability for maintaining platform standards and best practices, and drive adoption across multiple service teams
• Contribute to a high-performance team environment by coaching and mentoring other engineers, support engineering teams on technical solutions and problem resolution, and proactively seek coaching and mentoring from others

Role/Person specification: (What do you need to get in?)

• +3 years Datapower Gateway experience (admin, operational and development)
• +3 years API Connect 2018 / v10 experience (admin, operational and development)
• +3 years coding / scripting languages experience e.g. Python, JavaScript, Bash scripting, GoLang, XSLT, Gateway Scripting
• +3 years’ experience in Kubernetes architecture, Networking, Security, Deployment, and Management
• +3 years messaging protocols and API technologies experience like SOAP and REST
• +3 years Infrastructure as code (IaC) tooling experience (like Jenkins, GITOPS, AWS CI/CD tools eg. Terraform, CloudFormation, CodeBuilder, CodeDeploy)
• +3 years analytics tools and Big Data Platforms experience like Elastic Search, Kafka (Hadoop)
• +3 years Web Security protocols experience like OAuth, JWT, OIDC
• +3 years Networking experience with a solid understanding of Network layer routing and security

Ideal Certifications:

• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) and Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) or Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist CKS)
• AWS Associate level certifications
• IBM Certified Solution Implementer - DataPower Gateway v10
• IBM Certified Solution Implementer - API Connect v10
• If you’re passionate about working in a fast-paced environment and contributing to the exciting world of API Platforms by leading from the front, we would love to hear from you!

Education

• Bachelor's Degree: Information Technology

End Date: June 23, 2025 (5 days left to apply)