- Growth mindset with an "if I don't know it, I can learn it" attitude.
- Experience working in Agile and "you build it, you run it" environments.
- Strong client communication and collaboration skills.
- Self-directed, thorough in testing and validation, and comfortable balancing production support with new development work.
- Empathy for both API producers and consumers.
- Evaluate changes for impact and risk, implement safely, and validate thoroughly.
- Build, test, deploy, and support Kong Gateway configurations, plugins, integrations, and new capabilities.
- Troubleshoot production issues and trace requests across the full stack from gateway to upstream services.
- Conduct performance, load, resiliency, and API testing.
- Apply security patches, implement security controls, and support incident response.
- Maintain documentation, configuration governance, CI/CD pipelines, and deployment standards.
- Deep experience with Kong Gateway/Konnect, including services, routes, consumers, plugins, declarative configuration (decK), DB-less mode, Admin API, Control Plane/Data Plane architecture, and custom plugin development.
- Strong understanding of API gateway patterns, request/response lifecycles, traffic management, service abstraction, ingress/egress routing, and upstream/downstream services.
- Knowledge of Kong plugin execution, lifecycle management, standardization, and configuration governance.
- Experience across networking, security, gateway, and delivery layers, including DNS, TLS, load balancing, authentication, authorization, rate limiting, routing, CI/CD, and configuration management.
- Strong experience with Docker, AWS ECS, containerized environments, infrastructure provisioning, horizontal scaling, secrets management, and platform operations.
- Familiarity with CloudFormation, infrastructure-as-code, high availability, resiliency patterns, failover strategies, and multi-region deployments.
- Proficiency in Java, Python, Node.js, TypeScript, or similar languages; Lua preferred.
- Strong understanding of REST APIs, OpenAPI/Swagger, API versioning, contract testing, microservices architecture, and YAML-based configuration.
- Experience developing and supporting API integrations for internal and external consumers.
- Experience with performance, load, contract, resiliency, and automated testing.
- Strong knowledge of TDD/BDD methodologies, API testing practices, and validation frameworks.
- Experience with chaos engineering and large-scale configuration testing preferred.
- Expertise tracing requests across distributed systems and distinguishing gateway versus backend issues.
- Experience using Splunk, Honeycomb, OpenTelemetry, logging, telemetry, metrics analysis, alerting, incident response, and performance troubleshooting.
- Proven experience applying security patches and managing production security controls.
- Strong understanding of OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, JWT, mTLS, threat protection, authorization models, rate limiting, vulnerability remediation, and DevSecOps practices.
- Ability to quickly learn enterprise security platforms and authentication frameworks.
- API lifecycle management, governance, onboarding, policy enforcement, and standardized gateway patterns.
- External partner integrations, vendor connectivity, hybrid-cloud routing, and enterprise boundary security.
- Developer enablement, onboarding support, documentation, templates, and best-practice implementation.
Special Factors
Sponsorship
Vanguard is not offering visa sponsorship for this position.About Vanguard
At Vanguard, we don't just have a mission—we're on a mission.
To work for the long-term financial wellbeing of our clients. To lead through product and services that transform our clients' lives. To learn and develop our skills as individuals and as a team. From Malvern to Melbourne, our mission drives us forward and inspires us to be our best.
How We Work
Vanguard has implemented a hybrid working model for the majority of our crew members, designed to capture the benefits of enhanced flexibility while enabling in-person learning, collaboration, and connection. We believe our mission-driven and highly collaborative culture is a critical enabler to support long-term client outcomes and enrich the employee experience.
Skills Required
- Deep experience with Kong Gateway/Konnect including services, routes, consumers, plugins, decK, DB-less mode, Admin API, and Control/Data Plane architectures.
- Custom Kong plugin development and plugin lifecycle management.
- Experience building, testing, deploying, and supporting Kong configurations, integrations, and new gateway capabilities.
- Troubleshoot production issues and trace requests across gateway to upstream services.
- Performance, load, resiliency, API, and automated testing experience.
- Apply security patches, implement security controls, and support incident response.
- Experience with Docker and AWS ECS in containerized environments, infrastructure provisioning, horizontal scaling, and secrets management.
- Familiarity with CloudFormation, infrastructure-as-code, high availability, resiliency patterns, failover, and multi-region deployments.
- Proficiency in Java, Python, Node.js, TypeScript or similar languages.
- Lua programming experience (preferred).
- Strong understanding of REST APIs, OpenAPI/Swagger, API versioning, contract testing, microservices architecture, and YAML-based configuration.
- Experience with observability and tracing tools such as Splunk, Honeycomb, OpenTelemetry, logging, telemetry, metrics analysis, and alerting.
- Strong understanding of OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, JWT, mTLS, authorization models, rate limiting, and vulnerability remediation.
- Experience maintaining CI/CD pipelines, deployment standards, and configuration governance.
- Experience working in Agile, 'you build it, you run it' environments and strong client communication/collaboration skills.
- Experience with API lifecycle management, governance, onboarding, and policy enforcement (preferred).
- Experience with chaos engineering and large-scale configuration testing (preferred).
- Experience with external partner integrations, hybrid-cloud routing, and enterprise boundary security (preferred).
- Developer enablement, documentation, templates, and best-practice implementation (preferred).
Vanguard Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Vanguard and has not been reviewed or approved by Vanguard.
-
Retirement Support — Retirement support appears unusually strong through a 401(k) design that includes a match plus an additional employer contribution, which can materially lift long-term total rewards. HSA seeding and an enhanced employer match further strengthen the savings-and-benefits value of the package.
-
Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Wellbeing and lifestyle support is reinforced by a sizable annual FlexFund stipend that can be applied across many day-to-day categories such as fitness, childcare, and other personal expenses. On-site or virtual clinics and fitness options add practical health and wellness convenience.
-
Affordable Benefits — Healthcare and related benefits are positioned as comparatively affordable via heavily subsidized medical plans and broad coverage options. This affordability can offset moderate base pay for employees who place higher value on out-of-pocket cost reductions.
Vanguard Insights
What We Do
We are a community of 30 million who think – and feel – differently about investing. Together, we’re changing the way the world invests. Since our founding in 1975, helping our investors achieve their goals is our sole reason for existence. With no other parties to answer to and therefore no conflicting loyalties, we make every decision—like keeping investing costs as low as possible—with only your needs in mind. Vanguard is one of the world's largest investment companies, offering a large selection of high-quality low-cost mutual funds, ETFs, advice, and related services. Individual and institutional investors, financial professionals, and plan sponsors can benefit from the size, stability, and experience Vanguard offers. As of April 30, 2019, we managed more than $5.6 trillion in global assets. In addition, we have 189 funds in the United States and 225 funds in global markets. For Commenting Guidelines & Important information, visit here: http://vanguard.com/linkedin Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor.
