Principal – Platform Engineer

The ideal candidate will collaborate with Platform Engineering, Cloud Engineering, Information Security, Networking, Enterprise Architecture, and Application teams to build a secure, resilient, automated, and developer-friendly API platform.

Key Responsibilities:

Platform Architecture & Strategy

• Lead the architecture and implementation of a next-generation Enterprise API and AI Platform using Azure API Management and Azure AI Gateway.
• Define target-state architecture for Internal APIM, External APIM, AI Gateway, Disaster Recovery, and platform security.
• Develop platform standards, governance models, reference architectures, engineering best practices, and technical roadmaps.
• Drive architectural decisions around traffic segregation, Web Application Firewall (WAF) integration, firewall architecture, identity management, and AI governance.

Azure API Management & AI Gateway

• Design and implement Azure API Management solutions for internal, external, partner, SaaS, and AI integrations.
• Implement Azure AI Gateway capabilities including:
  • LLM access governance
  • Model routing and failover
  • Token and rate controls
  • MCP and Agent Gateway patterns
  • AI observability and reporting
  • Content safety and guardrails
  • AI security and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) controls
• Develop reusable APIM policy frameworks supporting:
  • Authentication and Authorization
  • OAuth and JWT validation
  • Mutual TLS (mTLS)
  • Rate limiting and quotas
  • Request/response transformation
  • Routing
  • Logging and monitoring
  • Error handling

Security & Platform Hardening

• Strengthen API security using policy-based controls, managed identities, token validation, least-privilege access, and network restrictions.
• Collaborate with Security and Network Engineering teams to improve WAF inspection and reduce exceptions.
• Implement platform hardening through:
  • Microsoft Defender for Cloud
  • Azure Key Vault integration
  • Secret management
  • API security testing
  • Identity governance
  • Security monitoring and alerting

Platform Engineering & Automation

• Build Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solutions using Terraform.
• Implement CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps and Git-based deployment workflows.
• Develop automation for platform provisioning, policy deployment, governance enforcement, and operational efficiency.
• Enable self-service capabilities for API onboarding, governance, and lifecycle management.

Migration & Modernization

• Lead API inventory, classification, migration planning, and phased migration execution.
• Develop migration playbooks, cutover plans, rollback procedures, and operational runbooks.
• Coordinate application testing and production migrations with development teams.

Observability & Operational Excellence

• Design monitoring and observability using Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, and enterprise monitoring solutions.
• Create operational dashboards, governance scorecards, API health reporting, AI usage reporting, and platform KPIs.
• Develop support models, disaster recovery documentation, operational procedures, and platform documentation.

Required Skills & experience

• Extensive experience with Microsoft Azure cloud platform.
• Deep expertise in Azure API Management (APIM).
• Experience implementing Azure AI Gateway and AI platform solutions.
• Strong understanding of API security, authentication, authorization, OAuth, JWT, mTLS, and Zero Trust principles.
• Experience with AI governance, LLM integrations, AI security, content safety, and DLP controls.
• Expertise with Terraform and Infrastructure as Code.
• Experience building CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps and Git.
• Strong knowledge of networking, WAF, firewalls, identity management, and cloud security.
• Experience with Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights, and observability platforms.
• Strong automation, scripting, and platform engineering experience.
• Experience leading enterprise platform modernization and migration initiatives.
• Excellent architecture, documentation, and cross-functional leadership skills.