Sr. Manager, Software Engineering - API

Skills

• Superior understanding and execution of organizational goals and objectives
• Strong presentation skills, excellent written and oral communication skills
• Strong technical depth and raw intellectual ability
• Deep expertise in API design, architecture, and lifecycle management across multiple paradigms (REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSockets)
• Strong understanding of API gateway and management platforms (e.g., Kong, Apigee, AWS API Gateway) and service mesh technologies
• Hands-on understanding of Protocol Buffers, OpenAPI/Swagger specifications, and schema-first API design
• Strong knowledge of cloud-native architectures, AWS, Kubernetes, and container orchestration
• Solid understanding of authentication and authorization patterns for APIs (OAuth 2.0, API keys, JWT, mTLS)
• Strong understanding of Agile development methodologies, DevOps, continuous delivery, and related concepts
• Experience with resource allocation and personnel management
• Strong organization and prioritization skills
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with the ability to pivot and adapt as needed
• Strong understanding of software design principles and patterns
• Expertise and demonstrated experience in systems design, development, implementation, and deployment processes
• Demonstrated ability to make decisions regarding necessary team size and composition
• Strong pattern recognition abilities to identify abstractions and processes that drive team success
• Development background with proficiency in modern programming languages commonly used for API development (Go, Rust, TypeScript/Node.js, Python); hands-on coding is not required but the ability to evaluate technical tradeoffs and review architecture decisions is essential
• Experience in the brokerage or financial services industry, especially building APIs for trading or market data preferred
• Experience designing and operating developer portals, SDKs, and API documentation platforms preferred
• Knowledge of AI/ML integration patterns for APIs, including function-calling interfaces, streaming responses, and agent-to-API communication (e.g., MCP, tool-use protocols) preferred
• Experience with high-throughput, low-latency API systems serving real-time financial data preferred
• Understanding of regulatory requirements for API access controls, data distribution, and audit logging in financial services preferred
• Track record of growing API adoption and measuring developer experience through metrics (TTFB, error rates, adoption funnels) preferred
• Experience with infrastructure as code and automating deployments in cloud-native environments preferred
• Familiarity with service mesh architectures (Istio, Linkerd) and observability stacks for distributed API systems preferred

About the role

This is a pivotal role: our APIs are the front door for every client application, third-party integration, and AI-powered experience we deliver. This role will own the strategy and execution to establish TradeStation as the leader in trading APIs — creating the developer experience that drives adoption, increases trade revenue, and enables an ecosystem of innovators to build on our platform.

Responsibilities

• Serve as an inspirational and outcome-driven leader — execution and follow-up is everything
• Own the technical strategy and technical roadmap for TradeStation's API platform, spanning REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and AI-native protocols (MCP), partnering with Product Management on product strategy and prioritization
• Drive API-first design principles across the organization, ensuring consistency, discoverability, and developer ergonomics across all API surfaces
• Foster a developer-experience (DX) mindset: treat external and internal API consumers as customers, obsess over documentation quality, onboarding friction, and time-to-first-call
• Lead the adoption of gRPC as the internal high-performance service protocol, establishing patterns, tooling, and best practices for teams across the organization
• Define and enforce API governance standards including versioning, deprecation policies, rate limiting, authentication/authorization patterns, and SLA management
• Collaborate closely with Product Management, Business, and executive stakeholders to translate business objectives into technical execution plans that drive trade revenue and platform adoption
• Manage cloud-native infrastructure strategy on AWS and Kubernetes, optimizing for reliability, performance, and cost efficiency
• Champion psychological safety within the team environment, modeling it and insisting on it as a core value
• Select, assess, develop, mentor, manage, and retain top technical talent
• Effectively manage people, including planning, assigning, and directing work; evaluating performance, addressing complaints, and resolving problems
• Maintain knowledge sharing among the team to avoid information silos and address key-staff risks
• Continuous refinement of development processes to improve overall performance and reduce friction to delivery
• Manage and maintain Agile practices and track team performance based on outcomes
• Clear roadblocks for teams to ensure delivery focus
• Participate in business planning and communicate technical knowledge of vision for both current and future API products

Requirements

• BS in Computer Science or related technical discipline, or equivalent work experience
• 7+ years of relevant team management and leadership experience in high-performance, business-critical environments

Qualifications

• Minimum qualifications: BS in Computer Science or related technical discipline, or equivalent work experience
• Minimum years of experience: 7 years

Benefits

Competitive Salaries
Yearly bonus
Comprehensive benefits for you and your family starting Day 1
Unlimited Paid Time Off
Flexible working environment

Pay

$174-189K (Countries outside of the US have differing ranges in accordance with local labor markets)

Schedule

Not specified