Solution Architect - AI Gateway & Intelligence Platform

Solution Architect – Ai Gateway & Intelligence Platform

We are seeking a Solution Architect – Ai Gateway & Intelligence Platform to own the Ai-specific gateway and policy layer that sits alongside and extends our core Kong API Gateway architecture. This is a peer architect role, working in close partnership with the Api Architect who owns the foundational gateway platform.

Role Focus

While the Api Architect owns the core gateway architecture, runtime topology, and baseline patterns, this role focuses on:

• Ai-aware gateway capabilities
• Policy-driven Ai access and governance
• Advanced exposure patterns for Ai/Llm-backed Apis
• The intersection of Ai, security, and developer experience at the gateway layer

The goal: deliver Ai-enabled Apis that are safe, scalable, compliant, and developer-friendly—without fragmenting or duplicating the core Api platform.

Ai Gateway Solution Architect (This Role)

• Owns Ai-specific gateway patterns and capabilities
• Designs how Ai models, agents, and services are exposed through Kong
• Defines Ai governance controls enforced at the gateway
• Extends (not forks) the core gateway architecture

Success requires strong architectural partnership, shared standards, and disciplined alignment.

Core Responsibilities

Ai Gateway Architecture & Design

• Design Ai/Llm-backed service exposure patterns through Kong
• Implement policy-based routing, throttling, and traffic controls for Ai workloads
• Enforce token, cost, and usage governance at the gateway layer
• Ensure all Ai extensions reuse and build upon core Kong patterns

Architectural Collaboration

• Co-author reference architectures and design standards with the Api Architect
• Review cross-boundary Api + Ai designs
• Serve as a bridge between Api platform, Ai governance, and security

Ai Governance by Design

• Translate enterprise Ai governance into enforceable gateway policies
• Ensure Ai traffic is:
• Auditable
• Rate-limited
• Authenticated and authorized
• Automate governance controls aligned to landing zone guardrails

Developer Experience

• Ensure Ai-enabled Apis feel like a natural extension of the existing Api platform
• Define onboarding patterns, documentation standards, and self-service workflows
• Prevent Ai capabilities from becoming one-off special cases

Required Experience

Platform & Gateway Expertise

• 10+ years designing large-scale distributed systems in enterprise environments
• Deep Api platform architecture experience:
• Authn/Authz
• Traffic shaping & rate limiting
• Policy enforcement
• Zero Trust patterns
• Strong hands-on experience with Kong Enterprise, ideally including:
• Kong Ai Gateway
• Multi-environment or hybrid deployments
• Custom plugins or policy extensions
• Cloud-native expertise:
• Aws
• Kubernetes
• Infrastructure-as-code (Terraform or equivalent)
• Ci/cd for platform services

Ai & Llm Systems Experience

• Hands-on experience designing systems around Llms and Ai-backed services
• Experience operating Llm-backed Apis in production
• Practical understanding of:
• Token-based cost models
• Latency & rate limits
• Probabilistic outputs & guardrails
• Model lifecycle and versioning
• Ability to enforce Ai policy and safety controls before traffic reaches models

Governance & Regulated Environment Experience

• Experience designing platforms in regulated environments (financial services preferred)
• Proven ability to translate:
• Security requirements
• Risk controls
• Compliance needs
• Into automated platform capabilities
• Experience partnering with:
• Cybersecurity
• Risk & Compliance
• Enterprise Architecture
• Familiarity with responsible Ai, model risk, auditability, and governance frameworks

Architecture Leadership

• Experience operating in shared-ownership architectural models
• Ability to define clear boundaries and prevent duplication
• Comfortable influencing without direct authority
• Strong executive communication skills (Vp/Svp-level engagement)
• Skilled in writing:
• Architecture Decision Records (Adrs)
• Reference architectures
• Technical narratives

Platform Mindset

You think of platforms as products, with:

• Clear developer users
• Opinionated defaults
• Measurable adoption and safety outcomes

You can balance:

• Flexibility vs. standardization
• Speed vs. safety
• Innovation vs. governance
• And you design solutions that scale across domains—not just single use cases.