Skill Profile

API Gateway

API Gateway patterns, rate limiting, auth, routing, Kong/Traefik/NGINX

API & Integration API Gateway & Service Communication

Roles

2

where this skill appears

Levels

4

structured growth path

Mandatory requirements

6

the other 1 optional

API & Integration

API Gateway & Service Communication

3/17/2026

Choose your current level and compare expectations. The items below show what to cover to advance to the next level.

What is Expected at Each Level

The table shows how skill depth grows from Junior to Principal. Click a row to see details.

Role	Required	Description
Technical Lead		Independently configures API gateway patterns for team services: sets up routing rules, request/response transformations, basic rate limiting and authentication policies. Understands trade-offs between gateway-level and service-level cross-cutting concerns.

Role	Required	Description
Solutions Architect	Required	Designs API gateway architectures for enterprise systems: selects gateway patterns (BFF, edge gateway, internal gateway), configures rate limiting, authentication offloading, and request transformation. Evaluates Kong, AWS API Gateway, Apigee trade-offs for production workloads.
Technical Lead	Required	Designs API gateway architectures for production systems: implements BFF pattern, configures canary routing and traffic splitting, sets up circuit breakers and retry policies at gateway level. Optimizes gateway performance and establishes monitoring for API traffic.

Role	Required	Description
Solutions Architect	Required	Defines API gateway strategy across products: establishes gateway topology standards, designs multi-tier gateway architectures for microservices, implements API versioning and deprecation policies. Conducts gateway architecture reviews and coordinates cross-team API governance.
Technical Lead	Required	Defines API gateway standards for engineering teams: designs gateway topology for microservice ecosystems, establishes API contract and versioning conventions, implements centralized auth and observability through gateways. Leads cross-team API design reviews.

Role	Required	Description
Solutions Architect	Required	Defines organizational API gateway strategy: designs platform-level gateway infrastructure for multi-product ecosystems, establishes enterprise API governance frameworks, evaluates build-vs-buy for gateway solutions. Shapes industry standards for API gateway patterns and service mesh integration.
Technical Lead	Required	Shapes organizational API gateway strategy: evaluates gateway platforms for enterprise-wide adoption, designs multi-region gateway architectures with global traffic management, establishes API governance and lifecycle management frameworks. Mentors lead engineers on gateway architecture decisions.

Middle 1 requirements

Technical Lead

Independently configures API gateway patterns for team services: sets up routing rules, request/response transformations, basic rate limiting and authentication policies. Understands trade-offs between gateway-level and service-level cross-cutting concerns.

Senior 2 requirements

Solutions Architect
Required

Designs API gateway architectures for enterprise systems: selects gateway patterns (BFF, edge gateway, internal gateway), configures rate limiting, authentication offloading, and request transformation. Evaluates Kong, AWS API Gateway, Apigee trade-offs for production workloads.
Technical Lead
Required

Designs API gateway architectures for production systems: implements BFF pattern, configures canary routing and traffic splitting, sets up circuit breakers and retry policies at gateway level. Optimizes gateway performance and establishes monitoring for API traffic.

Lead / Staff 2 requirements

Solutions Architect
Required

Defines API gateway strategy across products: establishes gateway topology standards, designs multi-tier gateway architectures for microservices, implements API versioning and deprecation policies. Conducts gateway architecture reviews and coordinates cross-team API governance.
Technical Lead
Required

Defines API gateway standards for engineering teams: designs gateway topology for microservice ecosystems, establishes API contract and versioning conventions, implements centralized auth and observability through gateways. Leads cross-team API design reviews.

Principal 2 requirements

Solutions Architect
Required

Defines organizational API gateway strategy: designs platform-level gateway infrastructure for multi-product ecosystems, establishes enterprise API governance frameworks, evaluates build-vs-buy for gateway solutions. Shapes industry standards for API gateway patterns and service mesh integration.
Technical Lead
Required

Shapes organizational API gateway strategy: evaluates gateway platforms for enterprise-wide adoption, designs multi-region gateway architectures with global traffic management, establishes API governance and lifecycle management frameworks. Mentors lead engineers on gateway architecture decisions.

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