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API Developer
Free template · 2026

API Developer Job Description Template

A ready-to-use API Developer job description for 2026, with the interview scorecard and questions to hire one. Copy it as is or customize it free in about 15 seconds.

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Includes the job description, an interview scorecard and questions for every round.

Mid-level in Latin America
$4,500/mo
Same role in the US
$11,875/mo
You save
Up to 62%

All-in monthly cost, 2026 rates.

Job description template
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API Developer

We are seeking a mid-level API Developer to design, build, and evolve production APIs and the supporting services that power our product. You will work independently on well-defined work, collaborate with peers to deliver reliable integrations, and improve API quality through testing, observability, and iterative enhancements.

Responsibilities

  • Design and implement RESTful and/or event-driven APIs with clear contracts, validation, and error handling
  • Build and maintain service endpoints and data flows that support frontend, partner, and internal consumers
  • Write maintainable backend code and infrastructure as code to support API services
  • Implement automated testing (unit, integration, and contract-style checks) to reduce regressions
  • Add observability to APIs using structured logging, metrics, and tracing to support incident response
  • Perform API versioning and change management to keep consumers compatible
  • Collaborate with product and engineering stakeholders to clarify requirements and deliver reliably

Must-have qualifications

  • Hands-on experience building and maintaining production APIs (REST and/or event-driven)
  • Strong proficiency in one backend language (e.g., Java, Kotlin, Go, Python, Node.js) and solid software engineering practices
  • Experience implementing API security (authentication, authorization, input validation, and secure-by-default patterns)
  • Proficiency with relational and/or NoSQL data modeling and performance considerations for API use cases
  • Experience with automated testing for APIs (unit and integration testing) and regression prevention
  • Experience adding observability to APIs (logging, metrics, and tracing) and using it to diagnose issues

Nice to have

  • Experience with API documentation and consumer enablement (e.g., OpenAPI/Swagger, examples, SDK guidance)
  • Experience with streaming/event systems (e.g., Kafka or similar) and designing reliable event flows
  • Familiarity with CI/CD practices for backend services and API deployments

What success looks like in 12 months

  • API reliability and incident reduction
  • API quality and regression prevention
  • Faster debugging through observability
  • Safe API evolution for consumers

Logistics

  • Full-time (40 hours a week), remote from Latin America.
  • Working hours overlap with US business hours.

About the company

[About your company: what you build, your stage and team size]

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Interview scorecard

Score every candidate against the same bar

Deliver reliable, well-designed APIs that improve integration quality and developer experience while maintaining production stability.

Outcomes to measure

What this hire should deliver in the first year. Replace [N] with your own targets.

  • API reliability and incident reduction. Measure: reduce production API-related incidents by [X]%
  • API quality and regression prevention. Measure: increase automated test coverage for API services by [X]% and keep critical API flows failing tests below [Y] occurrences per month
  • Faster debugging through observability. Measure: improve mean time to diagnose API issues by [X]% and ensure [X]%+ of API endpoints emit structured logs with correlation IDs
  • Safe API evolution for consumers. Measure: ship [N] API changes using versioning/change management practices with [X]% consumer compatibility retention (no breaking changes without documented migration)

Competencies and weights

What to evaluate, how much it counts and what a strong answer looks like.

API Design · 22%
Drives correct contracts, versioning, and maintainable endpoint design that reduces downstream breakage. Evaluated in Round 1.

  • Weak: Describes endpoints without clear contracts, versioning approach, or consistent error handling.
  • Meets the bar: Explains endpoint responsibilities, validation, and a practical approach to backward compatibility.
  • Strong: Shows strong contract thinking (schemas, idempotency where relevant, consistent errors) and a safe versioning plan.

Backend Implementation · 18%
Ensures the developer can independently implement production-ready backend services and APIs. Evaluated in Round 1.

  • Weak: Relies on ad hoc patterns, lacks maintainability concerns, or cannot explain key design tradeoffs.
  • Meets the bar: Implements services with clean structure, readable code, and appropriate abstractions.
  • Strong: Delivers robust implementations with thoughtful boundaries, performance awareness, and pragmatic refactoring.

API Security · 18%
Security mistakes in APIs are high-impact; this competence ensures secure-by-default and correct authorization. Evaluated in Round 2.

  • Weak: Mentions security superficially and cannot explain authorization flow or validation strategy.
  • Meets the bar: Describes authentication/authorization responsibilities and input validation/error hygiene.
  • Strong: Provides concrete examples of secure patterns (least privilege, validation, safe defaults, threat awareness) and testing/verification approaches.

Testing Discipline · 14%
Quality and stability depend on repeatable automated tests for API behaviors and integrations. Evaluated in Round 2.

  • Weak: Focuses mostly on manual testing or lacks clarity on integration/contract-style checks.
  • Meets the bar: Uses unit and integration tests for critical API flows and can discuss reducing regressions.
  • Strong: Designs tests that capture contract expectations, edge cases, and reliable failure signals for debugging.

Observability Practices · 14%
Operational excellence requires good logging/metrics/tracing and the ability to use them during incidents. Evaluated in Round 3.

  • Weak: Describes observability vaguely or cannot connect telemetry to debugging outcomes.
  • Meets the bar: Explains structured logging/metrics/tracing and how correlation IDs aid diagnosis.
  • Strong: Shows evidence of tuning telemetry to answer real operational questions and reduce MTTR.

Data Modeling · 8%
Correct modeling and query considerations improve API performance and reliability. Evaluated in Round 1.

  • Weak: Can’t explain how data model choices affect latency, consistency, or complexity.
  • Meets the bar: Explains tradeoffs between schema choices and API use cases; handles performance basics.
  • Strong: Demonstrates proactive modeling/performance decisions tied to API behavior and correctness.

Independent Delivery · 6%
The role requires independent execution on well-defined work with reliable communication. Evaluated in Round 3.

  • Weak: Relies heavily on others for direction and struggles to scope work or communicate risks.
  • Meets the bar: Can independently deliver milestones, clarify ambiguous requirements, and communicate progress/status.
  • Strong: Proactively manages scope and risks, aligns on acceptance criteria, and keeps stakeholders informed with minimal back-and-forth.
Interview questions

Questions for every interview round

Each round has an owner, a time box and questions that test the competencies above.

Round 1: API & Implementation Interview
Senior Backend Engineer · 60 min

  1. Tell us about a production API you designed or significantly changed. How did you define the contract (request/response schemas, validation, error responses) and ensure compatibility for consumers?
  2. Walk through a backend API implementation you’re proud of. What were the key components, how did you structure the code, and what tradeoffs did you make for maintainability and performance?
  3. Describe a time you improved API performance or data access. What data model or query decisions did you make, and how did you validate the impact?

Round 2: Security & Testing Interview
Application Security Engineer · 60 min

  1. Explain how you implemented authentication and authorization for an API. How did you validate inputs and ensure secure-by-default behavior (including safe error handling)?
  2. Share an example of how you tested API security-relevant behaviors (e.g., authorization boundaries, invalid payloads, permission checks). What did the tests verify?
  3. How do you decide what to cover with unit vs integration tests for API endpoints? Describe an approach you use to prevent regressions on critical flows.

Round 3: Observability & Delivery Interview
Engineering Manager · 60 min

  1. Describe the observability approach you used for an API service (logging, metrics, tracing). What correlation identifiers or dashboards did you add, and how did you use them during real debugging?
  2. Give an example where telemetry helped you reduce time to diagnose or resolve an incident. What signals mattered, and what changes did you make afterward?
  3. Tell us about a time you delivered well-defined API work largely independently. How did you scope the work, clarify acceptance criteria, and communicate risks or delays?

Red flags to watch for

  • Cannot describe concrete API contract/versioning or consistently handled error/validation patterns
  • Security knowledge is mostly theoretical (e.g., cannot explain authorization flow, input validation, or safe error handling in practice)
  • Weak testing approach (little evidence of automated integration/regression prevention for APIs)
  • Observability described without real debugging outcomes or inability to explain how logs/metrics/traces were used
  • Lack of independent delivery examples (depends on others for scoping, acceptance criteria, or troubleshooting)

How much does it cost to hire an API Developer in Latin America?

In 2026, a senior API Developer in Latin America costs $6,750 to $7,750 a month all-in, versus $14,625 in the US: up to 54% less. Mid-level starts at $4,500.

Country

Mid-level

Senior

Argentina

$4,500

$6,750

Brazil

$5,000

$7,500

Colombia

$4,500

$6,750

Mexico

$5,250

$7,750

United States

$11,875

$14,625

Monthly cost in USD, all-in: the talent's salary plus Teilur's flat 20% fee, from our 2026 rates. The United States row shows what the same role typically costs there.

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Frequently asked questions

What does an API Developer do?

Typical responsibilities include: design and implement RESTful and/or event-driven APIs with clear contracts, validation, and error handling; build and maintain service endpoints and data flows that support frontend, partner, and internal consumers; write maintainable backend code and infrastructure as code to support API services. The full list is in the template above.

How much does it cost to hire an API Developer in Latin America?

In 2026, a senior API Developer in Latin America costs $6,750 to $7,750 a month all-in, versus $14,625 in the US: up to 54% less. Mid-level starts at $4,500.

Can I customize this API Developer job description?

Yes. Teilur's free Job Description & Scorecard Generator rewrites it for your stack, seniority, time zone and hiring urgency in about 15 seconds. No sign-up needed.

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