Roles we recruit
Seven practices, 27 functions. Start at the practice when you cannot yet name the title; go straight to the function when you can.
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An API developer owns the APIs and webhooks that customers, partners and your own systems call: endpoint design, authentication, versioning, documentation and rate limits. Many engineers can build an endpoint, so we screen for APIs other people built on for a year, changes that did not break them, and docs a stranger could follow.
An API is a promise to other people’s code, so the first quarter is about finding what is promised today and making changes safely. Each stage below has a signal that predicts it, and we test for that signal before you meet anyone.
The ramp, and the test behind each milestone
Weeks 1 and 2
Every public and partner endpoint, who calls it, how they authenticate, what the docs say and where behavior differs from the docs. Reads support tickets and partner complaints.
On track looks like an inventory of endpoints, callers and known problems, ranked by how many customers each affects.
How we test for it before you meet them
A review exercise in our screen: an API description with real problems in it, inconsistent naming, unclear errors, no versioning. We score what they find and how they would fix it.
Weeks 3 to 6
One improvement released without breaking existing callers: better error messages, pagination, a new field or a deprecation notice, with tests and a changelog.
On track looks like a documented change live, with no partner reporting a break.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask for a change they made to an API with outside users and how they avoided breaking them. A former engineer or partner confirms it.
Weeks 7 to 10
A reference generated from the code, plus a short guide and working examples for the three things callers do most, so a new partner can make a first call without help.
On track looks like a new integrator making a first successful call from the docs alone.
How we test for it before you meet them
We read docs they wrote and try a first call from them. Docs that only restate the code are where we dig.
Weeks 11 to 13
Authentication and scopes reviewed, rate limits and quotas set, and monitoring that shows error rates and slow endpoints before customers write in.
On track looks like rate limits in place, alerts on error rates, and a quiet support queue for API issues.
How we test for it before you meet them
A reference call about an API they ran in production: incidents, how they were found and what changed afterwards.
After day 90
Strong API developers write the rules: how changes are announced, how long old versions live and how partners are told, so the next change is routine.
On track looks like a published versioning policy and a change process engineering and partnerships both follow.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask how they would retire an endpoint with a thousand callers. A plan with notice, monitoring and a fallback predicts a developer who protects partners.
Five responsibilities. If the seat connects tools inside the company only, it is an integration engineer; if it runs servers and pipelines, it is infrastructure.
Consistent resources, naming, errors and pagination that callers can predict without reading the code.
Keys, tokens and scopes that give each caller only what they need, and a way to revoke them.
Changes released without breaking callers, with notice, a changelog and a retirement plan.
A reference and working examples that let a new partner make a first call alone.
Rate limits, quotas and alerts that protect the service and show problems before customers do.
Three neighboring seats absorb work people assume belongs here. Drawing the line wrong is how an API hire ends up building every integration or running servers.
That seat ownsConnecting the tools the company uses: CRM, marketing automation, billing and data pipelines.
Hire it instead whenthe work is wiring internal systems together rather than serving outside callers.
That seat ownsThe overall design: which systems exist, how data moves and what is built or bought.
Hire it instead whennobody has decided how the pieces should fit before the build.
That seat ownsDeployments, environments, uptime and the pipelines that ship code.
Hire it instead whenthe API works but releases are slow or fragile.
The title stays the same; the audience does not. Pick the one that matches who calls your API.
Owns the API customers and developers build on: design, docs, limits and a stable contract.
Builds the endpoints and webhooks partners need, and supports them through their first integration.
Builds the services that product teams and go-to-market tools call inside the company.
The questions we ask in our own screen. Use them in yours; the warning signs are as useful as the answers.
Every candidate we put forward is scored on these five, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included. Four out of five with a named weakness beats a clean sweep you cannot verify.
| What we score | Weak evidence | Strong evidence |
|---|---|---|
| APIs others built on | Only internal services with a single caller. | An API with outside callers, kept stable over a year or more. |
| Changing without breaking | Ships changes and handles complaints afterwards. | Versioning, notice and monitoring used as routine, confirmed by a partner or colleague. |
| Design judgment | Rewrites an endpoint around personal taste. | Finds the real problems in our example and ranks them. |
| Documentation | A generated reference and nothing else. | Docs a first-time integrator could follow, with working examples. |
| Security and limits | Treats authentication and limits as someone else’s job. | Scopes, keys, limits and monitoring they designed, with incidents explained. |
Public US benchmarks, read October 2026. Sources disagree sharply on this seat: Salary.com’s API developer band starts near $81,000, BLS software developers run from $105,210 to $171,980, and Built In’s back-end developers report a $183,000 median base. Price on scope: a developer who owns public endpoints, authentication and versioning sits toward the software developer figures, one who maintains internal integrations nearer the Salary.com band.
Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, the middle half of reported pay.
Base salaryWages including commission (BLS)Median base salaryAverage total pay, base plus variable
API Developer
Salary.com base benchmark
$80,951 to $94,350 base
Software developers
BLS, all industries
$105,210 to $171,980
Software Engineer
Built In, self-reported, neighboring seat
$140,000 median base$159,236 average total
Back-End Developer
Built In, self-reported, neighboring seat
$183,000 median base$223,712 average total
API Developer: Salary.com base salary, 25th to 75th percentile, United States, as of October 1, 2026. Software developers: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, annual wage at the 25th and 75th percentiles (SOC 15-1252), all industries. Software Engineer and Back-End Developer: Built In median base salary and average total compensation (base plus additional cash, self-reported), reviewed October 12 and 14, 2026. Public aggregates, not ZaphyrRecruit placement data.
An API developer designs and maintains the interfaces other software calls: endpoints, webhooks, authentication, versioning, documentation and rate limits. In a go-to-market company that often means the API customers and partners build on, plus the services your own tools use. The job is as much about keeping promises to callers as writing code.
Salary.com puts an API developer at $80,951 to $94,350 base, with a median of $88,320 (October 2026). BLS software developers run from $105,210 to $171,980, and Built In’s back-end developers report a $183,000 median base. The spread follows scope: public APIs with outside callers price toward the higher figures. Internal-only services sit lower.
An API developer builds and owns interfaces that others call, with a stable contract, docs and versioning. An integration engineer connects existing tools, such as the CRM, billing and marketing automation, often using other people’s APIs. If partners and customers build on you, hire the API developer; if you are wiring internal systems, an integration engineer.
Integration platforms and agencies suit simple connections between standard tools. An in-house API developer pays off when customers or partners build on your product, when a change must not break them, or when the logic is specific to your business. They own the contract, the docs and the incidents. Platforms still help for the simple connections around the edges.
Solid back-end engineering in your stack, REST or GraphQL design, authentication such as OAuth and API keys, versioning, testing and documentation tools such as OpenAPI. Experience supporting outside developers matters most. Ask for an API with real outside users and a changelog that shows how changes were handled. Security habits matter as much as syntax.
Give them a short endpoint description with real problems and ask what they would change before publishing, then ask how they would release it. An hour is enough. It shows design judgment, awareness of callers and release habits. Avoid long unpaid builds: strong developers decline them, and they say little about maintaining a contract.
Ten working days from a signed brief to a shortlist of three to five calibrated developers, each with our review exercise scored and their API work checked with a former colleague. Interview speed decides the rest: good back-end engineers rarely run one process at a time, so a decision within two weeks of the first interview keeps them.
Tell us who calls your API today, how it is built and what has to change. We come back within one business day with how we would run the search and what the seat pays.
We build shortlists from people doing this work now, often before a seat is advertised. Set up a job alert for engineering roles, or send your CV and a link to an API you built and we will come to you when a seat opens.
The API developer is one of eight seats in this function. If the gap sits elsewhere, start there.