API Engineer

API Engineer at DistroKid

DistroKid is the world’s largest distributor of music to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and beyond. Most new music today is released through DistroKid. As an API Engineer, you will be instrumental in building and scaling the API infrastructure that powers our integrations, partnerships, and emerging AI capabilities. You will own the design, development, and evolution of APIs that connect millions of musicians to streaming platforms, third-party services, and cutting-edge AI tools.

In this role, you will establish API standards and patterns across our ecosystem, including mobile applications, partnership integrations, telemetry infrastructure, and emerging AI/LLM integrations. You will work closely with cross-functional teams to design robust, scalable APIs that assist both internal development and external partnerships. This is a foundational role on our API team, offering the opportunity to shape DistroKid's API strategy and build infrastructure that enables faster partnership opportunities and innovative integrations. While primarily a senior to staff individual contributor role, experience leading teams and projects is highly valued.

DistroKid is a fully remote company with an employee-first culture and excellent benefits.

What You’ll Do

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable REST and GraphQL APIs that assist internal teams and external partnerships.
• Establish and document API design standards, patterns, and best practices across the organization.
• Lead technical design discussions and architecture decisions for new integrations and partnership opportunities.
• Build and support APIs for emerging integration opportunities, including AI/LLM tools and Model Context Protocol (MCP) server implementations.
• Implement secure authentication and authorization systems, including OAuth integrations.
• Collaborate with other teams to understand API requirements and deliver robust solutions.
• Review code and provide technical guidance to team members and engineers across the organization.
• Own the API roadmap and prioritize work to support development velocity and business needs.
• Ensure APIs are well-documented, versioned appropriately, and maintain backward compatibility.
• Build and maintain API testing frameworks and automation.
• Respond to technical requirements from partnership teams and third-party integrators.
• Work with AWS services to build resilient, scalable API infrastructure.
• Contribute to reducing technical debt and improving consistency across existing APIs.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience with a strong focus on API development.
• Expert-level knowledge of REST API design principles and experience with GraphQL.
• Proven experience designing and building APIs for partnerships, integrations, or third-party developers.
• Proficiency in at least one of: Java, PHP, Ruby, Python or ColdFusion.
• Strong understanding of authentication and authorization patterns (OAuth 2.0, JWT, API keys).
• Experience with AWS services and cloud-native API development.
• Track record of establishing API standards, documentation practices, and design patterns.
• Experience leading technical projects or teams and mentoring other engineers.
• Strong understanding of API versioning, backwards compatibility, and deprecation strategies.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work with non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience with API testing frameworks and test automation.
• Self-directed and able to work independently in a remote environment.

What Will Make You Stand Out

• Experience with AI/LLM integrations, Model Context Protocol (MCP), or similar emerging technologies.
• Experience with mobile API development (iOS/Android).
• Experience with event-driven architectures and telemetry systems.
• Enthusiasm for music!

What We Offer

Retirement plans (401k, SIPP, etc.), Health insurance, Generous paid time off, Parental leave, Home office allowance, Flexible work schedules, Paid and discounted subscriptions, Regular engagement activities.

About DistroKid

DistroKid helps millions of independent artists get their music into streaming services and keep 100% of their earnings. We move fast, stay curious, and build tools that empower creativity. If you want your work to directly impact how artists share their music with the world, we’d love to hear from you.

DistroKid is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and strongly encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences. We value a wide range of perspectives and believe that our differences make us stronger.

Key skills/competency

• API Development
• REST API
• GraphQL
• AWS Services
• OAuth 2.0
• Java/PHP/Ruby/Python
• API Architecture
• System Integration
• Scalability
• Technical Leadership