DataPower Administrator (SSL, Network and Operating Systems)

Location: Centurion, Gauteng (provisional – to be confirmed)

Positions Available: 5

Salary: Market-related

Employment Type: To be confirmed

Job Overview We are seeking experienced and technically proficient IBM DataPower Administrators to implement, configure, administer, secure, monitor and support IBM DataPower Gateway environments within complex enterprise IT infrastructures.

The successful candidates will be responsible for ensuring the availability, security, reliability and performance of enterprise integration gateways, including SSL/TLS certificate management, network connectivity, appliance administration, operating system integration and API security.

This role requires substantial hands-on experience with IBM DataPower Gateway, SSL/TLS, PKI, digital certificates, network protocols, enterprise security controls, gateway troubleshooting and production support .

The ideal candidates will have proven experience supporting IBM DataPower appliances or virtual deployments within large enterprise environments, including secure application integration, web services, API traffic management, certificate lifecycle administration and high-availability configurations.

Candidates must understand the interaction between DataPower gateway services, enterprise networks, backend applications, operating systems and cybersecurity infrastructure.

The position involves collaboration with middleware engineers, integration architects, network specialists, cybersecurity teams, systems administrators, application developers and infrastructure operations teams.

This is a specialist IBM DataPower administration role. General network administration, Linux support, API development or middleware experience without substantial hands-on IBM DataPower expertise will not be sufficient. Key Responsibilities

IBM DataPower Administration and Configuration

• Install, configure, administer and maintain IBM DataPower Gateway environments.
• Support physical, virtual or container-based DataPower deployments where applicable.
• Configure and manage DataPower domains, services and operational settings.
• Administer Multi-Protocol Gateways (MPGW), Web Service Proxies and API Gateway services.
• Manage service configurations, processing policies and routing rules.
• Configure gateway objects, network interfaces and backend connectivity.
• Support DataPower firmware updates, maintenance and patching.
• Perform configuration backups, restores and environment migrations.
• Maintain configuration consistency across development, testing and production environments.
• Ensure DataPower platforms remain secure, stable and operational.

SSL/TLS and Certificate Management

• Configure and maintain SSL/TLS security on IBM DataPower gateways.
• Administer digital certificates, private keys and trust stores.
• Manage certificate signing requests, renewals, replacements and revocations.
• Configure SSL proxy profiles, crypto profiles and related security objects.
• Implement mutual TLS (mTLS) authentication where required.
• Configure certificate-based authentication for frontend and backend services.
• Troubleshoot SSL handshakes, certificate chain failures and trust issues.
• Maintain secure cipher suites and supported TLS protocol configurations.
• Coordinate certificate lifecycle activities with enterprise PKI and security teams.
• Monitor certificate expiry and proactively prevent service interruptions.

Network Configuration and Connectivity

• Configure DataPower network interfaces, IP addressing and routing.
• Support DNS, TCP/IP, HTTP, HTTPS and related network protocols.
• Configure and troubleshoot gateway connectivity to backend services.
• Support firewall rule requirements and network access controls.
• Investigate routing failures, timeouts, connection resets and network latency.
• Configure load balancing and service endpoint connectivity.
• Support high-availability network configurations and failover.
• Work with network engineers to resolve connectivity incidents.
• Analyse network traffic and connectivity logs.
• Maintain accurate network configuration and integration documentation.

Operating System and Infrastructure Integration

• Support DataPower integration with Linux, Windows Server and enterprise application environments.
• Understand DataPower's appliance-based operating environment and administration interfaces.
• Troubleshoot connectivity between DataPower gateways and backend operating systems.
• Support virtual appliance infrastructure and associated hypervisor environments.
• Coordinate operating system, network and infrastructure changes affecting DataPower.
• Assist with DNS, time synchronisation and supporting infrastructure configuration.
• Monitor appliance resource utilisation and operational health.
• Support infrastructure upgrades and environment migrations.
• Work with systems administrators to resolve backend service availability issues.
• Ensure gateway configurations align with infrastructure security standards.

API Gateway and Web Services Administration

• Configure and support API gateway services.
• Administer SOAP and REST-based integrations.
• Configure HTTP and HTTPS service endpoints.
• Support XML and JSON message processing.
• Configure authentication, authorisation and traffic control policies.
• Support API security, rate limiting and access restrictions.
• Troubleshoot API routing, transformation and service errors.
• Maintain service-level configurations and integration policies.
• Support gateway integration with enterprise API management platforms.
• Collaborate with application and integration teams on service deployment.

Security Configuration and Hardening

• Implement secure gateway configuration standards.
• Configure authentication and access control mechanisms.
• Support LDAP, Active Directory and certificate-based authentication.
• Apply role-based administrative access controls.
• Configure encryption, digital signatures and secure communication channels.
• Support protection against common web service and API security threats.
• Maintain secure management interfaces and administrative access.
• Review gateway security settings and identify vulnerabilities.
• Support security audits, remediation and compliance requirements.
• Collaborate with cybersecurity teams on gateway hardening.

Monitoring, Logging and Incident Management

• Monitor IBM DataPower appliance health and service availability.
• Review system logs, error reports and service monitoring information.
• Investigate failed transactions, gateway errors and connectivity issues.
• Troubleshoot SSL/TLS failures, routing problems and backend timeouts.
• Identify performance bottlenecks and resource constraints.
• Configure logging and monitoring integrations where applicable.
• Support incident investigation and root cause analysis.
• Escalate complex product issues to IBM or specialist support teams.
• Maintain accurate incident records and technical findings.
• Restore affected services in accordance with operational priorities.

Performance Optimisation and Capacity Management

• Monitor gateway throughput, latency and resource utilisation.
• Identify performance issues affecting application integration.
• Optimise service policies and processing configurations.
• Review connection management and timeout settings.
• Support capacity planning and infrastructure scaling.
• Evaluate gateway performance under high transaction volumes.
• Recommend improvements to routing and processing efficiency.
• Assist with performance and resilience testing.
• Identify recurring service bottlenecks.
• Maintain gateway performance documentation.

High Availability and Disaster Recovery

• Configure and support resilient DataPower deployments.
• Understand gateway redundancy, load bala