Roles involved in implementation
Best practice recommendations for enterprise clients for the stakeholders to involve in the API implementation
To ensure the successful implementation of an API that consumes external data, it is essential to clearly define a workstream structure and roles and responsibilities for each team member. This way, your organization can achieve a seamless and effective API implementation, setting your solution up for success and internal efficiencies.
On this page, we provide descriptions and activities specific to each role involved in an implementation project.
Implementation project manager
Role description: Oversees the entire API implementation project, ensuring all tasks are completed on time and compliantly.
Key responsibilities: Coordination of all workstreams, scheduling, resource allocation, risk management, and communication across teams and stakeholders.
Required skills: Project management, communication, problem solving, risk management, time management, and stakeholder engagement.
Product manager
Role description: Responsible for defining the product vision and strategy, ensuring the use of external data aligns with your organization’s goals.
Key responsibilities: Security and compliance requirements, front-end customer onboarding journeys, colleague journey, product mapping, and commercials.
Required skills: Product management, strategic thinking, market analysis, stakeholder management, communication, and technical understanding of APIs.
Front-end designer
Role description: Creates and implements the user interface and experience for customer-facing applications.
Key responsibilities: Front-end customer onboarding journeys, architectural approach, and supporting the customer journey design.
Required skills: HTML/CSS, JavaScript, UX/UI design, responsive design, version control (e.g. Git), and API integration.
Back-end developer
Role description: Focuses on server-side development, integrating with Codat’s API endpoints, and data management.
Key responsibilities: Security and compliance requirements, data ingestion and internal data sharing approach, and architectural approach.
Required skills: Server-side languages (e.g. Java, Python, Node.js), database management, API development, security best practices, and data processing.
Engineering lead
Role description: Oversees the technical aspects of the project, guiding the development team and ensuring best practices are followed.
Key responsibilities: Security and compliance requirements, architectural approach, data ingestion, and overall technical oversight.
Required skills: Leadership, technical expertise, software architecture, project management, problem solving, and communication.
Credit risk analyst
This stakeholder's involvement is only required for lending use cases.
Role description: Evaluates and manages the risk associated with lending products and financial services.
Key responsibilities: Product mapping (e.g. credit modelling and mapping for lending), ensuring the external data enhances risk assessment models.
Required skills: Risk analysis, data analysis, financial modelling, attention to detail, and knowledge of local credit risk regulations.
Conduct risk analyst
Role description: Ensures that all activities comply with regulatory standards and internal conduct policies.
Key responsibilities: Security and compliance requirements, and ensuring the customer journey aligns with conduct risk policies.
Required skills: Knowledge of local regulatory requirements, risk assessment, analytical thinking, attention to detail, and compliance management.
Customer journey designer
Role description: Creates and optimizes the pathways that customers follow when interacting with your organization’s services.
Key responsibilities: Front-end customer onboarding journeys, colleague journey, and supporting the development of user interfaces.
Required skills: UX/UI design, customer experience optimization, journey mapping, empathy, and creativity.
Enterprise architect
Role description: Develops and maintains the overall IT infrastructure, ensuring alignment with your organization’s technical requirements and architectural goals.
Key responsibilities: Architectural approach, data integrity, resilience, ingestion, internal data sharing approach and overall system integration.
Required skills: IT architecture, strategic planning, systems integration, technical expertise, and communication.
Solution architect
Role description: Designs and implements specific solutions within the IT architecture to meet the consuming product team’s business and technical requirements.
Key responsibilities: Architectural approach, ensuring seamless integration of third-party UIs, and supporting data ingestion processes.
Required skills: Solution design, technical expertise, problem solving, systems integration, and project management.
Legal team
Role description: Provides guidance on regulatory and contractual obligations, ensuring the project complies with all legal requirements.
Key responsibilities: Security and compliance requirements, reviewing contracts and commercial agreements, and ensuring data privacy compliance.
Required skills: Legal expertise, contract negotiation, regulatory knowledge, attention to detail and communication.
Data privacy team
Role description: Ensures that all data handling processes comply with local privacy laws and internal policies.
Key responsibilities: Security and compliance requirements, data ingestion and internal data sharing approach, and continuous monitoring of data privacy practices.
Required skills: Data privacy laws and regulations, risk assessment, data management, attention to detail, and compliance management.
Vendor (supplier) manager
Role description: Responsible for managing the relationship with Codat (and any commercial agreements with the accounting, banking, or commerce software providers), ensuring that all third-party services meet your organization's requirements and standards.
Key responsibilities: Overseeing contract negotiations and agreements, monitoring vendor performance, ensuring compliance with service level agreements (SLAs), managing vendor-related risks, and facilitating effective communication between vendors and internal teams.
Required skills: Vendor management, contract negotiation, risk management, communication, relationship management, and strategic sourcing.
In addition to the above stakeholders, we strongly recommend appointing or nominating an existing stakeholder to be, a dedicated business change manager.
Role description: Responsible for embedding the use of the API into the organization's architecture and driving user adoption.
Key responsibilities: Overseeing the implementation of external data within existing systems, developing and executing a change management plan, training and supporting users, and monitoring adoption rates and feedback for continuous improvement to ensure investment value is realized.
Required skills: Change management, project management, stakeholder engagement, training and development, communication, and strategic planning.