API Specialist / Data Integration Developer for 2-Part Proof-of-Concept Tests

We are looking for an experienced developer to conduct a structured technical proof-of-concept (PoC) using various short-term rental data platforms and APIs. ​The core goal of this project is to evaluate which API platform yields the most accurate, reliable, and cost-effective results when trying to find matching Airbnb and Vrbo listing URLs and property details starting from physical address metadata. ​You will test three specific, highly active short-term rental condo/hotel addresses that we will provide (including specific known unit numbers). You will run these exact same three addresses through three different API platforms (Apify, AirROI, and RapidAPI) to compare two distinct matching experiments. ​The Two Experiments: ​Experiment 1: Direct Address Lookup (Priority) ​The Goal: Test if any of the target API platforms can accept a raw physical street address + unit number directly and accurately return the property details and direct listing URLs (Airbnb/Vrbo) without us needing to build an intermediate geocoding step. ​Testing: You will pass the raw addresses and unit numbers directly to each API's endpoint to see if they can cleanly resolve to the correct target listing URLs. ​Experiment 2: Geolocation & Unit Matching (Fallback) ​The Goal: For any platform that fails or does not support Experiment 1, you will test our fallback workflow: ​Convert the physical address into GPS coordinates (Latitude/Longitude) using a geocoding API (e.g., Google Maps, Radar, or OpenStreetMap). ​Pass the coordinates to the platform’s map/radius search API to pull back a list of nearby properties. ​Write a programmatic filter to query those local results and isolate the correct listing based on the specific unit numbers (e.g., string matching the unit number in the listing title/description, matching room counts, or matching the host's name). ​The APIs You Will Test: ​We want to run these two experiments across the following platforms (all of which offer free tiers, free credits, or pay-as-you-go keys that cost pennies to run this test): ​Apify (using Airbnb Map/Search Actors) ​AirROI API ​RapidAPI (evaluating popular Airbnb/Vrbo search APIs) ​Deliverables: ​Using our 3 test cases, you will deliver: ​A Summary Comparison (Spreadsheet): Detailing the success or failure of Experiment 1 vs. Experiment 2 for each platform. This should include matching accuracy (did it find our target URLs?), data completeness (beds, baths, host names), API latency, and estimated cost per 1,000 queries. ​Raw JSON Payloads: The response files from each API for our test addresses. ​Proof-of-Concept Code: A lightweight, clean script (Python or Node.js) demonstrating the successful integration of the winning workflow. ​Required Skills: ​Strong experience with API integrations (REST APIs, JSON parsing). ​Experience with Data Extraction and Web APIs (RapidAPI, Apify, or other real-estate/travel data providers). ​Understanding of Geocoding & Spatial Data (Google Maps API, Radar, or OpenStreetMap) for the Experiment 2 fallback. ​Ability to deliver clean, well-documented test code (Python or Node.js preferred).