Staff Solutions Engineer, Kong
AI Specialist
$222-250k
Microservice API gateway
Posted today
Microservice API gateway
501-1000 employees
Posted today
$222-250k
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To build the nervous system that will safely and reliably connect all of humankind!
Role
Who you are
- 7+ years of software engineering and/or solutions engineering experience at a SaaS, open source, or enterprise software company
- Proven track record owning complex, enterprise-level deals with multiple technical and executive stakeholders
- Experience mentoring or coaching other SEs or technical team members
- Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud-native platforms
- Experience with REST and GraphQL APIs, CI/CD pipelines, and API security patterns (OAuth2, OIDC, mTLS)
- Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tooling — Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, OpenAI Codex, or equivalent is required
- Working knowledge of AI/LLM architectures, including model routing, rate limiting, semantic caching, and prompt governance
- Familiarity with Model Context Protocol (MCP) and agentic AI patterns
- Solid understanding of cloud computing trends and open source business models
- Strong listener and communicator — you can confidently lead discussions with engineers, architects, and executives
- Enthusiasm for working in a high-profile, fast-paced environment at the intersection of API and AI connectivity
What the job involves
- Are you ready to sit at the epicenter of the API and AI connectivity revolution? As a Staff Solutions Engineer at Kong, you won’t just be selling a platform — you’ll be a trusted technical advisor helping the world’s most innovative enterprises architect secure, scalable API ecosystems while navigating the transition into the agentic AI era. Kong sits at the intersection of API management and AI connectivity, and you’ll be the person who makes that story real for customers
- Support field sales in helping customers understand the value of the Kong API and AI connectivity platform
- Conduct discovery conversations to understand customer requirements and map them to Kong solutions, from initial product reviews through to production
- Support POCs throughout the entire evaluation process, owning technical validation and stakeholder alignment
- Ensure customer satisfaction across your assigned set of accounts
- Collaborate with support, product, and engineering teams to advocate for customer needs
- Create technical documentation for DevOps, implementations, and services engagements
- Lead and support API Management and AI Goverance evaluations, including scoping API/AI use cases, LLM traffic management, and governance requirements
- Deliver demonstrations of Kong’s API & AI governance and agentic connectivity capabilities, including Model Context Protocol (MCP) governance, semantic caching, prompt guardrails, and shadow AI detection
- Run API & AI-focused Technical Feasibility Workshops (TFWs) to validate Kong’s fit for modern and/or AI/agentic architectures
- Own the technical strategy for complex, multi-stakeholder enterprise deals from qualification through close
- Mentor and coach junior SEs on technical skills, discovery methods, and deal strategy
- Drive thought leadership by authoring technical blogs, hosting webinars, speaking at industry events and conferences such as AWS re:Invent, Google Next, API & AI summit, and regional events
- Influence product direction by synthesizing customer feedback and market signals into actionable input for the product team
- And any additional tasks required by manager
- If you don’t think you meet all of the criteria below but are still interested in the job, please apply. Nobody checks every box - we’re looking for candidates that are particularly strong in a few areas, and have some interest and capabilities in others
Our take
Kong provides a cutting-edge API and service lifecycle management platform tailored for modern architectures, such as microservices, containers, cloud, and serverless environments. With a focus on flexibility, scalability, speed, and performance, Kong allows developers and Global 5000 enterprises to securely connect and orchestrate microservice APIs for today's sophisticated applications.
The core products offered by Kong include an open-source API and Microservices management solution, Galileo, a platform for API analytics and debugging; Gelato, a platform for creating developed portals for PIs and Microservices; and API Marketplace, a hub for discovering and publishing cloud APIs. Additionally, the introduction of a new collection of AI plug-ins in Kong Gateway 3.6 enhances the platform's capabilities further, reinforcing its commitment to innovation and advancement.
In pursuit of growth, the company is prioritising expanding its marketing efforts, bolstering its customer service team, and accelerating product development. By focusing on these key areas, Kong aims to continue providing unparalleled solutions and support to its ever-expanding user base in the rapidly evolving landscape of modern application development.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Funding (last 2 of 7 rounds)
Nov 2024
$175m
SERIES E
Feb 2021
$100m
SERIES D
Total funding: $345.6m
Company benefits
- Flexible time off: Take time to take care of yourself and the things that matter most
- Stock options: We want you to share in our success. That's why stock options are offered to most Kongers
- U-First Fridays: Get 4 hours a month for continuous learning with a book, podcast, or course of your choice
- Virtual events: Stay connected with Donut chats, trivia, fitness challenges, guided meditations, and more
- Dedicated unplug days: Silence those notifications. Enjoy some well-deserved long weekend where the entire team unplugs
- Home office stipend: Build a home office environment tailored to support your productivity
Company HQ
Rincon Hill, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Augusto Marietti
(Co-Founder & CEO)Previously founded Mashape API Marketplace. Before Mashape, Augusto was an SF homeless immigrant from Italy.
Marco Palladino
(Co-Founder & CTO)Previously co-founded MemboxX, an online service for storing documents and small pieces of personal data.
Salary benchmarks
We don't have enough data yet to provide salary benchmarks for this role.
Submit your salary to help other candidates with crowdsourced salary estimates.
Share this job
View 23 more jobs at Kong