Join Kong as a Staff Solutions Engineer to help enterprises architect secure, scalable API ecosystems in the AI era.
Posted by employer 2 days ago
First seen on Joblaze 2 days ago
Last verified on the company career page 20 hours ago
Skills & Technologies
What you'll build
- Support field sales in helping customers understand the value of the Kong API and AI connectivity platform.
- Conduct discovery conversations to understand customer requirements.
- Support POCs throughout the entire evaluation process.
- Create technical documentation for DevOps, implementations, and services engagements.
- Mentor and coach junior SEs on technical skills.
Must have
- 7+ years of software engineering and/or solutions engineering experience.
- Proven track record owning complex, enterprise-level deals.
- Experience mentoring or coaching other SEs.
- Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud-native platforms.
- Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tooling.
Nice to have
- Working knowledge of AI/LLM architectures.
- Familiarity with Model Context Protocol (MCP).
- Solid understanding of cloud computing trends.
AI in the day-to-day
Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tooling is required.
Requirements
- Experience
- 7+ years
Not disclosed in this posting: compensation, work arrangement, visa sponsorship.
Joblaze summary
In the role of Staff Solutions Engineer at Kong, the individual will engage with customers to understand their needs and guide them in implementing Kong's API and AI connectivity solutions. Key skills include expertise in software engineering, experience with cloud-native platforms, and familiarity with AI-assisted development tools. This position is ideal for seasoned professionals with a strong background in enterprise-level deals and a knack for mentoring junior engineers. Kong operates at the forefront of API management and AI integration, making this a pivotal role in a rapidly evolving field.
Joblaze insights
- Listed 2 days ago — first seen on Joblaze October 2, 2026. Last confirmed on Kong's careers page October 3, 2026.
- This exact title is also open at 2 other locations at Kong: Singapore, France.
- Kubernetes appears in 25.1% of 267 comparable staff ai/ml roles in United States; OIDC appears in 0.7% of 267 comparable staff ai/ml roles in United States.
Quick facts
- How much experience is required?
- At least 7 years of relevant experience for this Staff Solutions Engineer role.
- What's the tech stack?
- Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: AI, API, CI/CD, Docker, GraphQL, Kubernetes.
- What seniority level is this role?
- Kong targets staff-level candidates for this position.
- Is this full-time or contract?
- Full-time for this Staff Solutions Engineer role at Kong.
From the original posting
About the Role:
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.
What You’ll Do:
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.
What You’ll Bring:
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.
#LI-JS2
Standard company text repeated across Kong's postings is omitted here.