---
title: 'Director, Channel Programs & Enablement at Kong'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-channel-programs-enablement-kong-san-francisco-gmj5ngnxst9x'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-06'
---

# Director, Channel Programs & Enablement at Kong

- **Company:** [Kong](https://feeny.ai/companies/kong)
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-10-26
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-06
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kong/7ae70da1-1808-4234-96fc-dfe26603d226

## Job description

Are you ready to unlock intelligence? 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.

Director, Channel Programs & Enablement Responsibilities:

- Responsible for the design, build, and management of partner programs that support Kong's channel business.
- Develop partner program collateral, documentation, and onboarding tools to enhance the overall partner experience and communicate program details to partners
- Develop the partner portal, leveraging Salesforce (SFDC) and a partner relationship management (PRM) system, working with Marketing and Channel Operations
- Manage and administer the partner portal to create an engaging platform for partners to interact with Kong (lead registration, opportunity tracking, commissions, etc.)
- Work with Channel Operations/IT to implement channel strategy, data/reporting, system workflows, and overall operational governance for the program
- Design the Channel Enablement certification and badge model; work closely with Channel Marketing, Channel Services, Customer Success, and Sales Enablement on partner enablement tools/training, and implement them as part of the overall program
- Manage and administer partner agreements and partner contracting, in coordination with Legal
- Communicate channel programs, strategies, events, and updates internally to drive alignment throughout the business
- Work cross-functionally with Marketing, Product, Legal, and Finance to continue to implement and grow partner programs, and ensure alignment across the business
- Work with partners to solicit feedback on existing programs/processes and implement changes (e.g., Partner Advisory Councils, via channel teams)
- Build a team to effectively manage channel programs, enablement, the partner portal, communications, and MDF/incentive management

Director, Channel Programs & Enablement Requirements:

- Prior experience building and running partner programs, channel enablement, channel marketing, and/or channel development in the technology or services space
- Thrives in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment
- Problem solver and self-motivated
- Exceptional oral and written communication and presentation skills
- Strong interpersonal skills
- Ability to conceptualize and sell ideas internally
- Excellent time-management and multi-tasking abilities
- Innovation and the ability to build consensus
- Works extremely well as a member of a team, but also excels as an individual contributor
- Shares Kong's values and works in accordance with them
- Prior leadership experience appropriate to a director-level role at Kong
- Ability to travel if needed and comply with the company's travel policy

## #LI-JS2

About Kong: Kong Inc., the AI Connectivity Company, is building the connectivity layer of AI. Trusted by the Fortune 500® and AI-native startups alike, Kong’s unified API and AI platform enables organizations to secure, manage, accelerate, govern, and monetize the flow of intelligence across APIs and AI traffic — on any model, any cloud. For more information, visit [www.konghq.com](http://www.konghq.com).

## About Kong

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Kong provides a unified API and AI platform that connects, secures, and manages APIs, events, and AI agents for modern architectures.
- **Entity Type**: Private – Series E, post‑money valuation $2B (2023)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2017 (company formalized; roots as Mashape go back to 2009)
- **Founders**: Augusto “Aghi” Marietti (CEO) and Marco Palladino (CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: API management, AI connectivity, cloud infrastructure
- **Target customers**: B2B – enterprises, platform engineering teams, developers, and product managers building API‑driven or AI‑agent applications
- **Mission / Purpose**: To be the AI connectivity company – enabling organizations to connect, govern, and monetize APIs, events, and AI workloads at scale.

## Products & Services
- **[Kong Konnect](https://konghq.com/)**: Managed, unified API and AI platform covering the full lifecycle – design, test, publish, govern, monetize – across any cloud or environment. SaaS.
- **[Kong Gateway](https://konghq.com/)**: Open‑source (and enterprise) API gateway, the world’s most adopted, used for traffic management, security, and observability. Open‑source hybrid.
- **[Kong AI Gateway](https://konghq.com/)**: Extension for managing and securing AI traffic – token consumption, cost control, and agent governance. SaaS / add‑on.
- **[Kong Mesh](https://konghq.com/)**: Enterprise service mesh for Kubernetes and VMs (based on Kuma, donated to CNCF). Infrastructure.
- **[Insomnia](https://konghq.com/)**: API design and testing tool (acquired and integrated into the Kong ecosystem). Desktop / CLI.
- **[OpenMeter](https://konghq.com/)**: Usage‑based billing, entitlements, and invoicing for APIs, events, and AI (acquired 2025). SaaS.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: $2 billion (as of late 2023 Series E round) – not publicly traded.
- **Key Metric**: Surpassed **$100M ARR** in late 2023; processes **+1 trillion API/AI requests per day**; **600+ employees** in 25+ countries (LinkedIn reports 738 employees with +23.5% YoY growth).
- **Total Funding**: **$344.1M** across 6 rounds (including Series D $100M at $1.4B, and Series E $175M led by new investors).
- **Notable Investors / Partners**: Include large institutional investors; partners include cloud providers and enterprises such as United Airlines (cited as customer). Open‑source community with 182K+ community users.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Most adopted open‑source API gateway** – strong developer mindshare and large community.
- **Unified platform** covering the entire API lifecycle plus AI agent management, reducing fragmentation for enterprises.
- **High‑performance, low‑latency** – proven at hyper‑volume (+1T requests/day), 99.99% availability SLA.
- **Strategic acquisitions** (Kuma, Insomnia, OpenMeter) that plug gaps in service mesh, developer tooling, and usage‑based billing.
- **Strong enterprise DNA** – trusted by global brands for mission‑critical applications.

## Strategic Focus
- **AI connectivity** – building the layer to manage LLM traffic, agent security, token cost, and real‑time data streams.
- **Monetization** – enabling customers to monetize APIs and AI consumption (chargeback, entitlements, pricing).
- **Developer productivity** – accelerating onboarding and reducing costs (claims 15% faster development, 57% operational cost reduction).
- **Global scale** – growing remote workforce and entering new geographic markets (e.g., Italy, ANZ roles posted).

## Why Work Here
- **Remote‑first culture** – 600+ employees across 25+ countries; strong emphasis on global collaboration.
- **Perks & benefits** (from [careers page](https://konghq.com/company/careers)):
  - Stock options for most employees
  - 4‑week paid sabbatical every 5 years
  - Flexible time off
  - Home office stipend
  - Regular “unplug days” (company‑wide long weekends)
  - Virtual events (Donut chats, trivia, fitness challenges)
- **Engineering culture** – values “owners, explorers, real, unstoppable” and encourages individual innovation. Focus on shipping fast and high trust.
- **Growth trajectory** – company is scaling (+23.5% headcount YoY) and is a unicorn with clear product‑market fit in a hot market (AI + API management).
- **Open roles** – 93 open positions across engineering, sales, solutions, customer success, and marketing.

## Sources
1. [konghq.com](https://konghq.com/)
2. [konghq.com/company/careers](https://konghq.com/company/careers)
3. [konghq.com/company/about-us](https://konghq.com/company/about-us)
4. [linkedin.com/company/konghq](https://www.linkedin.com/company/konghq)
5. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/kong](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kong)

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