--- title: 'Director, Global Scaled CS at Kong' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-global-scaled-cs-kong-united-states-3ghkypvb7fm2' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-25' --- # Director, Global Scaled CS at Kong - **Company:** [Kong](https://feeny.ai/companies/kong) - **Location:** United States - **Compensation:** $250k–$300k - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** remote - **Posted:** 2026-07-30 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-25 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kong/21690b70-385c-49bf-9942-a949b65642fe/application **Skills:** SaaS, Infrastructure, API management, Microservices, Cloud infrastructure, Gainsight, Totango, ChurnZero, Data analysis, Financial forecasting, TAM (Technical Account Manager) function, Technical CSM function > Lead a global team of Customer Success Managers to redefine support, retention, and growth for Kong's expanding commercial base. This digital-first role focuses on scaling automated customer journeys, leveraging AI for personalized experiences, and building scalable digital lifecycles to ensure world-class API conne... ## 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. About the Role: Kong is looking for a visionary Director of Scaled Customer Success to redefine how we support, retain, and grow our expanding global commercial base. This is not a traditional "hands-on" account management role; we are looking for a digital-first architect who can blend human expertise with cutting-edge automation and AI. You will lead a high-performing global team of Customer Success Managers (CSMs) focusing on a "one-to-many" approach that ensures every customer—regardless of size—achieves world-class API connectivity and business value. What You'll Do: - Lead a Global Team: Directly leading a global team of CSMs (and growing), fostering a culture of technical excellence and proactive customer advocacy within the Commercial segment. - Low-Touch Strategy Development: Design and execute a sophisticated "one-to-many" CS strategy. You will move away from manual intervention toward a scalable model that maintains high engagement through innovation. - Scaled Digital Journeys: Build end-to-end digital customer lifecycles. You will automate onboarding and adoption paths to accelerate "Time to Value" (TTV) milestones for thousands of users. - AI-Enhanced Customer Experience: Act as a pioneer in the "new age" of CS. Identify and implement AI-driven tools and workflows to provide a personalized, high-touch feel at a massive scale. - Scale-Focused Content Strategy: Shift the paradigm from manual support to a digital-first resource engine. Lead the creation of automated webinars, interactive documentation, and self-service hubs. - Value-to-Utilization Alignment: Monitor the health of the commercial base to identify and bridge "Value Debt." You will ensure that customer technical utilization directly translates into realized business outcomes to prevent churn. - Strategic Forecasting: Partner closely with the Renewals Manager to develop precise annual and quarterly forecasts, driving higher retention and expansion rates across the scaled segment. What You'll Bring: - Experience: 10+ years of professional experience in Customer Success, Account Management, or Professional Services within the SaaS or Infrastructure space. - Leadership: 5+ years of experience leading and scaling high-performing teams, ideally in a global or remote environment. - Technical Pedigree: Experience leading a TAM (Technical Account Manager) or Technical CSM function is highly preferred. You should be comfortable discussing API management, microservices, or cloud infrastructure. - The "Digital First" Mindset: A proven track record of building automated customer journeys and utilizing CS platforms (e.g., Gainsight, Totango, ChurnZero) to drive scale. - Data-Driven: Ability to translate complex data sets into actionable retention strategies and accurate financial forecasts. ## #LI-JW1 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) ## Other roles at Kong - [Account Development Representative (German-speaking)](https://feeny.ai/job/account-development-representative-german-speaking-kong-london-england-sv7vryfda7r3) — London England, United Kingdom - [Enterprise Account Executive, France](https://feeny.ai/job/enterprise-account-executive-france-kong-france-bqff4y6cc1s0) — France - [Senior Site Reliability Engineer - Volcano](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-site-reliability-engineer-volcano-kong-united-states-dawa15dqyjcd) — United States - [Senior Technical Instructor](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-technical-instructor-kong-bengaluru-3b491qm5n69v) — Bengaluru, India - [Staff Technical Support Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-technical-support-engineer-kong-california-r4p1zx7cbm8t) — California, United States - [Senior Corporate Counsel, Commercial (US East)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-corporate-counsel-commercial-us-east-kong-chicago-44xbr39e1ahv) — Chicago, IL - [Senior Customer Success Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-customer-success-manager-kong-dubai-9n2dfsgbm32x) — Dubai, United Arab Emirates - [Territory Account Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/territory-account-manager-kong-thailand-08wzhpv6hhxf) — Thailand - [P-Staff Solutions Engineer (Dubai)](https://feeny.ai/job/p-staff-solutions-engineer-dubai-kong-dubai-8m8j67ewc00e) — Dubai, United Arab Emirates - [Software Engineer 2, Managed Gateways](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-2-managed-gateways-kong-bengaluru-mmz9dn8gxd5h) — Bengaluru, India