--- title: 'GTM Sourcing Recruiter (Contract) at Kong' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/gtm-sourcing-recruiter-contract-kong-united-states-kq45jbkatvsa' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-11' --- # GTM Sourcing Recruiter (Contract) at Kong - **Company:** [Kong](https://feeny.ai/companies/kong) - **Location:** United States - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** remote - **Posted:** 2026-09-01 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-11 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kong/9659a8ac-06b0-4ce6-b564-c56b874c2f9c ## 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. The Mission Kong is scaling rapidly. We are building a world-class revenue engine, and to do that, we need a GTM Sourcing Recruiter who doesn't just fill seats but identifies elite talent. Our sales organization operates on MEDDIC. We believe that rigorous qualification applies just as much to hiring as it does to selling. We are looking for a talent partner who can audit a candidate’s GTM acumen, dig into their operational and executional mechanics, and ensure they have the DNA to drive big wins and make a big impact. ## The Role As a GTM Recruiter, you will help own the hiring strategy for some of our most critical roles in the CRO org. You will act as a strategic advisor to our GTM Leaders and you won’t just be passing over resumes; you will be conducting deep-dive competency interviews to ensure every candidate we hire raises the bar. ## What You Will Do 1. Strategic Sourcing & Headhunting - Build and nurture a pipeline of top talent - Map out competitor sales orgs and execute targeted headhunting campaigns. - Sell the Kong vision, equity story, and product value to passive candidates who aren't actively looking. 1. Stakeholder Partnership - Partner with GTM Leadership to define "What Good Looks Like" for each specific role, region, and function. - Provide real-time market data to hiring managers regarding salary bands, talent density, and competitor compensation. - Challenge hiring managers when necessary - you are the expert on talent. 1. Thorough Candidate Assessment - Go beyond the resume: Assess candidates on their specific deal mechanics. (e.g., "Who was the Economic Buyer in your biggest win?" "What Metrics did you use to build the business case?") - Filter out drivers from passengers, lucky sellers from strategic sellers, etc. by digging into their process, business, and achievements. 1. Operational Excellence - Drive a rigorous interview process that balances speed with quality. - Help Educate and Mentor other recruiters on GTM terminology, objection handling, and closing strategies. - Track conversion metrics to optimize the funnel (e.g., Passthrough Rates) ## What you will bring - Experience: GTM Sourcing experience, with a heavy focus on B2B SaaS / Enterprise Software Sales. - Methodology Native: You are fluent in MEDDIC / MEDDPICC. You know the difference between a Champion and a Coach, and you know how to test a candidate's grasp of these concepts. - Scale-Up Resilient: You thrive in ambiguity. You can build a plane while flying it and adapt quickly when priorities change. - Hunter Mentality: You don’t rely on inbound applicants. You enjoy the hunt and have a creative toolkit for finding hidden talent. - Data-Driven: You use data to influence decisions and track your own performance. ## #LI-MC1 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 - [Senior Technical Customer Success Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-technical-customer-success-manager-kong-texas-ytqxg9d6sqp1) — Texas, United States - [Staff Forward Deployed Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-forward-deployed-engineer-kong-california-r06a36wa37mh) — California, United States - [Senior Staff Forward Deployed Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-staff-forward-deployed-engineer-kong-california-fz66z8w2anb4) — California, United States - [Renewal Account Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/renewal-account-manager-kong-singapore-syrs38z7qw9z) — Singapore - [Staff Technical Customer Success Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-technical-customer-success-manager-kong-california-g18831yc2z0p) — California, United States - [Site Reliability Engineer 2, Managed Gateways](https://feeny.ai/job/site-reliability-engineer-2-managed-gateways-kong-bengaluru-b9a6d345xvrw) — Bengaluru, India - [Senior Field Sales Enablement Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-field-sales-enablement-manager-kong-singapore-tjt4kh96a7dy) — Singapore - [Strategic Account Director – PSU/Government](https://feeny.ai/job/strategic-account-director-psu-government-kong-delhi-p8rer2gf3ha9) — Delhi, India - [GTM Technical Sourcing Recruiter (Contract)](https://feeny.ai/job/gtm-technical-sourcing-recruiter-contract-kong-united-states-svmx5vae8mje) — United States - [IT Operations Support](https://feeny.ai/job/it-operations-support-kong-milan-9pj9gyjtxm16) — Milan, Italy