---
title: 'Manager, Sales Development - Austin, TX at Kong'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/manager-sales-development-austin-tx-kong-texas-m6gz0yvdjbyk'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-06'
---

# Manager, Sales Development - Austin, TX at Kong

- **Company:** [Kong](https://feeny.ai/companies/kong)
- **Location:** Texas, United States
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-11-05
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-06
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kong/38af1716-0c77-41be-87a7-82f5cc19cb36

## 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: As one of the Sales Development leaders , you will oversee a team of inbound and outbound Sales Development Representatives (SDRs). Your mission is to drive the growth of our sales pipeline across the AMER region. This role requires a dynamic leader that is comfortable building and executing. You are passionate about career development and scalable success. Lastly, you are hands-on and excited about fostering an in-office culture and your best work is done cross-functionally.

What You'll Do:

- Lead and develop a high-performing team of SDRs.
- Hire the best talent in the industry. Shape development programs for career progression to keep talent engagement and doing great work at Kong.
- Maintain operational rigor across all elements of the business. Drive a predictable business.
- Drive a positive and collaborative culture that inspires teamwork and professional growth.
- Find a successful balance in a hybrid in-office environment
- Create a reporting and feedback loop with stakeholders on team performance, KPIs, customer insights, roadblocks, and pipeline forecasts.
- Work within an ecosystem of leaders across Sales, Revenue Operations, Marketing, Customer Success, and Partnership teams to design and execute a go-to-market plan for pipeline generation.
- Excel in change management as the company strives to meet critical and aggressive revenue milestones
- Maintain a strong pulse on the market. Facilitate a feedback loop between Sales and other departments.
- Identify opportunities to innovate. Be a catalyst to positive change.

What You'll Bring:

- 5+ years of experience in B2B SaaS.
- 1+ years of experience building and managing a high-performing Sales or Sales Development Org in B2B SaaS.
- Exceptional communication skills with an ability to give and receive feedback thoughtfully.
- Experience in high-growth, fast-paced startup environments, preferably with hybrid remote and in-office teams.
- Experience building and leading high-performance sales teams, selling a complex technical product.
- Subject matter expert in building pipeline programs and efforts to drive revenue.

## #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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- [Commercial Account Executive](https://feeny.ai/job/commercial-account-executive-kong-singapore-2hwrft68j9kj) — Singapore
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