--- title: 'Senior Software Engineer - Golang at Kong' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-software-engineer-golang-kong-united-states-1a1j74qff350' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-18' --- # Senior Software Engineer - Golang at Kong - **Company:** [Kong](https://feeny.ai/companies/kong) - **Location:** United States - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** remote - **Posted:** 2026-09-14 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-18 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kong/dc722822-ddf7-4932-aee1-1f4f9becae2c ## 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. Kong is building the future of API and AI infrastructure. Our platform powers connectivity for thousands of organizations globally across APIs, microservices, Kubernetes and now AI agents and LLM-driven applications. About The Role: We’re looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join Kong’s Office of the CTO team and work on special, high-impact projects that influence the direction of our platform and engineering strategy. The Office of the CTO (OCTO) is where Kong’s most ambitious and exploratory engineering work happens, new platforms, foundational systems and high-impact technical bets that shape the company’s future. You’ll work on everything from distributed database provisioning and durable workflow orchestration to LLM fine-tuning and infrastructure for our AI Builder capabilities, helping define a new foundation for how developers build and run AI-driven systems at scale. This is a rare opportunity to shape a greenfield AI platform from the ground up, with direct input into architecture, tooling, and developer experience. This is a role for engineers who enjoy deep technical challenges, ambiguity, and building systems that matter. What You’ll Do: - Design and build highly scalable distributed backend systems - Develop core services in Golang, with a focus on performance and reliability - Work with PostgreSQL and Redis to build robust, data-intensive systems - Architect systems that operate across microservices, networking layers, and cloud platforms - Collaborate closely with the CTO and senior engineers on strategic technical initiatives - Prototype and productionize new platform capabilities and internal tooling - Influence engineering direction and technical standards across Kong What You'll bring: - Strong production experience with Golang - Experience designing and operating distributed systems at scale - Solid experience with PostgreSQL and Redis in production environments - Experience building backend systems with high availability, scalability, and reliability - Strong systems thinking, debugging, and performance optimization skills Bonus points: - Experience with Kubernetes, networking, or API gateways - Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) - Contributions to open source or internal platform tooling - Experience working on platform, infra, or developer tooling products ## #LI-BR2 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 - [Enterprise Account Executive, Benelux](https://feeny.ai/job/enterprise-account-executive-benelux-kong-netherlands-6wryhky0p9zb) — Netherlands - [Senior Staff Engagement Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-staff-engagement-manager-kong-pennsylvania-gecm08fx3hm5) — Pennsylvania, United States - [Staff Product Manager, AI Management](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-product-manager-ai-management-kong-milan-93kjk9g4d28y) — Milan, Italy - [Account Development Representative (Fed)](https://feeny.ai/job/account-development-representative-fed-kong-virginia-jvnqf2w0b8va) — Virginia, United States - [Enterprise Account Executive](https://feeny.ai/job/enterprise-account-executive-kong-dubai-wvw2m92nzs89) — Dubai, United Arab Emirates - [Administrative Assistant-EMEA & APJ](https://feeny.ai/job/administrative-assistant-emea-apj-kong-bengaluru-h3tg3zw5wzxc) — Bengaluru, India - [Forward Deployed Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-engineer-kong-new-jersey-qypbems1c371) — New Jersey, United States - [Forward Deployed Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-engineer-kong-new-jersey-zr6w5gj0e69e) — New Jersey, United States - [Account Development Representative](https://feeny.ai/job/account-development-representative-kong-bengaluru-c348p6gctfpp) — Bengaluru, India - [Senior Technical Support Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-technical-support-engineer-kong-bengaluru-6hp870bj0b73) — Bengaluru, India