Senior Software Engineer, Konnect Control Plane at Kong (Italy)
Kong· Italy·
Role details
Kong at a glance
Kong runs the unified API and AI platform that connects, secures, governs, and monetizes APIs, events, and AI traffic.
Kong provides a unified API and AI platform. Its open-source Kong Gateway handles API traffic at the edge, while Kong Konnect adds a managed control plane to design, secure, observe, and monetize APIs, events, and AI requests across any cloud. The AI Gateway extends the same governance model to LLMs, MCP servers, and agents.
$345M raised · latest: Series E · $175M · 2024 (at $2B valuation) · backed by Tiger Global, Balderton, Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures
Summary
Design, build, and maintain API management software and core features such as proxying, load balancing, and database support. The role involves low-level optimization, troubleshooting, and extending Kong's offerings to support industry trends within a distributed team.
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
At Kong, we are pioneering the Agentic Era of service connectivity by building the infrastructure that powers the modern API world. As a Software Engineer on the Konnect Control Plane team, you will architect the next-generation cloud-hosted control plane that manages global customer configurations seamlessly. Your work will directly empower developers worldwide, ensuring high availability, speed, and seamless connectivity for Kong's flagship service connectivity platform.
WHAT YOU’LL DO
- Architect and scale microservices that power Kong Konnect's cloud-hosted control plane to manage global customer configurations seamlessly.
- Design, implement, and maintain highly performant, low-latency APIs and services that deliver exceptional Developer Delight.
- Drive solutions for technical problems of moderate complexity, keeping an active focus on preventing technical debt.
- Prevent regressions and guarantee product stability by writing robust, automated tests.
- Own the reliability and uptime of services in production by participating in an active on-call rotation.
- Collaborate closely with Product Management, Solutions Architects, and cross-functional engineering teams to implement impactful business features.
THE TOOLKIT
- 3+ years of experience working in a team environment to develop, deliver, and maintain complex, distributed software solutions.
- Solid proficiency in Go (Golang) and designing relational database data models.
- Practical experience building, debugging, and maintaining microservices architectures at scale.
- Demonstrated experience performing DevOps monitoring, observability, and supporting a large-scale SaaS platform running on Kubernetes and containerized environments.
- Working knowledge of L4/L7 proxies such as Nginx, HA-proxy, or Envoy.
- Firm grasp of API lifecycle management, design standards, and testing frameworks (TDD/automated testing).
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
THE KONG DNA
- Ownership: You act as a driver, not a passenger, and take complete accountability for the quality of your systems and outcomes.
- Urgency: You thrive in a high-growth environment, iterating quickly and pushing for results with passion and grit.
- Collaboration: You break down silos, communicate transparently, and model the true spirit of a team player.
BONUS POINTS
- Deep experience with Go standards and writing idiomatic, highly optimized Go.
- Direct experience with Nginx, OpenResty, LuaJIT, or the Kong gateway core.
- Experience with cloud-native observability stacks, specifically Datadog or OpenTelemetry.
- Active contributions to open-source software projects.
#LI-EA1
About Kong:
Kong Inc., a leading developer of API and AI connectivity technologies, is building the infrastructure that powers the agentic era. Trusted by the Fortune 500 and startups alike, Kong's unified API and AI platform, Kong Konnect, enables organizations to secure, manage, accelerate, govern, and monetize the flow of intelligence across APIs and AI models. For more information, visit konghq.com konghq.com.
Why work at Kong
- Remote‑first culture – 600+ employees across 25+ countries; strong emphasis on global collaboration.
- Perks & benefits (from careers page):
- 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.