---
title: 'Staff Solutions Engineer at Kong'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/staff-solutions-engineer-kong-new-york-py5qhd870rw9'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-06'
---

# Staff Solutions Engineer at Kong

- **Company:** [Kong](https://feeny.ai/companies/kong)
- **Location:** New York, NY
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-11-04
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-06
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kong/14ffa12e-4f6c-45e9-8c3f-666026d6a90c

## 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: Are you ready to sit at the epicenter of the API and AI connectivity revolution? As a Staff Solutions Engineer at Kong, you won’t just be selling a platform — you’ll be a trusted technical advisor helping the world’s most innovative enterprises architect secure, scalable API ecosystems while navigating the transition into the agentic AI era. Kong sits at the intersection of API management and AI connectivity, and you’ll be the person who makes that story real for customers.

What You’ll Do:

- Support field sales in helping customers understand the value of the Kong API and AI connectivity platform.
- Conduct discovery conversations to understand customer requirements and map them to Kong solutions, from initial product reviews through to production.
- Support POCs throughout the entire evaluation process, owning technical validation and stakeholder alignment.
- Ensure customer satisfaction across your assigned set of accounts.
- Collaborate with support, product, and engineering teams to advocate for customer needs.
- Create technical documentation for DevOps, implementations, and services engagements.
- Lead and support API Management and AI Goverance evaluations, including scoping API/AI use cases, LLM traffic management, and governance requirements.
- Deliver demonstrations of Kong’s API & AI governance and agentic connectivity capabilities, including Model Context Protocol (MCP) governance, semantic caching, prompt guardrails, and shadow AI detection.
- Run API & AI-focused Technical Feasibility Workshops (TFWs) to validate Kong’s fit for modern and/or AI/agentic architectures.
- Own the technical strategy for complex, multi-stakeholder enterprise deals from qualification through close.
- Mentor and coach junior SEs on technical skills, discovery methods, and deal strategy.
- Drive thought leadership by authoring technical blogs, hosting webinars, speaking at industry events and conferences such as AWS re:Invent, Google Next, API & AI summit, and regional events
- Influence product direction by synthesizing customer feedback and market signals into actionable input for the product team.
- And any additional tasks required by manager.

What You’ll Bring:

- 7+ years of software engineering and/or solutions engineering experience at a SaaS, open source, or enterprise software company.
- Proven track record owning complex, enterprise-level deals with multiple technical and executive stakeholders.
- Experience mentoring or coaching other SEs or technical team members.
- Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud-native platforms.
- Experience with REST and GraphQL APIs, CI/CD pipelines, and API security patterns (OAuth2, OIDC, mTLS).
- Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tooling — Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, OpenAI Codex, or equivalent is required.
- Working knowledge of AI/LLM architectures, including model routing, rate limiting, semantic caching, and prompt governance.
- Familiarity with Model Context Protocol (MCP) and agentic AI patterns.
- Solid understanding of cloud computing trends and open source business models.
- Strong listener and communicator — you can confidently lead discussions with engineers, architects, and executives.
- Enthusiasm for working in a high-profile, fast-paced environment at the intersection of API and AI connectivity.

## #LI-MP1

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

- [Partner Sales Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/partner-sales-manager-kong-illinois-qs2tkmteyrby) — Illinois, United States
- [Partner Sales Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/partner-sales-manager-kong-texas-dj4bp91n9s77) — Texas, United States
- [Commercial Account Executive](https://feeny.ai/job/commercial-account-executive-kong-singapore-2hwrft68j9kj) — Singapore
- [Commercial Account Executive](https://feeny.ai/job/commercial-account-executive-kong-australia-bfhqkn00krqb) — Australia
- [Manager, Sales Development - Austin, TX](https://feeny.ai/job/manager-sales-development-austin-tx-kong-texas-m6gz0yvdjbyk) — Texas, United States
- [Staff Solutions Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-solutions-engineer-kong-united-arab-emirates-cj1g6cnw7a64) — United Arab Emirates
- [Staff Solutions Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-solutions-engineer-kong-england-qqqp6v9kseb4) — England, United Kingdom
- [Staff Engagement Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-engagement-manager-kong-california-dmxmf22b4bxn) — California, United States
- [Senior Director, GTM People Business Partner](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-director-gtm-people-business-partner-kong-california-x9qt14cjx3xg) — California, United States
- [Enterprise Account Executive - LATAM](https://feeny.ai/job/enterprise-account-executive-latam-kong-texas-az39hnzwh0pb) — Texas, United States