Staff Solutions Engineer

Kong; Paris; On-site; EUR 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Kong is seeking a seasoned Solution Engineer to support Enterprise & Strategic accounts in the French region, Paris-based. You will guide customers through architectural discussions, PoCs, and onboarding, aligning with Account Executives to drive revenue and adoption of Kong's API Management and connectivity tech.

Ideal candidates bring 7+ years in pre-sales, strong Open-source experience, and fluency with API management, cloud trends, and DevOps practices.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in pre-sales Solution Engineering or similar SaaS/enterprise software role.
• Experience with Open-source technology and API management concepts.
• Ability to present and lead discussions with C-level and Product/Engineering teams.
• Interest in a fast-paced startup culture and field-based enterprise sales.

Responsibilities

• Support field sales in articulating value of Kong API Management & Connectivity solutions.
• Grow trusted client relationships across the full sales lifecycle from discovery to production.
• Support PoCs during evaluation, onboard customers, and drive revenue potential.
• Coordinate with support, product, and engineering to prioritize customer needs and ensure satisfaction.
• Create technical documentation for DevOps, implementations, and services engagements.
• Contribute to lead generation through blogs, webinars, and events.

Skills

Pre-sales

Solution Engineering

SaaS

Open-source

Executive communication

Cloud computing

API Management

Open-source awareness

Entrepreneurial mindset

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

NGINX

PostgreSQL

Cassandra

Linux

AWS

DC/OS

Docker Swarm

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 part of our Sales organization, Kong’s Solution Engineers play an instrumental role in our continued growth and success as they align with our Account Executive team and lead the technical sale cycle with both new and existing customers. This is a position supporting Enterprise & Strategic accounts within the French region. If you are someone who is motivated by the opportunity to drive new business while learning and evangelizing our cutting-edge technology, we want to speak to you!

What will you be doing:

• Support field sales in helping customers understand the value of the Kong API Management & Connectivity solutions.
• Grow trusted client relationships throughout the entire sales lifecycle from initial discovery/ requirement gathering, to product reviews/ demos, and into production.
• Support PoCs throughout the entire evaluation process.
• Onboard and train new customers and establish revenue potential with existing customers.
• Coordinate with support, product, and engineering teams to prioritize customer needs and ensure 100% satisfaction across assigned set of accounts.
• Create technical documentation for DevOps, implementations, and services engagements.
• Participate in creative lead generating activities such as creating blog posts, leading webinars, working industry events, etc.
• And any additional tasks required by manager.

What you will bring:

• 7+ years of pre-sales Solution Engineering or relevant experience at a SaaS, Open-source or Enterprise Software company.
• Experience working with Open-source technology.
• Foundational knowledge/ understanding of API Management & Integration, Cloud computing trends, Open-source business models.
• Confident ability to present and lead discussions with C or Director level executives as well as Product Managers and Engineers.
• Enthusiasm for working in a high profile, fast-paced startup culture.

Bonus Points:

• Previous experience with API Gateway or Service Mesh is preferred.
• Experience with Docker or Kubernetes.
• Strong knowledge of NGINX, HTTP, AWS, Postgres, and/ or Cassandra.
• Fluency working on Linux OSes.
• Familiarity with DevOps and CD/CI pipeline.
• Any knowledge on DCOS/Mesos and Docker Swarm is a plus.

#LI-TR1

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 www.konghq.com.