Enterprise Account Executive - Chicago

Kong; Springfield (IL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Uncapped commissions

Equity

MEDDPICC training

Job summary

Kong is looking for an experienced Enterprise Account Executive to drive new business and expansion across large enterprise accounts in the United States. You’ll own the full sales cycle—from prospecting and pipeline generation through executive engagement, negotiation and close.

The role requires navigating complex SaaS, cloud or infrastructure sales, building a strong pipeline, engaging C-level executives, and partnering with Product, Marketing, and Customer Success to deliver the right

Qualifications

• 7+ years of enterprise sales experience
• Proven success closing complex, high-value deals
• Experience selling to C-level executives
• Strong consultative selling, negotiation, forecasting, and account planning
• Experience with Salesforce or CRM platforms
• Knowledge of APIs, open source, cloud, or infrastructure tech is a plus

Responsibilities

• Own the full enterprise sales cycle from prospecting through close and expansion.
• Build and maintain a strong pipeline while consistently delivering against revenue targets.
• Develop relationships with C-level executives and key decision-makers, becoming a trusted advisor.
• Lead strategic account planning and identify new opportunities within enterprise accounts.
• Partner across Product, Marketing, Customer Success, and technical teams to deliver the right solutions for customers.
• Maintain accurate forecasting and pipeline management while staying ahead of market and competitive trends.

Skills

Enterprise sales

C-level engagement

New-logo hunter

Forecasting

Salesforce

APIs/cloud infrastructure

Tools

CRM (Salesforce)

Job description

Are you ready to unlock intelligence?

About the Role

Kong is looking for an experienced Enterprise Account Executive to drive new business and expansion across large enterprise accounts. You’ll own the full sales cycle — from prospecting and pipeline generation through executive engagement, negotiation, and close.

This is an opportunity for a proven enterprise seller who thrives in a fast-paced, high-growth environment and knows how to navigate complex SaaS, cloud, or infrastructure sales.

At Kong, we offer uncapped commissions with significant upside , competitive benefits, and equity in a company with strong growth potential.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Own the full enterprise sales cycle from prospecting through close and expansion.

• Build and maintain a strong pipeline while consistently delivering against revenue targets.

• Develop relationships with C-level executives and key decision-makers, becoming a trusted advisor.

• Lead strategic account planning and identify new opportunities within enterprise accounts.

• Partner across Product, Marketing, Customer Success, and technical teams to deliver the right solutions for customers.

• Maintain accurate forecasting and pipeline management while staying ahead of market and competitive trends.

What You’ll Bring

• 7+ years of enterprise sales experience , ideally selling into organizations with 5,000+ employees.

• Proven success closing complex, high-value deals within SaaS, cloud, infrastructure, or enterprise software.

• Strong new-logo/hunter mentality with experience building pipeline and expanding strategic accounts.

• Experience selling to C-level executives and navigating multiple stakeholders.

• Strong consultative selling, negotiation, forecasting, and account-planning skills.

• Experience with Salesforce or similar CRM platforms.

• Knowledge of APIs, open source, cloud, or infrastructure technology is a plus.

• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment and take ownership of your territory.

Benefits & Growth at Kong

Strong Sales Momentum: Join a high-performing sales organization where 49% of reps are achieving 100%+ of quota and fully ramped reps are averaging 117% attainment.

Competitive Earning Potential: Competitive compensation with uncapped commissions designed to reward performance.

Equity Ownership: Eligible employees have the opportunity to share in Kong’s long-term growth through equity.

President’s Club: Exceptional performance is celebrated, with top sales performers having the opportunity to earn President’s Club.

Career Development: Structured onboarding, MEDDPICC training , ongoing sales enablement, coaching, and development designed to help you grow your career.

Global Opportunity: Work with enterprise customers and teams across the Americas, EMEA, and APJ while helping shape the future of API and AI connectivity.

Award-Winning Culture: Kong is Great Place To Work Certified™ in the U.S. for the fourth time , with 95% of surveyed employees saying Kong is a great place to work.

Wellbeing & Benefits: Health, wellness, retirement, parental, time-off, and other benefits are offered based on country and employment type.

Benefits, compensation, equity eligibility, incentive programs, and other offerings may vary based on location, role, and employment type.

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.