Senior Forward Deployed Engineer — AI/API Connectivity

Socket.dev

California (MO)

On-site

USD 140,000 - 190,000

Full time

4 days ago

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Job summary

Kong Inc. is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to join our Professional Services group. You’ll work directly with enterprise teams to design, implement, and optimize Kong-based solutions across cloud, hybrid, and on‑prem environments.

You will lead hands-on implementations, build automation tooling, and drive migrations from legacy platforms while collaborating with product teams to influence roadmaps. This role is ideal for engineers who enjoy direct customer impact and complex,

Qualifications

8+ years in customer-facing engineering, platform engineering, or software roles.
Strong hands-on software engineering and implementation experience.
Experience with API gateways, API management, integrations, or distributed systems.

Responsibilities

Partner with enterprise customers to design, build, and implement Kong-based solutions across cloud, hybrid, and on-premise environments.
Lead hands-on implementation for API gateways, AI gateways, service mesh, and related connectivity tech.
Build automation frameworks, migration tooling, and reusable accelerators.
Drive migration projects from legacy API management to Kong.
Collaborate with customer developers, platform teams, and execs to solve complex challenges.
Develop production-grade code, scripts, and CI/CD integrations for engagements.
Create reusable best practices, reference architectures, and design patterns for delivery excellence.
Support strategic customer initiatives involving AI connectivity and modernization.