Senior Software Engineer, Control Planes

Kong; United States; Remote; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Kong is seeking a Software Engineer for the Konnect Control Plane to architect and scale cloud-hosted services that manage global customer configurations. You will design low-latency APIs and microservices, drive reliability, and participate in on-call rotations to protect uptime.

You will collaborate with PMs and cross-functional teams, leverage Go, Kubernetes, and modern DevOps practices to deliver high-quality software, reduce technical debt, and enable developers worldwide.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in a distributed software environment.
• Strong proficiency in Go and relational data models.
• Experience building, debugging, and maintaining microservices at scale.
• Familiarity with Kubernetes, Docker, and cloud-native tooling.

Responsibilities

• Architect and scale microservices powering Kong Konnect’s cloud-hosted control plane.
• Design, implement, and maintain low-latency APIs/services for developer delight.
• Prevent regressions with automated tests and manage production reliability/On-call rotation.
• Collaborate with Product, Solutions Architects, and cross-functional teams to ship impactful features.

Skills

Go (Golang)

Kubernetes

Distributed systems

API design

Testing (TDD)

On-call support

Communication

DevOps observability

Tools

Nginx

Envoy

OpenResty

LuaJIT

Datadog

OpenTelemetry

Job description

Are you ready to unlock intelligence? 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.

What You’ll Bring

The Toolkit5+ 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-AW1

About Kong

Kong Inc., the AI Connectivity Company, is building the connectivity layer of AI.