Senior Software Engineer - Golang

Kong Inc.; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Kong Inc., the AI Connectivity Company, is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to join the Office of the CTO and work on high-impact, greenfield AI infrastructure projects that shape the platform and engineering strategy.

You’ll design scalable backend systems in Golang, work with PostgreSQL and Redis, and collaborate with CTO and senior engineers to define architecture, tooling, and developer experience for AI-driven applications.

Qualifications

• Strong production experience with Golang.
• Experience designing and operating distributed systems at scale.
• Solid experience with PostgreSQL and Redis in production environments.
• Experience building backend systems with high availability, scalability, and reliability.
• Strong systems thinking, debugging, and performance optimization skills.

Responsibilities

• Design and build highly scalable distributed backend systems.
• Develop core services in Golang, with a focus on performance and reliability.
• Work with PostgreSQL and Redis to build robust, data-intensive systems.
• Architect systems that operate across microservices, networking layers, and cloud platforms.
• Collaborate closely with the CTO and senior engineers on strategic technical initiatives.
• Prototype and productionize new platform capabilities and internal tooling.
• Influence engineering direction and technical standards across Kong.

Skills

Golang production

Distributed systems design

PostgreSQL

Redis

Backend scalability

Performance optimization

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.

Kong is building the future of API and AI infrastructure. Our platform powers connectivity for thousands of organizations globally across APIs, microservices, Kubernetes and now AI agents and LLM-driven applications.

About The Role:

We’re looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join Kong’s Office of the CTO team and work on special, high-impact projects that influence the direction of our platform and engineering strategy. The Office of the CTO (OCTO) is where Kong’s most ambitious and exploratory engineering work happens, new platforms, foundational systems and high-impact technical bets that shape the company’s future.

You’ll work on everything from distributed database provisioning and durable workflow orchestration to LLM fine-tuning and infrastructure for our AI Builder capabilities, helping define a new foundation for how developers build and run AI-driven systems at scale.

This is a rare opportunity to shape a greenfield AI platform from the ground up, with direct input into architecture, tooling, and developer experience.

This is a role for engineers who enjoy deep technical challenges, ambiguity, and building systems that matter.

What You’ll Do:

• Design and build highly scalable distributed backend systems

• Develop core services in Golang, with a focus on performance and reliability

• Work with PostgreSQL and Redis to build robust, data-intensive systems

• Architect systems that operate across microservices, networking layers, and cloud platforms

• Collaborate closely with the CTO and senior engineers on strategic technical initiatives

• Prototype and productionize new platform capabilities and internal tooling

• Influence engineering direction and technical standards across Kong

What You'll bring:

• Strong production experience with Golang

• Experience designing and operating distributed systems at scale

• Solid experience with PostgreSQL and Redis in production environments

• Experience building backend systems with high availability, scalability, and reliability

• Strong systems thinking, debugging, and performance optimization skills

Bonus points:

• Experience with Kubernetes, networking, or API gateways

• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)

• Contributions to open source or internal platform tooling

• Experience working on platform, infra, or developer tooling products

#LI-BR2

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.