Staff AI/API Solutions Engineer — Enterprise Governance

Kong; United States; Remote; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Kong is seeking a Staff Solutions Engineer to serve as a trusted technical advisor for transforming enterprises into secure, scalable API ecosystems while navigating the agentic AI era.

You will own complex, multi-stakeholder deals, map customer requirements to Kong solutions, validate technical feasibility, and collaborate across product and engineering to drive customer success and governance initiatives.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software or solutions engineering experience in SaaS, open source, or enterprise software.
• Proven track record owning complex, enterprise-level deals with multiple technical and executive stakeholders.
• Experience mentoring or coaching other SEs or technical team members.
• Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud-native platforms.
• Hands-on experience with REST and GraphQL APIs, CI/CD pipelines, and API security patterns (OAuth2, OIDC, mTLS).

Responsibilities

• Support field sales in helping customers understand the value of Kong's API and AI platform.
• Conduct discovery conversations to map requirements to Kong solutions.
• Lead technical validation and stakeholder alignment through POCs and evaluations.
• Create technical documentation for DevOps, implementations, and services engagements.
• Lead API Management and AI Governance evaluations including MCP governance and shadow AI detection.
• Deliver demonstrations of Kong’s API/AI capabilities and run Technicall Feasibility Workshops.
• Own the technical strategy for complex, multi-stakeholder enterprise deals from qualification through close.
• Mentor junior SEs on technical skills, discovery methods, and deal strategy.
• Influence product direction by feedback from customers and market signals.

Skills

Enterprise deals

Mentoring SEs

REST & GraphQL APIs

CI/CD pipelines

AI tooling

Strategic deal leadership

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Cloud-native platforms

OAuth2 / OIDC / mTLS

Job description

Kong is seeking a Staff Solutions Engineer to serve as a trusted technical advisor for transforming enterprises into secure, scalable API ecosystems while navigating the agentic AI era.

You will own complex, multi-stakeholder deals, map customer requirements to Kong solutions, validate technical feasibility, and collaborate across product and engineering to drive customer success and governance initiatives.