Staff Solutions Engineer

Speedrun Talent Network; Town of Texas (WI); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Kong Inc., the AI Connectivity Company, is seeking a Staff Solutions Engineer to act as a trusted technical advisor for Fortune 500 and AI-native customers, architecting secure, scalable API ecosystems and agentic AI strategies.

You’ll lead technical engagements across multi-stakeholder teams, mentor junior SEs, deliver governance demos, and shape product direction through customer feedback, in a fast-paced, high-impact setting.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software or solutions engineering experience in SaaS or enterprise software.
• Proven track record owning complex, enterprise-level deals with multiple stakeholders.
• Experience mentoring SEs or technical team members.
• Hands-on with Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud-native platforms.
• Experience with REST and GraphQL APIs, CI/CD pipelines, and API security patterns.
• Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tooling (Claude Code, Copilot, Codex).
• Working knowledge of AI/LLM architectures, including model routing and caching.
• Familiarity with MCP and agentic AI patterns.
• Strong listening and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Support field sales in explaining Kong's API and AI connectivity value.
• Conduct discovery to map customer requirements to Kong solutions.
• Support POCs through evaluation, owning technical validation and alignment.
• Ensure customer satisfaction across assigned accounts.
• Collaborate with support, product, and engineering to advocate for customers.
• Create technical documentation for DevOps and implementations.
• Lead API Management and AI governance evaluations.
• Deliver demonstrations of Kong's API & AI governance and MCP capabilities.
• Run technical feasibility workshops for AI architectures.
• Own the technical strategy for complex enterprise deals.
• Mentor junior SEs on skills, discovery methods, and deal strategy.
• Drive thought leadership via blogs, webinars, and conferences.
• Influence product direction from customer feedback.
• And other tasks as required.

Skills

Enterprise deal experience

Technical leadership

Mentoring others

Docker

Kubernetes

REST APIs

GraphQL APIs

CI/CD

API security patterns

AI tooling

AI/LLM architectures

Model Context Protocol

Cloud computing

Open source models

Strong communication

Stakeholder management

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

OpenAI Codex

Claude Code

GitHub Copilot

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, we're looking for candidates that are particularly strong in a few areas, and have some interest and capabilities in others.

About the Role:

Are you ready to sit at the epicenter of the API and AI connectivity revolution? As a Staff Solutions Engineer at Kong, you won't just be selling a platform - you'll be a trusted technical advisor helping the world’s most innovative enterprises architect secure, scalable API ecosystems while navigating the transition into the agentic AI era. Kong sits at the intersection of API management and AI connectivity, and you'll be the person who makes that story real for customers.

What You'll Do:

• Support field sales in helping customers understand the value of the Kong API and AI connectivity platform.


• Conduct discovery conversations to understand customer requirements and map them to Kong solutions, from initial product reviews through to production.


• Support POCs throughout the entire evaluation process, owning technical validation and stakeholder alignment.


• Ensure customer satisfaction across your assigned set of accounts.


• Collaborate with support, product, and engineering teams to advocate for customer needs.


• Create technical documentation for DevOps, implementations, and services engagements.


• Lead and support API Management and AI Goverance evaluations, including scoping API/AI use cases, LLM traffic management, and governance requirements.


• Deliver demonstrations of Kong's API & AI governance and agentic connectivity capabilities, including Model Context Protocol (MCP) governance, semantic caching, prompt guardrails, and shadow AI detection.


• Run API & AI-focused Technical Feasibility Workshops (TFWs) to validate Kong's fit for modern and/or AI/agentic architectures.


• Own the technical strategy for complex, multi-stakeholder enterprise deals from qualification through close.


• Mentor and coach junior SEs on technical skills, discovery methods, and deal strategy.


• Drive thought leadership by authoring technical blogs, hosting webinars, speaking at industry events and conferences such as AWS re:Invent, Google Next, API & AI summit, and regional events


• Influence product direction by synthesizing customer feedback and market signals into actionable input for the product team.


• And any additional tasks required by manager.

What You'll Bring:

• 7+ years of software engineering and/or solutions engineering experience at a SaaS, open source, or enterprise software company.


• 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.


• Experience with REST and GraphQL APIs, CI/CD pipelines, and API security patterns (OAuth2, OIDC, mTLS).


• Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tooling - Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, OpenAI Codex, or equivalent is required.


• Working knowledge of AI/LLM architectures, including model routing, rate limiting, semantic caching, and prompt governance.


• Familiarity with Model Context Protocol (MCP) and agentic AI patterns.


• Solid understanding of cloud computing trends and open source business models.


• Strong listener and communicator - you can confidently lead discussions with engineers, architects, and executives.


• Enthusiasm for working in a high-profile, fast-paced environment at the intersection of API and AI connectivity.

#LI-JS2

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.