Staff Solutions Engineer: AI & API Governance Leader

Kong Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Kong Inc. is seeking a Staff Solutions Engineer in San Francisco to drive enterprise deals at the intersection of API management and AI connectivity. You will act as a technical advisor, guiding customers through discovery, POC validation, and governance considerations while collaborating with product and engineering teams.

You will mentor junior SEs, deliver demonstrations of Kong’s capabilities, and contribute thought leadership through blogs and events, including AWS re:Invent and Google Next.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software/solutions engineering experience in SaaS or enterprise software.
• Proven track record owning complex, enterprise deals with multiple stakeholders.
• Experience mentoring or coaching other SEs.

Responsibilities

• Support field sales in conveying value of Kong API and AI connectivity platform.
• Conduct discovery conversations to map customer requirements to Kong solutions.
• Support POCs with technical validation and stakeholder alignment.
• Lead technical strategy for multi-stakeholder enterprise deals from qualification to close.
• Mentor junior SEs on skills, discovery, and deal strategy.
• Draft technical blogs, host webinars, and speak at industry events.

Skills

SaaS experience

Mentoring SEs

Cloud platforms

REST APIs

GraphQL APIs

CI/CD pipelines

OAuth/OIDC

AI tooling

MCP familiarity

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Claude Code

GitHub Copilot

OpenAI Codex

Job description

Kong Inc. is seeking a Staff Solutions Engineer in San Francisco to drive enterprise deals at the intersection of API management and AI connectivity. You will act as a technical advisor, guiding customers through discovery, POC validation, and governance considerations while collaborating with product and engineering teams.

You will mentor junior SEs, deliver demonstrations of Kong’s capabilities, and contribute thought leadership through blogs and events, including AWS re:Invent and Google Next.