Staff Solutions Engineer, API & AI Connectivity

Kong Inc.; California; On-site; USD 160,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Kong Inc. is seeking a Staff Solutions Engineer to be at the epicenter of the API and AI connectivity revolution. You’ll act as a trusted technical advisor, helping enterprises architect secure, scalable API ecosystems and navigate the agentic AI era.

You’ll lead technical validation, drive multi-stakeholder engagements, mentor junior SEs, and deliver demonstrations of Kong’s API/AI governance capabilities. This role blends strategy with hands-on execution in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software engineering and/or solutions engineering experience in SaaS/open source/enterprise software.
• Demonstrated 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 such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, OpenAI Codex, or equivalents.
• Working knowledge of AI/LLM architectures, including model routing, rate limiting, semantic caching, and prompt governance.
• Familiarity with MCP and agentic AI patterns.
• Strong listener and communicator—capable of leading discussions with engineers, architects, and executives.
• Enthusiasm for fast-paced environments at the intersection of API and AI connectivity.

Responsibilities

• Support field sales in helping customers understand the value of Kong API and AI connectivity platform.
• Conduct discovery conversations to map requirements to Kong solutions from reviews to production.
• Support POCs throughout evaluation, owning technical validation and stakeholder alignment.
• Ensure customer satisfaction across assigned 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 Governance evaluations (MCP governance, scoping use cases, traffic management).
• Deliver demonstrations of Kong’s API & AI governance and agentic connectivity capabilities.
• Run Technical Feasibility Workshops to validate Kong’s fit for AI architectures.
• Own technical strategy for multi-stakeholder enterprise deals from qualification through close.
• Mentor/coaching for junior SEs on skills, discovery methods, and deal strategy.
• Drive thought leadership via technical blogs, webinars, and speaking engagements.
• Influence product direction from customer feedback and market signals.

Skills

Enterprise deal ownership

Mentoring SEs

Docker

Kubernetes

Cloud-native platforms

REST APIs

GraphQL APIs

CI/CD

API security patterns

AI tooling

AI/LLM architectures

Model Context Protocol

MCP governance

Communication

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Cloud-native platforms

Job description

Kong Inc. is seeking a Staff Solutions Engineer to be at the epicenter of the API and AI connectivity revolution. You’ll act as a trusted technical advisor, helping enterprises architect secure, scalable API ecosystems and navigate the agentic AI era.

You’ll lead technical validation, drive multi-stakeholder engagements, mentor junior SEs, and deliver demonstrations of Kong’s API/AI governance capabilities. This role blends strategy with hands-on execution in a fast-paced environment.