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Senior Engineering Manager - Test Function

KongMilan, ItalyAll Cost Center
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Salary
Not listed
Job type
Full-time
Work mode
Remote
Posted
7 Aug 2026
Status
Open · checked 7d ago

About this role

Kong is seeking a remote or Milan-based Senior Engineering Manager to lead global Quality Engineering across flagship runtime platforms. This high-visibility leadership role suits an experienced engineering professional ready to drive the future of intelligent testing for modern infrastructure.

Role Overview

As the Senior Engineering Manager for the Test Function at Kong, the professional filling this role will act as the global leader for Quality Engineering across the company's primary runtime platforms, including AI Gateway, API Gateway, Event Gateway, and Mesh. This transformative position oversees a distributed global Software Development Engineers in Test (SDET) organization while architecting a next-generation AI-driven testing strategy. The individual will transform the quality engineering function into an intelligent, self-healing test substrate using LLMs and automated prompt loops to test infrastructure powering the AI era.

Key Responsibilities

Lead, mentor, and expand a high-performing, globally distributed team of SDETs across North America, Europe, and Asia.
Define and execute a roadmap incorporating AI, LLMs, and autonomous test agents into the testing lifecycle.
Implement generative AI capabilities for automated test case generation, smart failure triage, self-healing scripts, and dynamic edge-case synthesis.
Establish quality strategies for low-latency, high-throughput data planes.
Oversee architectural evolution of end-to-end, performance, regression, and chaos-testing automation harnesses within CI/CD pipelines.
Drive quality ownership upstream by partnering with Software Engineering and Product Management to embed testability standards into architectural designs.
Define and monitor clear quality engineering health indicators such as CI signal reliability, automation coverage, defect density, and release stability.

Requirements

Ten or more years of experience in Software Engineering or SDET, building and scaling enterprise software test automation systems.
Four or more years of engineering management experience leading distributed or global software engineering and SDET teams.
Hands-on AI integration vision with proven experience applying LLMs, Generative AI, or autonomous agent frameworks to software quality or developer workflows.
Demonstrated operational excellence managing follow-the-sun operational cadence and cross-timezone execution.

Nice to Have

Direct experience testing high-performance networking data planes, proxies, or API Gateways such as Kong, NGINX, or Envoy.
Background in performance, chaos engineering, and load testing high-availability SaaS platforms.
Active involvement or contributions to open-source quality frameworks or AI development tooling.

Skills and Tools

Docker
Rust
LLMs and Generative AI frameworks
GitHub Actions and Kubernetes
C and Lua data planes

About the Company

Kong Inc. operates as the AI Connectivity Company, building the connectivity layer of AI. Trusted by Fortune 500 companies and AI-native startups, the unified API and AI platform enables organizations to secure, manage, accelerate, govern, and monetize intelligence flow across APIs and AI traffic across any model or cloud.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should visit the official Kong careers page at konghq.com to submit an application for this remote or Milan-based opportunity.

Skills and tech stack

DockerRust

Questions candidates ask

What is the location for this role?

This position is based in Milan, Italy and is also available as a remote opportunity.

How many years of experience are required?

Candidates must have 10+ years of experience in Software Engineering or SDET, including 4+ years in engineering management.

What platforms will the engineering manager oversee?

The manager oversees Quality Engineering across Kong's flagship runtime platforms, including AI Gateway, API Gateway, Event Gateway, and Mesh.

What technologies and tools are mentioned for the role?

Key technologies mentioned include Docker, Rust, LLMs, Generative AI frameworks, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions, and C/Lua/Rust data planes.

How should I apply for this position?

Candidates can apply directly through the official Kong company careers website at konghq.com.

Ready to apply?

The application is on the official Kong careers page.

Apply on company site