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Staff Forward Deployed Engineer

KongTexas, United StatesAll Cost Center
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Salary
$192,010 - $274,300 USD
Job type
Full-time
Work mode
Remote
Posted
10 Sept 2026
Status
Open · checked 7d ago

About this role

Role Overview

The Staff Forward Deployed Engineer position at Kong is a remote, full-time customer-facing engineering role based in Texas. This opportunity is well-suited for experienced software or platform engineers who enjoy solving complex technical problems and working directly with enterprise customers on cloud-native transformations.

Key Responsibilities

Partner directly with enterprise clients to design, build, and deploy Kong-based solutions across hybrid, cloud, and on-premises environments.
Lead hands-on execution for API gateways, AI gateways, service mesh, and developer portals.
Construct automation frameworks, custom integrations, migration tooling, and reusable accelerators to streamline customer modernization.
Lead migration projects moving away from legacy API management platforms onto Kong.
Collaborate alongside customer developers, architects, security teams, and executives to resolve intricate operational challenges.
Write production-ready code, scripts, plugins, CI/CD integrations, Kubernetes automation, and infrastructure tooling.
Share field insights with Kong Product and Engineering teams to help shape roadmap priorities based on real-world customer usage.
Establish reusable best practices, technical assets, documentation, and design patterns to scale delivery quality.
Assist with strategic customer initiatives focusing on AI connectivity, governance, and cloud-native modernization.

Requirements

Minimum of 8 years of professional experience in customer-facing engineering, software engineering, site reliability engineering, or platform engineering.
Strong hands-on background in software implementation and engineering.
Familiarity with distributed systems platforms, API management, or API gateways.
Proven expertise in Kubernetes and cloud-native infrastructure.
Demonstrated capability in building automation frameworks, deployment tooling, CI/CD pipelines, or migration utilities.
Solid working knowledge of Linux, networking, DevOps practices, and cloud infrastructure.
Hands-on background with major cloud service providers including Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services, or Microsoft Azure.
Coding proficiency in languages such as Java, Python, JavaScript, or similar.
Practical experience using Infrastructure-as-Code and automation utilities like Terraform, Helm, or Ansible.

Nice to Have

Prior work history within Infrastructure software, Open Source, Middleware, SaaS, or API Management organizations.

Skills and Tools

Python
Java
JavaScript
AWS
GCP
Azure
Kubernetes
Terraform

Salary and Benefits

Annual Salary: $192,010 - $274,300 USD per year

About the Company

Kong Inc., known as the AI Connectivity Company, develops the foundational connectivity layer for artificial intelligence. Trusted by AI-native startups and Fortune 500 enterprises alike, Kong provides a unified API and AI platform that allows organizations to securely manage, govern, accelerate, and monetize intelligence flow across APIs and AI traffic for any cloud and any model.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should visit the official Kong careers page to submit an application for this remote position.

Skills and tech stack

PythonAWSGCPAzureKubernetesJavaScriptJavaTerraform

Questions candidates ask

What is the location requirement for this role?

This position is remote and based in Texas, United States.

How many years of experience are required?

Candidates must have 8 or more years of experience in customer-facing engineering, software engineering, platform engineering, or site reliability engineering roles.

What is the salary range for the Staff Forward Deployed Engineer position?

The salary ranges from $192,010 to $274,300 USD per year.

What technical skills are needed for this job?

Required skills and technologies include Python, Java, JavaScript, AWS, GCP, Azure, Kubernetes, and Terraform.

Where should I submit my application?

Applications should be submitted directly through the official Kong company careers page.

Ready to apply?

The application is on the official Kong careers page.

Apply on company site