Kong
Forward Deployed Engineer
About this role
Kong is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to partner directly with enterprise customers on hands-on implementation of Kong's API and AI connectivity platform. You'll design production solutions, build automation frameworks, lead migrations, and influence product direction through real-world field experience across cloud-native environments.
What you'll do
- Partner with enterprise customers to design and implement Kong-based API gateway, AI gateway, and service mesh solutions in diverse environments
- Build automation frameworks, migration tooling, custom integrations, and reusable accelerators to streamline customer adoption
- Lead hands-on implementation efforts and drive platform migrations from legacy systems to Kong
- Develop production-grade code, plugins, CI/CD integrations, Kubernetes automation, and infrastructure tooling
- Collaborate with Kong product and engineering teams to shape roadmap priorities based on customer feedback and implementation insights
- Create reference architectures, best practices, technical assets, and design patterns to scale delivery across the organization
What they're looking for
- Software engineering and hands-on implementation
- API gateways and API management platforms
- Kubernetes and cloud-native infrastructure
- Linux, networking, and DevOps practices
- AWS, Azure, or GCP cloud infrastructure
- CI/CD pipelines and deployment automation
- Python, Go, or other programming languages
- Distributed systems and service mesh architectures
Benefits
- Work directly with Fortune 50/500 enterprises on mission-critical modernization initiatives
- Accelerate technical growth through exposure to cutting-edge cloud-native and AI connectivity technologies
- Influence Kong's product direction based on real-world customer implementations
- Be part of a rapidly growing Professional Services organization
- Opportunity to shape enterprise API and AI adoption strategies globally
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Kong
Kong builds an API and AI gateway platform for cloud-native environments that enables enterprise customers to manage connectivity and integrations. The company is hiring Forward Deployed Engineers who combine hands-on software engineering with direct customer collaboration to implement, optimize, and migrate to Kong's solutions.
- Website
- konghq.com
Likely interview questions
- Describe your experience implementing API gateway or API management platforms in enterprise environments and the technical challenges you overcame
- Tell us about a time you built automation tooling or migration frameworks—what problem did it solve and how did you measure success?