Senior Software Engineer, AI Gateway

In breve

Kong Inc. is the AI Connectivity Company, building the core infrastructure that lets developers link, monitor and manage AI and machine‑learning services at scale. The Senior Software Engineer, AI Gateway will join the AI Gateway team, which is tasked with creating the "central nervous system" for the emerging agentic era. The role focuses on delivering the foundational layer that powers next‑generation intelligent applications and ensures the platform remains the most trusted route for AI traffic worldwide. Day‑to‑day, the engineer will design, own and lead development of high‑performance components for Kong's AI Gateway using Golang. Responsibilities include shaping the technical roadmap, crafting scalable and resilient architectures, and preventing technical debt to uphold a 99.99 % uptime target. The role also involves mentoring teammates, promoting best practices in testing, observability and CI/CD, and working closely with product, SRE and other engineering groups to create a top‑tier developer experience. When issues arise, the engineer will conduct deep‑dives into system performance, identify bottlenecks and resolve complex technical problems. The position requires extensive professional experience building software in a systems language such as Golang or Python, a deep grasp of distributed systems, microservice architectures and API design, and proven hands‑on work with cloud‑native tools like Kubernetes and Docker. A solid foundation in networking fundamentals, including TCP/IP, HTTP/2 and gRPC, is also mandatory. Candidates should demonstrate a proactive, ownership‑driven mindset, thrive in fast‑paced, high‑growth environments, and communicate effectively across a globally distributed team. Nice‑to‑have attributes include contributions to open‑source projects, familiarity with Nginx, Lua or service‑mesh technologies, and experience with AI frameworks such as LangChain, PyTorch or TensorFlow. Prior work on API gateways, developer platforms or large‑scale infrastructure‑as‑a‑service products is also valued. The role is based within Kong's global engineering organization, offering the chance to influence a critical product used by Fortune 500 companies and AI‑native startups alike. What the role asks for: - Extensive experience building software in Golang or Python - Deep understanding of distributed systems and microservice architectures - Proven experience with Kubernetes and Docker - Solid knowledge of TCP/IP, HTTP/2, and gRPC - Strong interest in AI/ML infrastructure (LLM orchestration, model serving) - Bonus: contributions to open‑source software projects - Bonus: experience with Nginx, Lua, or service‑mesh technologies - Bonus: familiarity with LangChain, PyTorch, or TensorFlow