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Full-Time

Senior Staff Product Manager

Kong Mesh and K8S

Updated on 9/5/2024

Kong

Kong

501-1,000 employees

API management and connectivity solutions provider

Data & Analytics
Enterprise Software

Senior, Expert

Remote in USA + 2 more

Category
Product Management
Product
Required Skills
Communications
Requirements
  • 5+ years of software product management (or related) experience.
  • The ability to get hands-on with Kubernetes and it’s ecosystem and debug when things don’t quite go to plan.
  • A strong knowledge of API design, including breaking changes and how best to manage them with existing customers.
  • Exceptional communication skills, capable of articulating complex technical concepts to a diverse range of stakeholders.
  • Adaptability and agility in a fast-paced and evolving technology landscape, with a keen eye for emerging trends and technologies.
Responsibilities
  • Make Kong the default choice for North/South and East/West traffic on Kubernetes.
  • Build a data-informed product roadmap, defining priorities, and overseeing the success of features for our Kubernetes products.
  • Work directly with customers to make them successful with our current features and get feedback on proposed roadmap items.
  • Craft and implement go-to-market strategies, including field enablement and community feedback.
  • Act as a technical advocate, delivering presentations and promoting Kong’s full-lifecycle API management capabilities.

Kong specializes in managing and connecting APIs, which are tools that allow different software applications to communicate. Its main product, the Kong Gateway, is a fast and flexible API gateway that efficiently handles API traffic, supporting up to 50,000 transactions per second per node. Additionally, Kong offers Kong Konnect, a SaaS platform for API management, and Kong Mesh, which helps manage microservices—small services that work together in larger applications. Kong serves a wide range of clients, from startups to large enterprises, across various industries like finance and healthcare. What sets Kong apart from competitors is its combination of open-source technology and enterprise solutions, allowing businesses to access core features for free while offering premium services for those who need more support. The goal of Kong is to enhance developer productivity, improve security, and optimize performance for businesses using cloud-native architectures.

Company Stage

Series D

Total Funding

$170.7M

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Founded

2017

Growth & Insights
Headcount

6 month growth

6%

1 year growth

9%

2 year growth

9%
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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Kong's recent executive hires, including a Chief People Officer, Chief Revenue Officer, and Chief Customer Officer, indicate a strong focus on scaling and enhancing customer and employee experiences.
  • The launch of Kong Konnect Dedicated Cloud Gateways on AWS simplifies API management with zero downtime and one-click deployment, enhancing user experience and operational efficiency.
  • Kong's open-source initiatives, such as the Kong Gateway Operator for Kubernetes, continue to foster community engagement and innovation.

What critics are saying

  • The rapid growth and scaling efforts may lead to operational challenges and integration issues.
  • The competitive landscape in API management is intense, with major players like Google and Amazon posing significant threats.

What makes Kong unique

  • Kong's combination of open-source and enterprise-grade solutions offers flexibility and scalability that many competitors lack.
  • The Kong Gateway's ability to handle up to 50,000 transactions per second per node sets a high-performance benchmark in the API management industry.
  • Kong's focus on cloud-native environments and Kubernetes-native management positions it as a leader in modern API connectivity solutions.

Benefits

Weekly Donut Chats

Home Office Stipend

Flexible Time Off & Dedicated Unplug Days

Virtual Events