Staff Solutions Engineer
Staff Solutions Engineer who advises enterprise customers on secure, scalable API and AI connectivity architectures, leads technical evaluations and complex deals, and mentors junior engineers. Requires 7+ years of software or solutions engineering experience and expertise in cloud-native platforms, APIs, security, and AI/LLM architectures.
About the job
Responsibilities
- Support field sales by helping customers understand the Kong API and AI connectivity platform.
- Conduct discovery conversations, map customer requirements to Kong solutions, and support evaluations through production.
- Own technical validation, stakeholder alignment, and proof-of-concept processes.
- Ensure customer satisfaction across assigned accounts.
- Collaborate with support, product, and engineering teams to advocate for customer needs.
- Create technical documentation for DevOps, implementation, and services engagements.
- Lead API management and AI governance evaluations, including API and AI use cases, LLM traffic management, and governance requirements.
- Demonstrate API, AI governance, and agentic connectivity capabilities, including MCP governance, semantic caching, prompt guardrails, and shadow AI detection.
- Run API and AI-focused Technical Feasibility Workshops for modern and agentic architectures.
- Own technical strategy for complex, multi-stakeholder enterprise deals from qualification through close.
- Mentor and coach junior solutions engineers.
- Author technical blogs, host webinars, and speak at industry events and conferences.
- Synthesize customer feedback and market signals into actionable product input.
Requirements
- 7+ years of software engineering and/or solutions engineering experience at a SaaS, open source, or enterprise software company.
- Experience owning complex, enterprise-level deals involving technical and executive stakeholders.
- Experience mentoring or coaching solutions engineers or technical team members.
- Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud-native platforms.
- Experience with REST and GraphQL APIs, CI/CD pipelines, and API security patterns including OAuth2, OIDC, and mTLS.
- Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tools such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or OpenAI Codex.
- Working knowledge of AI and LLM architectures, including model routing, rate limiting, semantic caching, and prompt governance.
- Familiarity with Model Context Protocol and agentic AI patterns.
- Understanding of cloud computing trends and open source business models.
- Strong communication skills with engineers, architects, and executives.
Nice to Have
- Experience presenting at industry conferences, webinars, or other thought-leadership events.
- Experience with API and AI governance platforms or enterprise connectivity architectures.
Skills
Docker, Kubernetes, REST APIs, GraphQL, CI/CD, Oauth2, OIDC, Mtls, Github Copilot, Openai Codex, Llm Architectures, Model Context Protocol, Semantic Caching, Prompt Governance, Cloud Computing
Similar jobs
Solutions Architecture jobs
Kong
United States
Build and deploy Kong API and AI connectivity solutions for enterprise customers, leading migrations, automation, integrations, and production implementations across cloud-native environments. Requires 8+ years of engineering experience, strong Kubernetes and cloud expertise, and customer-facing technical leadership.
Fivetran
Georgia
Leads technical solution design, demonstrations, and proof-of-value engagements for enterprise customers in partnership with sales. Requires 7+ years of enterprise solutions engineering experience, strong data-platform expertise, and willingness to travel at least 30%.
OpenAI
San Francisco, CA
Leads strategic technical pursuits for enterprise customers, advising on architecture, AI deployments, and complex sales cycles while translating field insights into product and go-to-market strategy. Requires 15+ years of technical leadership experience, enterprise architecture expertise, and strong executive communication.
Temporal
Dallas, TXServe as a strategic technical advisor to enterprise prospects and customers, guiding evaluations, architecture, implementation, and adoption of Temporal. The role requires distributed-systems expertise, application prototyping skills, cloud experience, strong technical communication, and close partnership with sales.
Shield AI
San Diego, CAOwn the architecture of an AI development ecosystem that supports data, model, simulation, and deployment workflows for autonomous capabilities. The role requires 10+ years of software architecture experience, strong AI/ML and data architecture expertise, and the ability to lead across complex engineering teams.