Senior Software Engineer - Kubernetes

Are you ready to unlock intelligence? If you don’t think you meet all of the criteria below but are still interested in the job, please apply. Nobody checks every box - we’re looking for candidates that are particularly strong in a few areas, and have some interest and capabilities in others. About the Role As a Senior Software Engineer at Kong, you will play a key role in designing, developing, and optimizing our cutting-edge API gateway and cloud-native connectivity solutions. You’ll work on high-performance, scalable software that empowers organizations to manage APIs and microservices efficiently across cloud, on-prem, and hybrid environments. At Kong, we are revolutionizing API connectivity with open-source and enterprise-grade solutions that power some of the world’s most demanding applications. The team’s core products, Kong Gateway Operator and Kong Ingress Controller, enable seamless, secure, and intelligent service connectivity for modern architectures, including Kubernetes, multi-cloud, and service mesh deployments. If you're passionate about distributed systems, cloud-native technologies, and high-performance APIs, we’d love to hear from you! What You’ll Be Doing Designing, developing, and maintaining Kong’s Gateway Operator and Ingress Controller to ensure reliability, performance, and scalability. Contributing to open-source projects and engaging with the community to drive innovation in API connectivity. Collaborating with cross-functional teams (engineering, product, DevOps) to build new features and enhance existing functionality. Writing clean, efficient, and well-tested code in Golang while ensuring high code quality through automated testing and peer reviews. Optimizing performance for high-throughput, low-latency distributed systems. Building and maintaining integrations with Kubernetes and cloud providers (AWS, GCP, Azure). Participating in technical design discussions, architecting solutions, and contributing to technical roadmaps. Troubleshooting complex system issues and ensuring high availability and resilience. Mentoring junior engineers and fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration. Staying up to date with emerging trends in cloud computing, Kubernetes, and service meshes. What You’ll Bring 5+ years of software engineering experience, with a strong focus on backend development. Proficiency in Golang (or strong experience in another modern programming language with the ability to ramp up in Golang). Deep knowledge of Kubernetes and the wider cloud-native ecosystem. Experience designing and building high-performance, scalable distributed systems. Familiarity with APIs, microservices, and networking (L4/L7 concepts). Strong understanding of observability, monitoring, and debugging techniques in cloud environments. Experience working with cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure. Ability to contribute to and navigate open-source projects. Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently in a distributed team. Excellent communication skills, with a passion for knowledge sharing and mentoring. This position is open to candidates located in Milan (Italy). If you’re excited about building the future of AI connectivity with cutting-edge cloud-native technologies, apply today! About Kong: Kong Inc., the AI Connectivity Company, is building the connectivity layer of AI. Trusted by the Fortune 500® and AI-native startups alike, Kong’s unified API and AI platform enables organizations to secure, manage, accelerate, govern, and monetize the flow of intelligence across APIs and AI traffic — on any model, any cloud. For more information, visit www.konghq.com .