Are you ready to join the API revolution?

About Kong Inc.:

We are the company behind Kong, the most widely adopted open-source API gateway. We have a world-class Enterprise platform and our mission is to facilitate a new revolution in software production by serving as the backbone of the distribution and consumption of data and services through APIs.

Our vision is to enable developers to build more and manage less. We've built one of the most popular pieces of open-source software in the world and in the process grown an extremely engaged and active community. We're looking for a few great people who want to be part of a fun, highly-collaborative team.

Our ideal candidate is someone who will thrive in our environment of really smart, driven people, who get to work with many new, leading-edge technologies that solve large customer challenges. We're looking for people who want to make a huge impact and have real ownership for the work they do. This opportunity is ideal for someone who wants to be in on the ground floor of our fully-funded and very special startup.

About the role:

Our Director of Professional Services is responsible for delivering Consulting and Implementation services to our Global Enterprise customers. This position reports to the VP, Operations and will oversee the Professional Services team and projects. The ideal candidate will have experience managing multiple implementations and have excellent communication skills and be a proactive, solution-oriented, strategic leader.

The ideal Director of Professional Services will have a strong and proven track record of successfully hiring and managing top talent. They will have an excellent work ethic, be self-motivated, team-oriented, have strong organizational skills and be focused on exceeding customer expectations. 

Customer Engagement, Leadership & Operational Responsibilities

• Leads Kong Inc.’s customer implementation service delivery providing management and oversight of Kong Customer implementation projects
• Takes a leadership role in building out Kong’s Professional Services team, offerings, approach and tools with the eye toward delivering an exceptional service experience. 
• Performs people functions (e.g. interviewing, evaluating, managing, team development, etc.) for the purpose of headcount planning, enhancing productivity and achieving department and company objectives 
• Champions change and effectively manages the implementation of great ideas.
• Creates an environment where the team can excel and achieve their goals.
• Works effectively with other Kong departments including: Sales, Customer Success, Product and Engineering teams to identify, understand and prioritize Kong Inc. and customer requirements.
• Maintains complete control of project schedule, budget and risk issues
• Creates and enforces common-sense processes, policies and procedures.
• Sets and manages client expectations.
• Creates and executes project plans and revises as appropriate to meet changing needs and requirements.
• Communicates effectively with customers to identify needs and evaluate alternative solutions.
• Continually seeks opportunities to increase customer satisfaction and deepen client relationships

Operational & Technical Requirements

• 8 + years of services delivery management experience with a focus on enterprise software solutions. 
• Consulting experience required; PMP or CPM Certification is a plus.
• Demonstrated success in leading and managing people in a team-based environment.
• Self-motivated with ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Working knowledge of APIs
• Working knowledge of cloud architectures such as AWS, Azure and GCP.
• Some experience with command line HTTP clients: cURL, HTTPie, Postman, etc.
• Familiarity with authentication schemes: OAuth2, JWT, HTTP basic access, etc.
• Ability to travel up to 25%, ability to work from the office in downtown San Francisco 3-days a week.