Site Reliability Engineer 2

Kong
Washington, DC
Remote

Who this role is best for

A natural match if you have experience operating multi-region SaaS platforms and managing Kubernetes at scale.

Best fit for

  • Individuals who thrive in global, 24/7 on-call environments and can handle multi-cloud responsibilities
    — “Participate in a global 24/7 on-call rotation”
  • Engineers with a background in infrastructure automation and CI/CD pipeline development
    — “Develop and maintain CI/CD pipelines and GitOps workflows to automate service delivery”

Things to consider

  • The role requires managing multiple complex systems, including databases and service meshes
    — “Design, maintain, and optimize multi-region data and caching layers”

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience with multi-region and multi-tenant infrastructure management
    — “Proven experience managing SaaS or PaaS systems at enterprise scale”
  • Showcase your ability to debug Kubernetes networking and cluster issues
    — “Deep expertise in Kubernetes, including debugging cluster/networking issues”
  • Emphasize your hands-on automation work with programming languages like Go or Python
    — “Proficiency in one or more programming languages (Go, Python, Bash) for automation and tooling”
  • Demonstrate your ability to define and track SLOs using observability tools
    — “Enhance observability and incident response readiness through systems like Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana, and Thanos, defining and tracking SLOs”
  • Detail your experience with GitOps and infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform and ArgoCD
    — “Build, automate, and maintain Kubernetes-based infrastructure and deployment workflows using Terraform/Terragrunt, Helm, and ArgoCD”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • Operate and scale Kong’s global SaaS platform
  • Build and maintain Kubernetes-based infrastructure
Typical background
Experience in SaaS systemsBackground in Kubernetes and distributed systems

Skills & requirements

Required

KubernetesInfrastructure As CodeCi/cd PipelinesGitopsObservabilityIncident ResponseAPI GatewayService MeshLinux/unixNetworkingLoad BalancersDistributed Systems

Preferred

PostgreSQLRedisClickhouseDruidDatadogPrometheusGrafanaThanos

Stack & domain

KubernetesTerraformTerragruntHelmArgocdPostgreSQLRedisClickhouseDruidCI/CDGitopsDatadogPrometheusGrafanaThanosSlosAPI GatewayService MeshStreaming SystemsKafkaObservabilityIncident ResponseLinux/unixNetworkingDNSTls/sslHTTPLoad BalancersDistributed SystemsGoPythonBashAutomationToolingCollaborationTeamworkProblem-solvingContinuous ImprovementOn-call RotationPostmortem PracticesDisaster RecoveryResiliency TestingCompliance-driven ReliabilitySaasCloudInfrastructure As CodeObservability Platforms

About the role

Original posting from Kong via Ashby

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.

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 Site Reliability Engineer, you’ll join the global Platform SRE team responsible for building, operating, and scaling Kong’s multi-region SaaS platform that powers the world’s API connectivity.

You’ll design, automate, and run production systems serving thousands of customers across AWS, GCP, and Azure. You’ll work on everything from multi-region Kubernetes clusters to service mesh and gateway architectures, ensuring the reliability, scalability, and security of Kong’s SaaS offerings.

This is a hands-on role ideal for engineers who thrive on running production SaaS systems at scale, automating operations, and continuously improving performance, resilience, and deployment pipelines.

What You’ll Do:

  • Operate and scale Kong’s global SaaS platform (Konnect), ensuring reliability, availability, and performance across regions and clouds.
  • Build, automate, and maintain Kubernetes-based infrastructure and deployment workflows using Terraform/Terragrunt, Helm, and ArgoCD.
  • Design, maintain, and optimize multi-region data and caching layers — including PostgreSQL, Redis, ClickHouse, and Druid — for high availability and low latency.
  • Operate and improve Kong Gateway and Kong Mesh environments supporting hybrid and distributed architectures.
  • Develop and maintain CI/CD pipelines and GitOps workflows to automate service delivery and ensure consistent infrastructure changes.
  • Enhance observability and incident response readiness through systems like Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana, and Thanos, defining and tracking SLOs.
  • Collaborate closely with development and security teams to ensure smooth operation of SaaS services in compliance with reliability, security, and regulatory standards.
  • Participate in a global 24/7 on-call rotation and drive continuous improvement of operational playbooks and postmortem practices.
  • Lead and contribute to scaling initiatives that improve elasticity, reliability, and cost-efficiency across the SaaS platform.

What You’ll Bring:

  • BS in Computer Science or equivalent practical experience.
  • Proven experience managing SaaS or PaaS systems at enterprise scale (multi-region, multi-tenant, secure environments).
  • Deep expertise in Kubernetes, including debugging cluster/networking issues and designing for fault tolerance and scalability.
  • Strong proficiency with Infrastructure as Code tools like Terraform or Terragrunt.
  • Experience with CI/CD pipelines and GitOps workflows (ArgoCD, Atlantis, Helm).
  • Proficiency in one or more programming languages (Go, Python, Bash) for automation and tooling.
  • Solid understanding of Linux/Unix systems, networking (DNS, TLS/SSL, HTTP), load balancers and distributed systems.
  • Experiencing working with API gateway and service mesh technologies
  • Familiarity with streaming systems like Kafka and observability platforms (Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana).
  • Experience working in a 24/7/365 production support environment.

Bonus Points:

  • Hands-on experience with Kong Gateway, Kong Mesh, or similar service connectivity technologies.
  • Experience operating ClickHouse, Druid, or other time-series and analytics databases.
  • Experience managing PostgreSQL and Redis in multi-region configurations.
  • Working knowledge of AWS networking (PrivateLink, Transit Gateway, VPC Peering, Firewalls), Azure VNet, or GCP NCC.
  • Strong understanding of disaster recovery, resiliency testing, and compliance-driven reliability practices.

#LI-KC1

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 http://www.konghq.com.

Source: Kong careers (Ashby)

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