Remote Senior Software Engineer, Kong Identity

Description:

• Kong is building the future of API management for developers and is a fast-growing, well-funded company with happy customers and motivated employees.
• As a Senior Software Engineer on the Konnect team, you will architect Kong Identity's multi-tenant identity platform, which supports complex organizational hierarchies, cross-tenant isolation, and enterprise-grade security controls.
• You will build and maintain Kong Identity's core services, including auth servers, token management, and client credential systems that support OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect flows.
• Your responsibilities will include implementing scalable token generation, validation, and introspection services that handle high-volume authentication requests with sub-millisecond latency.
• You will develop Kong Identity's claims engine, supporting dynamic attribute resolution and contextual claim injection at token issuance.
• You will build client management features, including dynamic client registration, credential lifecycle management, and scope enforcement.
• You will implement integration points between Kong Identity and Gateway Manager, supporting OIDC, OAuth2.0 introspection, and Upstream OAuth plugins.
• You will develop Kong Identity APIs and work on SDKs to enable customer automation and DevOps workflows.
• You will build monitoring, logging, and analytics capabilities to provide visibility into token lifecycle and authentication patterns.
• You will work on global infrastructure components, including distributed caching, cross-region replication, and edge optimization for authentication services.
• You will contribute to Kong Identity's security posture by implementing rate limiting, anomaly detection, and attack prevention mechanisms.
• You will support production services through on-call responsibilities and troubleshoot authentication issues for enterprise customers.
• You will write comprehensive automated tests and participate in code reviews to maintain high code quality standards.
• You will collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate product requirements into technical implementations.

Requirements:

• You must have 4+ years of experience building production backend systems and distributed services, with strong fundamentals in system design and scalability.
• A solid understanding of OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect fundamentals is required, along with experience implementing or integrating authentication systems.
• You should have a strong background in building high-performance, low-latency services that handle significant request volumes.
• Experience with JWT tokens, including generation, validation, and understanding of signing algorithms and security best practices, is necessary.
• Proven ability to build RESTful APIs with a focus on developer experience and comprehensive error handling is essential.
• You should have experience with distributed systems challenges, including caching strategies, data consistency, and cross-region architectures.
• Strong coding skills in GoLang are required.
• Experience working with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and understanding of cloud-native architectures is necessary.
• Familiarity with database technologies and data modeling for high-scale applications is required.
• You must understand security best practices for credential management and secure authentication flows.
• Experience with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and modern deployment practices is necessary.
• Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills for complex distributed systems are required.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively in remote/distributed teams are essential.
• You should be self-motivated with the ability to take ownership of features from design through production deployment.

Benefits:

• Kong offers a dynamic work environment with opportunities for professional growth and development.
• Employees are encouraged to apply even if they do not meet all criteria, promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace.
• The company supports a culture of collaboration and innovation, allowing employees to contribute to significant projects.
• Kong provides competitive compensation and benefits packages to attract and retain top talent.
• Employees have the opportunity to work on cutting-edge technology in the API management space, contributing to the future of digital connectivity.