Kong is hiring a

Head of Design

USA - Remote

Are you ready to power the World's connections?

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 join the API revolution?

Kong creates software and managed services that connect APIs and microservices natively across and within clouds, Kubernetes, data centers and more using intelligent automation. Built on an open source core, Kong’s service connectivity platform enables digital innovation by allowing organizations to reliably and securely manage the full lifecycle of APIs and services for modern architectures, including microservices, serverless and service mesh. By providing developer teams with unprecedented architectural freedom, Kong accelerates innovation cycles, increases productivity, and seamlessly bridges legacy and modern systems and applications.

About the role:

As the Head of Design at Kong, you'll lead a strategic shift into product-led growth with the platform user experience as a driver of business value. You’ll take ownership of key end-to-end journeys across multiple products in the platform to drive greater adoption, engagement and revenue expansion. You will be a strategic visionary collaborating as an opinioned peer with product, engineering and business leaders. You'll sit on the product leadership team and be responsible for communicating the priorities of the product design team, defining goals and ensuring alignment to help establish a shared vision across the company.

What you'll be doing:

• Plan, strategize, and envision key user journeys with product managers, engineers and other stakeholders
• Own the performance of key end-to-end user journeys across the Kong platform
• Re-found the design team for a new era of quality and cohesion leading all aspects of design across Kong’s product line, including our upcoming next generation SaaS connectivity platform
• Push the boundaries of what we deliver in terms of design quality.
• We care deeply about both product strategy and execution, and you will be involved in raising the standard for both.

What you bring:

• Demonstrable track record of improving the business impact of design teams and ushering in product-led growth
• Experience in leading strategic system thinking across a technical product space, developing user experience goals, and making decisions based on the impact to Kong’s users and the company's needs.
• You’re an organizer over an artist—both program and project management skills to transform defined customer needs and business goals into estimated plans with appropriate resources.
• Manager of manager experience and direct passion for coaching teams through the process of planning, navigating trade-offs, and creating meaningful user experiences.
• An in-depth understanding of human-centered design methods, design thinking techniques, and design tools.
• Demonstrated presentation and communication style appropriate for executive-level audiences.
• Ability to create a learning environment where designers grow and expand skill-sets, techniques, and tools.
• Suggested 5+ years manager experience.

Kong has different base pay ranges for different work locations within the United States, which allows us to pay employees competitively and consistently in different geographic markets. Compensation varies depending on a wide array of factors, including but not limited to specific candidate location, role, skill set and level of experience. Certain roles are eligible for additional rewards including sales incentives depending on the terms of the applicable plan and role. Benefits may vary depending on location. US based employees are typically offered access to healthcare benefits, a 401(k) plan, short and long term disability benefits, basic life and AD&D insurance, among others. The typical base pay range for this role in the US is $212,000 - $240,000.

What is a Konger?

We are a group of makers, thinkers, and doers focused on helping today’s developers build tomorrow’s technology. Our teams work on the bleeding edge of API innovation to provide our users with a central nervous system for data and services.

We put design at the heart of everything we do, and we’re relentlessly focused on creating beautiful experiences for our customers. That’s why technology companies, major banks, e-commerce innovators, and government agencies put Kong in front of their most important web applications.

We believe in the power of Open Source and everything it stands for. That’s why developers around the world enthusiastically contribute on top of our open-source platform.

We are passionate about solving challenges that will fundamentally shape the future of technology, and we’re looking for the right people to join us on our mission. If you believe in taking ownership of your work, making an impact, and having fun along the way, we would love to talk to you.

Kong Core Values:

We are CUSTOMER CHAMPIONS. Customers are everything, we put them at the center of everything we do. We are all empowered to make an impact.

We are OWNERS. We are drivers, not passengers and own the quality and outcomes of our work.

We are UNSTOPPABLE. We work with purpose, obsession, and grit. It takes muscle to do hard things and doing hard things builds muscle.

We are REAL. We are genuine, principled, and confident without arrogance. Show respect and kindness, especially in tough moments.

We Are ACCELERATORS. We prioritize speed, iteration, and results.

We are GLOBAL. We work together from anywhere to achieve our common goals. Our differences make us stronger.

We are EXPLORERS. We value ideas over hierarchy. Never accept the status quo. We make bold bets, fail, and learn everyday. There is always a way.