Staff Technical Recruiter

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.

We are seeking a highly strategic Staff Technical Recruiter to join our team. This role is crucial for scaling our most complex and critical technical teams and will be a key driver in shaping Kong’s future talent strategy.

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.

Join us in building Kong's future! Reporting to the Director of Technical Recruiting, you will serve as a critical, trusted advisor to Engineering, Product, and Professional Services leadership across North America. Your mission is to solve the most challenging scaling problems, own the hiring for highly specialized and senior roles, and drive innovation in our recruiting processes. You will also be key in shaping our employer brand and leading executive-level recruiting readouts.

• Architect and drive specialized sourcing strategies to secure world-class, typically hard-to-find, talent for senior-level (Staff, Principal, Director) and highly specialized technical roles.

• Serve as a talent consultant to executives and senior leadership, leveraging deep market intelligence to advise on organizational design, compensation structures, and global talent mapping.

• Lead the end-to-end recruitment process for your critical roles, including complex offer negotiation, while ensuring an exceptional, consistent candidate experience.

• Design and implement scalable recruiting initiatives (e.g., referral programs, interview training, process documentation) that improve efficiency and quality of hire across the entire talent acquisition function.

• Proactively build and maintain a hyper-focused pipeline of passive candidates, positioning Kong as an employer of choice in competitive markets.

• Conduct thorough screenings and interviews to assess candidates' technical skills and cultural fit, acting as a steward for our hiring bar.

• Maintain meticulous job postings and candidate data within our Applicant Tracking System (ATS).

• 7+ years of progressive, full-cycle technical recruiting experience, with at least 2 years focused on Staff/Principal/Director level hiring within a high-growth SaaS or cloud-native environment.

• Deep mastery of the highly competitive North American technical landscape, with a proven ability to successfully compete for talent against top-tier late-stage start-ups and public companies.

• Proven ability to use data—both quantitative and qualitative—to influence senior leaders and executives.

• Demonstrated ownership of core TA programs or significant process improvements across the recruiting lifecycle.

• Expert command of advanced sourcing and candidate engagement techniques, moving beyond standard LinkedIn Recruiter usage.

• Ability to challenge ideas and effectively influence others.

• Ability to distill complex information into a consumable and organized format with a focus on content, tone, and structure.

• Great collaborator and partner to HRBPs, Finance, and other internal stakeholders.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

• Experience recruiting across EMEA is a plus.

  
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About Kong:

Kong Inc., a leading developer of cloud API technologies, is on a mission to enable companies around the world to become “API-first” and securely accelerate AI adoption. Kong helps organizations globally — from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises — unleash developer productivity, build securely, and accelerate time to market. For more information about Kong, please visit www.konghq.com or follow us on X @thekonginc.