Enterprise Account Executive - Chicago

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 Kong is looking for an experienced Enterprise Account Executive to drive new business and expansion across large enterprise accounts. You’ll own the full sales cycle — from prospecting and pipeline generation through executive engagement, negotiation, and close. This is an opportunity for a proven enterprise seller who thrives in a fast-paced, high-growth environment and knows how to navigate complex SaaS, cloud, or infrastructure sales. At Kong, we offer uncapped commissions with significant upside, competitive benefits, and equity in a company with strong growth potential. WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING

• Own the full enterprise sales cycle from prospecting through close and expansion.
• Build and maintain a strong pipeline while consistently delivering against revenue targets.
• Develop relationships with C-level executives and key decision-makers, becoming a trusted advisor.
• Lead strategic account planning and identify new opportunities within enterprise accounts.
• Partner across Product, Marketing, Customer Success, and technical teams to deliver the right solutions for customers.
• Maintain accurate forecasting and pipeline management while staying ahead of market and competitive trends. WHAT YOU’LL BRING
• 7+ years of enterprise sales experience, ideally selling into organizations with 5,000+ employees.
• Proven success closing complex, high-value deals within SaaS, cloud, infrastructure, or enterprise software.
• Strong new-logo/hunter mentality with experience building pipeline and expanding strategic accounts.
• Experience selling to C-level executives and navigating multiple stakeholders.
• Strong consultative selling, negotiation, forecasting, and account-planning skills.
• Experience with Salesforce or similar CRM platforms.
• Knowledge of APIs, open source, cloud, or infrastructure technology is a plus.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment and take ownership of your territory. BENEFITS & GROWTH AT KONG Strong Sales Momentum: Join a high-performing sales organization where 49% of reps are achieving 100%+ of quota and fully ramped reps are averaging 117% attainment. Competitive Earning Potential: Competitive compensation with uncapped commissions designed to reward performance. Equity Ownership: Eligible employees have the opportunity to share in Kong’s long-term growth through equity. President’s Club: Exceptional performance is celebrated, with top sales performers having the opportunity to earn President’s Club. Career Development: Structured onboarding, MEDDPICC training, ongoing sales enablement, coaching, and development designed to help you grow your career. Global Opportunity: Work with enterprise customers and teams across the Americas, EMEA, and APJ while helping shape the future of API and AI connectivity. Award-Winning Culture: Kong is Great Place To Work Certified™ in the U.S. for the fourth time, with 95% of surveyed employees saying Kong is a great place to work. Wellbeing & Benefits: Health, wellness, retirement, parental, time-off, and other benefits are offered based on country and employment type. Benefits, compensation, equity eligibility, incentive programs, and other offerings may vary based on location, role, and employment type. 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.