Lead Sales Recruiter - EMEA

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.

About the role:

Kong is scaling rapidly. We are building a world-class revenue engine, and to do that, we need a Lead Sales Recruiter who doesn't just fill seats but identifies elite talent.

Our sales organisation operates on MEDDIC. We believe that rigorous qualification applies just as much to hiring as it does to selling. We are looking for a talent partner who can audit a candidate’s sales acumen, dig into their deal mechanics, and ensure they have the DNA to close six-figure deals in a fast-paced scale-up environment.

As the Lead Sales Recruiter, you will own the hiring strategy for our most critical revenue roles (Enterprise & Commercial AEs, Sales Leaders).

You will act as a strategic advisor to our EMEA Sales Leaders and you won’t just be passing over CV's; you will be conducting deep-dive competency interviews to ensure every candidate we hire raises the bar.

What You Will Do:

1. MEDDIC-Driven Assessment

• Go beyond the Profile: Assess candidates on their specific deal mechanics. (e.g., "Who was the Economic Buyer in your biggest win?" "What Metrics did you use to build the business case?")

• Filter out the purely artistic sellers from "strategic" sellers by digging into their process, territory planning, and forecasting accuracy.

2. Strategic Sourcing & Headhunting

• Build and nurture a pipeline of top 1% sales talent (President’s Club winners, top 5% attainment).

• Map out competitor sales organisations and execute targeted headhunting campaigns.

• Sell the Kong vision, equity story, and product value to passive candidates who aren't actively looking.

3. Stakeholder Partnership

• Partner with Sales Leadership to ensure alignment on the profile for each specific region and vertical.

• Provide real-time market data to hiring managers regarding salary bands, talent density, and competitor compensation.

• Challenge hiring managers when necessary as the SME on talent.

4. Operational Excellence

• Drive a rigorous interview process that balances speed with quality.

• Mentor other recruiters on sales terminology, objection handling, and closing strategies.

• Track conversion metrics to optimise the funnel (e.g Passthrough Rates, Offer Acceptance Rates etc).

The Ideal Candidate:

• Experience: Full-cycle recruiting experience, with a heavy focus on B2B SaaS / Enterprise Software Sales.

• Methodology Native: You are fluent in MEDDIC / MEDDPICC. You know the difference between a Champion and a Coach, and you know how to test a candidate's grasp of these concepts.

• Scale-Up Resilient: You thrive in ambiguity. You can build a plane while flying it and adapt quickly when priorities change (which they will).

• Hunter Mentality: You don’t rely on inbound applicants. You enjoy the hunt and have a creative toolkit for finding hidden talent.

• Data-Driven: You use data to influence decisions and track your own performance.

#LI-NM1

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.