Datadog's Applied AI group builds AI foundations and AI-powered features across the Datadog platform. We train ML models, build agents, and ship natural language interfaces that help thousands of customers detect problems, investigate incidents, and act on their infrastructure. Our teams work with some of the world's richest observability data, hundreds of trillions of data points per day, to build production AI at real scale.
Our work spans ML models, agentic systems, conversational AI, foundation models, and the infrastructure that supports them. As a Manager II, you will lead multiple teams of engineers, applied scientists, and managers in this space. You own the technical direction and the team culture. You drive work from research through production, partner with product to set priorities, and help shape how Datadog uses AI to close the loop between detecting a problem and fixing it.
At Datadog, we place value in our office culture—the relationships and collaboration it builds and the creativity it brings. We operate as a hybrid workplace to ensure our Datadogs can create a work-life harmony that best fits them.
What You'll Do:
- Lead and grow multiple teams of engineers, applied scientists, and managers working on AI-powered features across the Datadog platform
- Set technical vision and strategy for your area in partnership with Product
- Ship AI products end-to-end, from data pipelines and model training through evaluation, deployment, and production operations
- Coach and develop senior engineers and managers, building a culture of high performance, psychological safety, and clear feedback
- Drive collaboration across Applied AI, product, and partner engineering teams to deliver on Datadog's AI priorities
- Build evaluation and quality practices for AI systems, offline benchmarks, online metrics, and continuous improvement loops
- Own operational excellence for your teams' systems: reliability, on-call, incident response, and technical quality
- Hire and plan for organizational growth as the AI group scales
- Help shape Datadog's broader AI roadmap and promote best practices in ML engineering and career development across the organization
Who You Are:
- An experienced technical leader with a strong background in AI, machine learning, or data science
- Proven track record building and shipping ML or AI-powered products in production
- Experience leading and mentoring multiple teams, including senior engineers and engineering managers
- Deep technical expertise in one or more areas: large language models, agentic systems, anomaly detection, time-series modeling, NLP, retrieval-augmented generation, or ML infrastructure
- Comfortable partnering with Product to set vision and strategy, and turning ambiguous problems into clear plans
- A strong people manager who can attract, develop, and retain top AI and engineering talent
- BS/MS/PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent professional experience
Datadog values people from all walks of life. We understand not everyone will meet all the above qualifications on day one. That's okay. If you're passionate about technology and want to grow your skills, we encourage you to apply.
Benefits and Growth:
- New hire stock equity (RSUs) and employee stock purchase plan (ESPP)
- Continuous professional development, product training, and career pathing
- An inclusive company culture, ability to join our Community Guilds (Datadog employee resource groups)
- Free, global Spring Health benefits for employees and dependents age 6+
- Competitive global benefits
- Giving programs
Benefits and Growth listed above may vary based on the country of your employment and the nature of your employment with Datadog.
Datadog offers a competitive salary and equity package, and may include variable compensation. Actual compensation is based on factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, and experience. In addition, Datadog offers a wide range of best in class, comprehensive and inclusive employee benefits for this role including healthcare, dental, parental planning, and mental health benefits, a 401(k) plan and match, paid time off, fitness reimbursements, and a discounted employee stock purchase plan.
About Datadog:
Datadog is the leading observability and security platform for the AI era, providing businesses with unified visibility across the technology stack to manage complexity at scale. It brings applications, infrastructure, data, models, and security into one place, using AI to detect and resolve issues before they impact customers. Trusted globally by Fortune 500 companies and high-growth AI leaders, Datadog enables businesses to move faster with clarity and confidence. Learn more about #DatadogLife on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Datadog Learning Center.
Equal Opportunity at Datadog:
Datadog is proud to offer equal employment opportunity to everyone regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, veteran status, and other characteristics protected by law. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. Here are our Candidate Legal Notices for your reference.
Datadog endeavors to make our Careers Page accessible to all users. If you would like to contact us regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process, please complete this form. This form is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.
Privacy and AI Guidelines:
Any information you submit to Datadog as part of your application will be processed in accordance with Datadog’s Applicant and Candidate Privacy Notice. For information on our AI policy, please visit Interviewing at Datadog AI Guidelines.
Skills Required
- Strong background in AI, machine learning, or data science
- Proven track record building and shipping ML or AI-powered products in production
- Experience leading and mentoring multiple teams, including senior engineers and engineering managers
- Deep technical expertise in one or more: large language models, agentic systems, anomaly detection, time-series modeling, NLP, retrieval-augmented generation, or ML infrastructure
- Experience with end-to-end production ML lifecycle: data pipelines, model training, evaluation, deployment, and production operations
- Ability to partner with Product to set vision and turn ambiguous problems into clear plans
- Strong people management skills: attract, develop, and retain AI and engineering talent
- BS/MS/PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent experience
What the Team is Saying
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Datadog Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage is paired with company-provided mental-health access and support for gender-affirming care. Fitness reimbursements in eligible locations further bolster wellbeing.
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Parental & Family Support — Fully paid, gender-neutral parental leave and extensive family-forming benefits (adoption, fertility, preservation, surrogacy) are highlighted. Childcare subsidies and pet-related support where eligible add practical family assistance.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — New-hire RSUs and an employee stock purchase plan at a discount provide broad ownership opportunities. Feedback suggests these equity programs meaningfully complement cash compensation in many roles.
Datadog Insights
What We Do
Datadog (NASDAQ: DDOG) is a global SaaS business, delivering a rare combination of growth and profitability. We are on a mission to break down silos and solve complexity in the cloud age by enabling digital transformation, cloud migration, and infrastructure monitoring of our customers' entire technology stacks. Built by engineers, for engineers, Datadog is used by organizations of all sizes across a wide range of industries. Together, we champion professional development, diversity of thought, innovation, and work excellence to empower continuous growth. Join the pack and become part of a collaborative, pragmatic, and thoughtful people-first community where we solve tough problems, take smart risks, and celebrate one another.
Why Work With Us
At Datadog, we learn from and celebrate each other daily - each win is a team win. Datadogs solve tough problems, innovate pragmatically, and grow together. We promote from within, provide mentorship and opportunities for career development, and support our colleagues in the process. Best of all? We truly love what we do.
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Datadog Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
We operate as a hybrid workplace to ensure our Datadogs can create a work-life harmony that best fits them and their team.
