Staff Engineer - Data Platform Experience

Datadog
Full-time•Data engineering•Dublin, Ireland · Remote within Ireland · Hybrid
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At a glance

Employment type
Full-time
Workplace
Hybrid

Technologies & skills

Primary technologies

Cloud & infrastructure

Other technical skills

What you'll be doing

Lead the design and delivery of shared platform capabilities for Datadog's Observability Data Platform, focusing on reducing developer friction, improving operational visibility, and enabling engineering teams to move faster. Provide technical leadership, influence platform strategy, and remain hands-on in code.

  • Lead strategic engineering initiatives to improve how product teams build, operate, and evolve services on the Observability Data Platform
  • Design and build scalable platform capabilities for cost intelligence, including cloud cost allocation, trend analysis, and optimization recommendations
  • Develop operational intelligence and self-service tooling for platform health, incident troubleshooting, and operational efficiency
  • Drive reusable platform services and developer workflows to increase engineering autonomy and reduce operational complexity
  • Provide technical leadership across teams by influencing architecture, mentoring engineers, and raising engineering standards through hands-on contributions
  • Participate in the team's on-call rotation and improve platform reliability, observability, and operational excellence

Key requirements

Must-have

  • Experience designing and building large-scale SaaS or cloud platforms with deep expertise in distributed systems
  • Strong software architecture and system design skills
  • Successful leadership of complex technical initiatives across multiple teams
  • Platform engineering mindset focused on building reusable capabilities
  • Effective communication and ability to influence technical direction without direct authority
  • Experience with backend technologies such as Java and Go
  • Experience with distributed infrastructure including Kafka and Kubernetes

Nice-to-have

  • Experience with observability platforms
  • Experience with internal developer platforms
  • Experience with operational tooling
  • Experience with developer productivity solutions
  • Experience with AI-powered engineering workflows

Role signals

Technical focus
platform engineering, distributed systems, backend
Leadership
Mentoring
Architecture / system design
Indicated in the listing
Hands-on vs management
Hands-on

Full job description

As a Staff Engineer on the Data Platform Experience team, you'll help shape how Datadog engineering teams build, operate, and evolve products on the Observability Data Platform. You'll lead the design and delivery of shared platform capabilities that reduce developer friction, improve operational visibility, and enable engineering teams to move faster with confidence. This role combines deep distributed systems expertise with technical leadership across multiple teams, influencing platform strategy while remaining hands-on in the code. You'll have the opportunity to solve company-wide challenges spanning cost intelligence, operational tooling, platform health, and developer experience.

At Datadog, we place value in our office culture - the relationships and collaboration it builds and the creativity it brings to the table. 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 strategic engineering initiatives that improve how product teams build, operate, and evolve services on the Observability Data Platform.

  • Design and build scalable platform capabilities for cost intelligence, including cloud cost allocation, trend analysis, and optimization recommendations.

  • Develop operational intelligence and self-service tooling that helps engineering teams understand platform health, troubleshoot incidents, and improve operational efficiency.

  • Drive reusable platform services and developer workflows that increase engineering autonomy while reducing operational complexity across multiple products.

  • Provide technical leadership across teams by influencing architecture, mentoring engineers, and raising engineering standards through hands-on technical contributions.

  • Participate in the team's on-call rotation and continuously improve platform reliability, observability, and operational excellence.

Who You Are

  • You have experience designing and building large-scale SaaS or cloud platforms with deep expertise in distributed systems.

  • You have strong software architecture and system design skills and have successfully led complex technical initiatives across multiple teams.

  • You have a platform engineering mindset and enjoy building reusable capabilities that enable other engineering organizations to move faster.

  • You are an effective communicator who can influence technical direction without direct authority and collaborate across organizational boundaries.

  • You have experience with backend technologies such as Java and Go, and distributed infrastructure including Kafka and Kubernetes

  • Experience with observability platforms, internal developer platforms, operational tooling, developer productivity solutions, or AI-powered engineering workflows is beneficial but not required.

Datadog values people from all walks of life. We know 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 experience, we encourage you to apply.

  • Benefits and Growth:

  • Generous and competitive benefits package

  • New hire stock equity (RSUs) and employee stock purchase plan

  • Continuous career development and pathing opportunities

  • Employee-focused best in class onboarding

  • Internal mentor and cross-departmental buddy program

  • Friendly and inclusive workplace culture

Benefits and Growth listed above may vary based on the country of your employment and the nature of your employment with Datadog.

#LI-Hybrid

**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.

Interview prep pack

Grounded in this listing. Use it to prepare examples before you apply.

Your interview focus

Expect to be assessed on your ability to lead and design distributed systems for a large-scale SaaS data platform, drive platform engineering initiatives, and provide technical leadership across teams using Java, Go, Kubernetes, and Kafka.

  • Distributed systems design·High
  • Platform engineering leadership·High
  • Operational tooling & observability·High
  • Java, Go, Kubernetes, Kafka·High

Only have 30 minutes?

Follow a focused preparation plan based on this job.

Start 30-minute prep

Your 30-minute plan

  1. Review Distributed Systems Projects

    0–10 min

    List and outline your most relevant distributed systems projects, focusing on challenges, solutions, and outcomes.

  2. Refresh Key Technologies

    10–17 min

    Skim documentation or notes on Java, Go, Kubernetes, and Kafka, emphasizing production use and troubleshooting.

  3. Prepare Leadership and Mentoring Examples

    17–25 min

    Recall specific instances where you led initiatives or mentored engineers, noting your approach and results.

  4. Research Datadog’s Platform

    25–30 min

    Read recent Datadog engineering blog posts or product updates to understand their platform direction.

Likely questions

, 8 items

Priority reflects how strongly this topic is emphasised in the job listing, not whether it will be asked.

Talking points

, 6 items
  • Distributed Systems Architecture

    You will design and build large-scale, reliable SaaS and cloud platforms, so deep knowledge of distributed systems is essential.

  • Platform Engineering Best Practices

    The role focuses on building reusable platform capabilities and developer workflows that improve autonomy and reduce complexity.

  • Operational Tooling and Observability

    You will develop tools for operational intelligence, platform health, and incident troubleshooting, which are core to the role.

  • Technical Leadership Across Teams

    Influencing architecture, mentoring, and raising engineering standards across multiple teams is a key responsibility.

  • Java, Go, Kubernetes, and Kafka

    Hands-on experience with these backend and infrastructure technologies is required for building and operating the platform.

  • Cost Intelligence and Optimization

    Designing capabilities for cloud cost allocation, trend analysis, and optimization is a highlighted responsibility.

What to research

, 3 items
  • Distributed Systems Design and Leadership

    Expect deep questions on designing, building, and leading distributed systems for large-scale SaaS or cloud platforms, including technical decision-making and cross-team influence.

  • Platform Engineering for Developer Enablement

    Be ready to discuss building reusable platform capabilities, operational tooling, and workflows that empower other engineering teams and reduce complexity.

  • Operational Visibility and Cost Intelligence

    Prepare to explain your experience with observability, operational tooling, and designing solutions for cost allocation, trend analysis, and optimization in cloud environments.

Questions to ask

, 6 items
  1. How does the Data Platform Experience team collaborate with other engineering teams at Datadog?

    Why ask this? To understand cross-team dynamics and influence.

  2. What are the biggest challenges currently facing the Observability Data Platform?

    Why ask this? To learn where your expertise will have the most impact.

  3. How are platform reliability and operational excellence measured and improved?

    Why ask this? To assess the maturity of operational practices.

  4. What opportunities are there for technical mentorship and leadership development?

    Why ask this? To understand how you can grow as a leader.

  5. How does Datadog support innovation in platform engineering?

    Why ask this? To gauge openness to new ideas and experimentation.

  6. What is the team’s approach to on-call rotations and incident management?

    Why ask this? To clarify expectations around operational responsibilities.

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Apply NowApply before: 9 Nov 2026