The APM Retrieval team is a strategic platform team shaping how APM data is queried, surfaced, and used in the age of AI. This engineering leader will guide a team responsible for the query path for traces and spans search that powers the Datadog UI, while also leading the evolution of the APM MCP Toolset that enables agentic workflows with access to APM telemetry and intelligence, including metrics, spans, traces, service health, and related capabilities. This role offers the opportunity to lead a future-facing API platform at the intersection of distributed systems, developer experience, and AI-powered product development. The person in this role will help define how Datadog exposes APM intelligence across MCP tools, skills, CLI interfaces, and other emerging surfaces as the ecosystem evolves.

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 and develop a team building and operating core APM retrieval services that power traces and spans search in the Datadog UI

Define technical direction and execution priorities for the APM MCP Toolset and related interfaces that support internal and external agentic workflows

Drive cross-functional alignment with platform, storage, frontend, and AI-focused teams to prioritize high-impact platform capabilities

Establish and measure success through operational and product KPIs such as token efficiency, discoverability, usage, performance, and downstream task outcomes

Own the reliability, deployment, and operational excellence of critical APM services, including services running in ITAR-compliant environments

Mentor engineers through hands-on technical leadership, clear accountability, and a strong culture of execution, learning, and continuous improvement

Who You Are:

You have experience managing engineering teams building backend or platform systems at scale

You bring strong technical depth in distributed systems, APIs, service operations, and production reliability

You have experience working with observability platforms and operating services with clear availability, performance, and quality goals

You are comfortable leading in fast-evolving technical spaces and can translate emerging AI or platform trends into pragmatic team direction

You have a track record of driving cross-team prioritization across multiple stakeholders and downstream consumers

You are an inclusive people leader who supports engineer growth across experience levels through coaching, feedback, and high standards

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.

To conform to US export control regulations, candidates should be eligible for any required authorizations from the US government. This job is available in various departments within our company; to conform to US export control regulations, some of these roles may require candidates to be eligible for any required authorizations from the US government.

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.

The reasonably estimated yearly salary for this role at Datadog is:

$187,000—$240,000 USD

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.

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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.

Manager I, Engineering - APM Retrieval

Job Description

Skills & Requirements