Datadog for Startups - Forward Deployed Engineering Lead

The Consulting Solutions; New York (NY); On-site; USD 192,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Equity package

Comprehensive benefits

Fitness reimbursements

Paid time off

Job summary

The Consulting Solutions is seeking an experienced technical leader to evolve the FDE operating model and build innovative offerings. You will engage with cross-functional teams and drive complex deployments.

Candidates should have extensive experience in forward deployed engineering and a deep understanding of cloud-native architectures, including Kubernetes and AWS. The role offers a competitive salary and benefits package.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in relevant technical fields, with 3+ years customer-facing.
• 2+ years in engineering management or technical leadership roles.
• Deep familiarity with cloud-native stacks.

Responsibilities

• Evolve the FDE operating model end-to-end.
• Build a catalog of FDE offerings and pricing models.
• Capture product gaps and partner with PM and Engineering.

Skills

Forward deployed engineering

Solutions architecture

Technical leadership

Kubernetes

AWS/GCP/Azure

CI/CD pipelines

Observability

Tools

Datadog

Job description

What You’ll Do

• Evolve and scale the FDE operating model end-to-end: engagement intake, scoping, sprint delivery, handoff back to account teams, and the success metrics (time-to-value, adoption lift, ARR influence, NPS) and reporting infrastructure that support them.
• Build out a catalog of FDE offerings spanning observability quickstarts, custom integration development, LLM/AI observability accelerators, CI/CD pipeline instrumentation, and cost optimization deep dives, and contribute to their pricing and business models, including free-to-paid conversion plays, paid deployment packages, and post-deployment success motions.
• Capture product and feature gaps uncovered during deployments, translate them into structured prioritized briefs, and partner with PM and Engineering to strengthen the field‑feedback channel that informs roadmap decisions on a regular cadence.
• Hire, onboard, and develop full‑time FDEs, manage a rotating cohort of SWE and TSE secondments, build technical assessment frameworks suited to the customer‑embedded nature of the role, and coach the team on engagement, scoping, stakeholder communication, and Datadog platform depth.
• Identify high‑value mini‑product opportunities (integrations, dashboards, automation scripts, open‑source tooling), drive lightweight engineering sprints that convert recurring customer needs into reusable assets, and maintain a prioritized build backlog informed by deployment learnings and competitive intelligence.
• Partner with Sales, Solutions Engineering, Customer Success, and Business Development to identify which accounts enter the FDE motion, represent the function in QBRs and executive business reviews, and serve as a trusted advisor through complex deployment cycles.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in forward deployed engineering, solutions architecture, software engineering, or related technical fields, including at least 3 years in a customer‑facing technical role.
• 2+ years of engineering management or technical leadership experience, including hiring, coaching, performance management, and cross‑functional collaboration.
• Have contributed to or scaled a technical program, practice, or new function within a high‑growth technology company, with a track record of influencing product roadmaps through structured field feedback.
• Bring deep familiarity with modern cloud‑native stacks (Kubernetes, AWS/GCP/Azure, microservices, CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure‑as‑code) and hands‑on experience with observability, monitoring, APM, or logging platforms; Datadog experience is a strong plus.
• Communicate exceptionally across audiences from engineering leads and CTOs to VP‑level executives, bring strong commercial instinct for how technical decisions translate to ARR, churn risk, and expansion, navigate large matrixed organizations without direct authority, and are comfortable with significant travel to embed with customers.
• Entrepreneurial mindset, thrive in evolving environments, demonstrate strong business acumen, navigate matrixed organizations without direct authority, and are willing to travel to support customer engagements.

Benefits and Growth

Shape and scale a rapidly growing strategic function with significant influence on its operating model and future direction. Key benefits include:

• Partner directly with leadership across Engineering, Product, Sales, Customer Success, and Business Development.
• Influence customer outcomes while helping inform Datadog's product roadmap through structured field feedback.
• Work with a diverse portfolio of technically sophisticated organizations solving complex observability challenges.
• Develop expertise across cloud infrastructure, platform engineering, AI observability, deployment strategy, and customer‑facing technical leadership.
• Gain visibility through participation in executive reviews, planning cycles, and cross‑functional initiatives across the business.
• Competitive salary and equity package, variable compensation, comprehensive benefits: healthcare, dental, parental planning, mental health benefits, 401(k) plan and match, paid time off, fitness reimbursements, discounted employee stock purchase plan.
• Estimated yearly salary: $192,000 – $240,000 USD.

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.