Manager I, Engineering

About the role

The role focuses on leading and cultivating a team of engineers across diverse experience levels with a strong emphasis on performance management and career development. You will lead technical and strategical discussions to deeply understand the challenges and opportunities faced by both the team and key stakeholders in the engineering organization. The position requires owning and driving relationships with product teams and major stakeholders, balancing competing demands while prioritizing long-term investments and platform-wide impact. You will run a lightweight process to pace and track work, ensuring alignment and steady progress. Support progressive delivery of high-quality work through demonstrable milestones and frequent iteration cycles. Expect to stay close to team systems and roll up sleeves to unblock the team by writing code or troubleshooting critical issues when necessary. You will support internal and external customers in resolving issues and finding systematic solutions that elevate the platform and integration experience for everyone. This role demands a passion for working in a fast-paced, high-growth environment where you will provide leadership and direction for a highly technical team. A positive and proactive approach towards AI, including experience using agentic tools for development and analysis, is expected as part of the daily workflow.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Lead and cultivate a team of engineers of diverse experience levels, including ongoing performance management and structured career development initiatives.
• Lead technical and strategical discussions to surface underlying challenges and uncover new opportunities facing the team and stakeholders.
• Own and drive relationships with product teams and major stakeholders, carefully balancing competing requests while advocating for long-term investments and prioritizing impact across the entire platform.
• Run a lightweight process to pace and track work, establishing clear milestones and ensuring consistent progress against objectives.
• Support progressive delivery of high-quality work through engaging demos and fostering frequent iteration within the development cycle.
• Stay intimately connected with team systems and be prepared to roll up sleeves to unblock the team by writing production code or troubleshooting complex issues directly.
• Support internal and external customers in resolving issues and discovering systematic solutions that elevate the platform and integration experience for all users.
• Provide guidance and mentorship to engineers at various levels, creating an environment that encourages growth, accountability, and continuous learning.
• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration to ensure alignment between engineering, product, and business objectives, driving cohesion and shared understanding.
• Leverage experience with major backend technologies to make informed technical decisions and guide architectural strategies for the platform.
• Promote best practices in software engineering, including code quality, testing, and operational excellence across the team and broader organization.
• Contribute to the strategic planning of the engineering roadmap, translating business needs into technical priorities and execution plans.
• Act as a technical leader in discussions surrounding event-driven architecture, distributed systems, and scalability considerations.
• Champion the adoption of AI agentic tools for development and analysis, integrating them thoughtfully into engineering workflows.

Requirements

• You are a Collaborator and enabler who consistently puts people first, fostering an inclusive and supportive team environment.
• You are a backend engineer with demonstrable experience building robust systems composed of multiple services, data streams, and data stores operating at scale.
• You possess significant experience with major backend technologies such as Go, Python, or Java, along with PostgreSQL, Kafka, event-driven architecture, and/or distributed systems.
• You have experience running platform services and are comfortable making tradeoffs that balance short-term impact with long-term sustainability.
• You have a proven ability to work closely with product and internal teams to deliver solutions that meet scale and business demands effectively.
• You have a passion for thriving in a fast-paced, high-growth environment while providing clear leadership and technical direction for a highly technical team.
• You demonstrate positivity and proactivity towards AI, with hands-on experience using agentic tools for development and analysis in your recent work.
• You are based in or eligible to work in Paris, France, and comply with all visa and work authorization requirements as outlined by local regulations.

Nice to have

• Preference for candidates with prior experience in performance management and career development for engineering teams.
• Background in contributing to open source projects relevant to observability, monitoring, or platform engineering.
• Familiarity with Datadog or similar observability platforms and their integration challenges.
• Experience in SaaS environments and working with publicly traded companies.
• Exposure to AI engineering practices and agentic toolchains in a professional setting.

Practical notes

• This is a hybrid workplace role with expectations for both remote and in-office collaboration.
• Visa sponsorship is available, but candidates must be located in or eligible to work in France.
• The position requires adherence to the company's code of conduct and quality standards in all engineering practices.
• Applicants must meet the specified eligibility criteria and hard requirements as listed in the qualifications section.
• The role reports to the Director of Engineering or equivalent leadership within the organization.
• The successful candidate will be expected to participate in on-call rotations as needed for platform reliability.
• Travel is not required for this position, but flexibility for occasional team gatherings or company events may apply.
• Employment is contingent upon the successful completion of background checks and reference verification as per company policy.
• This role is part of Datadog's ongoing efforts to scale engineering operations in Europe, specifically within the Paris region.