Staff Software Engineer

About the role

<p data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true">The ML Observability team builds cutting-edge tools to monitor, explain, and improve AI systems in production, particularly those leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative AI. We provide robust, scalable observability for AI workloads, including drift detection and model evaluation, and behavior tracing, enabling customers to ship AI with confidence.</p> <p data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true">As a Staff Engineer, you'll lead the development of new features and foundational capabilities within Datadog's LLM Observability product. You will shape product direction, drive experimentation, and apply your deep understanding of both AI systems and software engineering to solve open-ended problems in the fast-moving AI landscape. Your work will directly impact how our customers monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize LLM-based applications in production.</p> <p data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true">Join us in building the foundational tools that make AI systems observable, understandable, and reliable in the real world.</p> <p data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true"><em data-prosemirror-content-type="mark" data-prosemirror-mark-name="em">At Datadog, we place value in our office culture - the relationships and collaboration it builds and the creativity it brings to the table. The listing location is Boston, Massachusetts, USA; New York, New York, USA.

Key facts

What you'll do

• <p data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true">The ML Observability team builds cutting-edge tools to monitor, explain, and improve AI systems in production, particularly those leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative AI.
• We provide robust, scalable observability for AI workloads, including drift detection and model evaluation, and behavior tracing, enabling customers to ship AI with confidence.</p> <p data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true">As a Staff Engineer, you'll lead the development of new features and foundational capabilities within Datadog's LLM Observability product.
• You will shape product direction, drive experimentation, and apply your deep understanding of both AI systems and software engineering to solve open-ended problems in the fast-moving AI landscape.
• Your work will directly impact how our customers monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize LLM-based applications in production.</p> <p data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true">Join us in building the foundational tools that make AI systems observable, understandable, and reliable in the real world.</p> <p data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true"><em data-prosemirror-content-type="mark" data-prosemirror-mark-name="em">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.</em></p> <p data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true"> </p> <p data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true"><strong data-prosemirror-content-type="mark" data-prosemirror-mark-name="strong">What You'll Do:</strong></p> <ul class="ak-ul" data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="bulletList" data-prosemirror-node-block="true"> <li data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="listItem" data-prosemirror-node-block="true"> <p data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true">Drive design and implementation of LLM observability features.</p> </li> </ul> <ul> <li data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true">Ideate, prototype, and scale new product features to provide insights and drive improvements for generative AI systems</li> <li data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true">Work cross-functionally with other eng teams, product, UX, and applied science to iterate fast and find product-market fit</li> <li data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true">Develop and extend tools for tracing, evaluating, and debugging LLMs</li> <li data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true">Influence architecture decisions and mentor engineers to build resilient, high-performance systems</li> <li data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true">Stay close to customer pain points and use those insights to guide product and engineering priorities</li> <li data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true">Stay current with industry trends and advancements in machine learning and observability, driving innovation within the team</li> </ul> <p data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true"> </p> <p data-prosemirror-content-type="node" data-prosemirror-node-name="paragraph" data-prosemirror-node-block="true"><strong data-prosemirror-content-type="mark&quot

Requirements

• The listing does not enumerate a long requirements list. Use the role title Staff Software Engineer and the source paragraphs above as the stated bar.

About Datadog

Datadog delivers an observability service for cloud-scale applications. Teams use the platform to monitor servers, databases, tools, and services through a SaaS-based data analytics platform. Roles span product, engineering, design, and operations.

Collaboration happens across teams that build and support the platform. You contribute to feature development, reliability, and usability. The company maintains a publicly traded listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Building software is iterative. You ship a slice, measure it, and correct course. Code review, pairing, and written design notes are how teams keep quality from depending on one person. The What you will do section is limited to this posting. The paragraphs here describe the craft, not extra assignments invented for length.

About the location

The posting places this role in Boston, Massachusetts, USA; New York, New York, USA. Local hiring markets vary in interview pace and compensation bands. Location copy is here so readers understand the geography attached to the title.