Staff Engineer - Data Semantics

ABOUT THE ROLE As a Staff Engineer - Data Semantics at Datadog, you will be a technical leader responsible for the Data Semantics team, providing shared infrastructure that powers both Datadog's product experiences and AI capabilities. You will play a critical role in shaping the company's strategic platform initiatives, including OpenTelemetry-native observability, semantic interoperability, and AI-powered workflows. WHAT YOU'LL DO As a Staff Engineer, you will be responsible for leading the technical direction of the Data Semantics team, while remaining deeply hands-on in design, implementation, and delivery. Your key responsibilities will include: - Leading the technical direction of the Data Semantics team - Building and scaling semantic infrastructure that bridges OpenTelemetry, Datadog-native telemetry, cloud-provider telemetry, and customer-defined data models - Driving platform initiatives focused on schema evolution, telemetry standardization, data insights, and semantic interoperability across Datadog products - Partnering with engineering and product teams across the platform to define standards, align stakeholders, and deliver high-leverage platform capabilities - Mentoring engineers through design reviews, technical guidance, operational excellence, and long-term career development - Participating in on-call rotations and leading investigation and resolution efforts for complex production incidents affecting critical platform services WHAT YOU'LL NEED To be successful in this role, you will need to have significant experience designing, operating, and scaling large-scale data infrastructure, distributed systems, or high-throughput data platforms. You should also have demonstrated Staff-level impact through technical leadership, architectural ownership, cross-team influence, and mentorship. Additionally, you should be a strong communicator who can drive alignment across engineering and product organizations without direct authority. WHY REMOTE Datadog operates as a hybrid workplace to ensure that employees can create a work-life harmony that best fits them. As a remote employee, you will have the flexibility to work from anywhere and will be part of a global team that values collaboration and creativity. BENEFITS Datadog offers a generous and competitive benefits package, including: - 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