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NEXTMOVEFDE careers · United States
Datadog

Datadog for Startups - Forward Deployed Engineering Lead

AI summary of the role

Lead the Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) function for Datadog for Startups, defining and scaling the operating model, building a catalog of deployment offerings, and driving field feedback into product roadmap.

What you’ll do

  • Evolve and scale the FDE operating model end-to-end, including intake, scoping, delivery, handoff, and success metrics.
  • Build a catalog of FDE offerings (observability quickstarts, custom integrations, LLM/AI accelerators, CI/CD instrumentation, cost optimization) and contribute to pricing and business models.
  • Capture product gaps from deployments and partner with PM/Engineering to inform roadmap decisions.
  • Hire, onboard, and develop FDEs; manage rotating SWE/TSE secondments and build technical assessment frameworks.

What you’ll bring

  • 8+ years in forward deployed engineering, solutions architecture, software engineering, or related fields, with 3+ years in customer-facing technical roles.
  • 2+ years of engineering management or technical leadership experience including hiring, coaching, and performance management.
  • Track record of scaling a technical program or function and influencing product roadmaps through field feedback.
  • Deep familiarity with cloud-native stacks (Kubernetes, AWS/GCP/Azure, microservices, CI/CD, IaC) and hands-on observability/APM/logging experience.

Technologies

Kubernetes · AWS · GCP · Azure · CI/CD · infrastructure-as-code · observability · APM · logging · LLM observability

About Datadog

Cloud observability SaaS unifying metrics, traces, logs, and security signals for engineering and SRE teams running cloud-native stacks.

Public

Source and classification

Internal deployment & tooling · Evidence for this classification:

Datadog's Forward Deployed Engineering function is in an active growth phase, and the FDE Lead will play a central role in shaping what comes next. Working in close partnership with the Head of Datadog for Startups and Forward Deployed Engineers, and the existing FDE team, you will help define and expand the FDE framework, build out the structures and processes that allow the team to operate at scale, and extend the program's reach well beyond any single customer segment. This role sits at the rare intersection of sales, execution, program design, and hands-on engineering leadership. You are part field technical leader, part program architect, and part cross-functional connector. You will help determine what the FDE motion looks like at Datadog, contribute to its playbook, and push the boundaries of what the team can deliver. At Datadog, we place value in our office culture - the
More from the job description

Datadog's Forward Deployed Engineering function is in an active growth phase, and the FDE Lead will play a central role in shaping what comes next. Working in close partnership with the Head of Datadog for Startups and Forward Deployed Engineers, and the existing FDE team, you will help define and expand the FDE framework, build out the structures and processes that allow the team to operate at scale, and extend the program's reach well beyond any single customer segment. This role sits at the rare intersection of sales, execution, program design, and hands-on engineering leadership. You are part field technical leader, part program architect, and part cross-functional connector. You will help determine what the FDE motion looks like at Datadog, contribute to its playbook, and push the boundaries of what the team can deliver. 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: 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 spa [... source excerpt omitted ...] ecisions 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. Help drive lightweight engineering sprints to conver [... source excerpt omitted ...] o You Are: Have 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. Have 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

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