Role Overview

Datadog's Manager I, Engineering - APM SDK Capabilities role in Lisbon, Portugal represents a rare opportunity to lead at the forefront of modern observability. APM (Application Performance Monitoring) forms the backbone of Datadog's observability platform, empowering developers to understand service behavior in production environments. This position sits at the critical intersection of infrastructure and developer experience, where you'll lead the team responsible for core tracing libraries that power consistent, reliable telemetry across every language, framework, and runtime.

The APM SDK Capabilities team builds foundational infrastructure including configuration systems, startup validation, extension points, and APIs that seamlessly support both Datadog-native and OpenTelemetry-based instrumentation. Your leadership will directly influence how thousands of engineering teams worldwide implement observability, making complex distributed systems transparent and manageable.

This hybrid engineering manager role in Lisbon offers high leverage impact, partnering with APM product teams, OpenTelemetry ecosystem contributors, and cross-functional engineering groups to shape Datadog's instrumentation strategy for the cloud-native era.

Key Responsibilities at Datadog

• Lead a high-performing team of 5-7 polyglot engineers delivering industry-leading APM SDK capabilities
• Drive technical strategy for configuration management, runtime metrics, and startup diagnostics across multiple languages
• Partner closely with Product Managers and Engineering leads to prioritize features that scale observability adoption
• Contribute to Datadog's OpenTelemetry leadership by influencing specifications and building aligned infrastructure
• Ensure SDKs provide exceptional developer experience through clean APIs, reliable defaults, and comprehensive documentation
• Mentor senior engineers while maintaining hands-on technical contributions to critical systems
• Collaborate cross-functionally to enable APM product features from instrumentation layer through UI
• Build systems that empower developers to instrument applications effortlessly, regardless of stack complexity
• Champion observability-first thinking throughout Datadog's engineering organization

Qualifications & Requirements

Datadog seeks proven engineering leaders who combine technical depth with management excellence. Ideal candidates demonstrate:

• 5+ years engineering management experience with direct reports, preferably in observability or infrastructure
• Deep hands-on experience with APM, distributed tracing, and observability tooling across production environments
• Proficiency in 2+ languages (Go, Java, Python, Node.js, Ruby, etc.) with cross-runtime system development
• Proven track record shipping production SDKs, libraries, or OSS projects used by external developers
• Strong understanding of OpenTelemetry standards and ecosystem contributions
• Exceptional collaboration skills bridging product vision with technical execution
• Passion for developer experience, API design, and building systems that "just work"

Datadog values growth mindset. If you have passion for observability and want to develop management skills, we encourage you to apply even if you don't match every qualification perfectly.

Salary & Benefits

Competitive compensation package includes base salary, equity, and comprehensive benefits tailored for Portugal:

• Salary Range: €90,000 - €130,000 base (USD equivalent $95K-$135K) depending on experience
• New hire RSUs and ESPP participation
• Comprehensive health insurance for employees + dependents
• Global mental health benefits (age 6+)
• Professional development stipend and career pathing
• Hybrid Lisbon work model with office culture emphasis
• Mentor/buddy program + Community Guilds

Why Join Datadog?

Datadog (NASDAQ: DDOG) combines explosive growth with profitability in the $50B+ observability market. As a public company built by engineers for engineers, we empower 20,000+ customers including 70% of Fortune 500 to monitor their entire technology stack.

Your impact: This APM SDK leadership role influences every Datadog tracing integration worldwide. You'll shape how developers understand microservices, serverless, and Kubernetes-native applications through superior instrumentation.

Lisbon advantages: Thriving tech hub with excellent quality of life, mild climate, and growing engineering community. Datadog's hybrid model balances collaboration with flexibility.

Join a profitable unicorn where engineering managers grow into VP-level leadership while maintaining technical credibility.

How to Apply

Ready to lead observability instrumentation at scale? Submit your application including:

• Resume highlighting management achievements and observability experience
• LinkedIn profile with OSS contributions
• Optional: Cover letter explaining your observability passion

Datadog's hiring process includes technical discussions, leadership interviews, and cross-functional panels. We prioritize diverse perspectives and growth potential.

Apply now to shape the future of APM SDKs at the world's leading observability platform!