Datadog Infrastructure is the cloud monitoring and observability arm of Datadog, headquartered in New York City, providing infrastructure monitoring, metrics collection, and real-time dashboards for cloud-native environments. The platform supports se...
"I joined as an SRE and felt welcomed right away. Teams are friendly and you will get help when you ask for it."
"Product pace is fast — you are trusted to own big pieces of infrastructure, which is exciting but sometimes intense."
"Benefits and learning resources are solid. I took internal classes and a conference budget that helped my career."
The company culture at Datadog Infrastructure is pragmatic and product-focused. People value shipping reliable systems and measuring impact. There is a strong engineering bent: metrics, postmortems, and automation are part of the daily rhythm. Collaboration across teams is common, and there is an emphasis on openness and technical excellence. At the same time, teams vary — some are very startup-like and move quickly, while others are more process-driven.
Work-life balance at Datadog Infrastructure varies by team and role. Some teams maintain predictable hours and support remote days, while others require bursts of overtime around major launches or incidents. Most employees say you will have flexibility for personal commitments, but during critical incidents or high-priority releases you may need to stay late. Managers generally try to be reasonable about burnouts and encourage time off.
Job security is typically tied to business performance and individual contribution. The company has been scaling its infrastructure teams to match growth in product demands. There are occasional org adjustments as priorities shift. Overall, strong performers who align with strategic goals tend to be well-positioned. As with any fast-moving tech company, there is some risk tied to market conditions.
Leadership communicates a clear focus on reliability, scalability, and customer trust. The leadership style is analytical and data-driven; strategic decisions are often backed by performance metrics. Management emphasizes ownership and autonomy, expecting engineers to propose and execute solutions. Communication from senior leadership is generally transparent, with regular all-hands and updates, though the volume of information can be high.
Manager quality varies across the organization. Many managers are former engineers who understand technical challenges and provide strong coaching. They typically hold regular one-on-ones, set clear goals, and advocate for their teams. In a few areas, managers are newer to people leadership and are still developing coaching and planning skills. Employees recommend seeking teams with supportive managers when possible.
There is a strong focus on professional growth. The company provides training, internal tech talks, lunch-and-learns, and budgets for conferences and courses. Mentorship is common within teams, and there are formal programs for onboarding and skill-building. Engineers are encouraged to spend time on innovation and personal projects that benefit the platform.
Promotion paths are defined with clear expectations for individual contributor and management tracks. Advancement is merit-based and tied to demonstrated impact, influence, and technical scope. Promotion cycles are regular, and many report that with consistent high performance and visibility, progression is achievable. Cross-team moves are also possible for those who want different experiences.
Compensation is competitive with market standards for infrastructure roles. Typical total cash and equity packages depend on level and location. For example, junior infrastructure engineers may see base salaries in the lower to mid six figures (USD), mid-level engineers often fall into the mid-to-upper range, and senior or staff roles can reach higher six figures when equity is included. Exact figures will vary by role, region, and experience.
The company provides performance-based bonuses and equity grants (restricted stock units) as part of the total compensation. Some teams have additional incentives tied to key metrics or business outcomes. Equity refreshes and long-term incentive plans are used to retain high performers. Sales and customer-facing roles typically have commission structures on top of base and equity.
Health benefits are comprehensive and include medical, dental, and vision coverage. There are options for flexible spending accounts (FSA) or health savings accounts (HSA), mental health support, and employee assistance programs. Parental leave and wellness stipends are commonly available. Overall, benefits are designed to support physical and mental wellbeing.
Teams organize regular events: tech talks, hackathons, team offsites, and social gatherings. There are larger company-wide events and smaller team rituals to build connection. Remote-friendly social options and virtual activities help distributed teams stay engaged. Many employees praise the sense of camaraderie during incident response and product launches.
Remote work support is strong. The company invests in tooling, documentation, and communication platforms to enable distributed work. There are stipends for home office setup and guidelines for hybrid schedules. Cross-timezone collaboration is a normal part of life, and asynchronous communication practices are improving.
Average working hours tend to be roughly 40–50 hours per week, depending on role and current projects. During normal operation most people log standard full-time hours. During on-call rotations, launches, or post-incident remediation, weekly hours can spike. Teams try to rotate on-call duties to share load.
Attrition rates are moderate and vary by team. High-demand engineers sometimes move to startups or other big tech companies for different challenges or compensation. The company has made organizational adjustments in response to market shifts in the past; these were communicated with varying degrees of detail. Overall, turnover is not unusually high for a fast-growing tech firm.
Overall, this company rates positively for engineers who enjoy building reliable, large-scale systems and who value autonomy and measurable impact. Compensation and benefits are competitive, learning opportunities are plentiful, and leadership prioritizes product reliability. There are trade-offs: some teams have high intensity periods and job security is tied to market and business performance. For those who like technical challenge and a data-driven culture, this is a strong fit; for those seeking a consistently low-stress 9-to-5, expectations should be managed. Overall score: 4 out of 5.
Read authentic experiences from current and former employees at Datadog Infrastructure
Supportive engineering team, very strong onboarding, excellent benefits and stock program. We use modern tooling and get to work on large-scale infra problems daily.
On-call can be intense during major incidents and sometimes too many meetings. Expect fast pace which isn't for everyone.
High-performing teams, a lot of autonomy, and the product impact is visible. Hiring and tooling are strong which lets teams move fast.
Rapid growth means frequent org changes and occasional burnout. Sometimes priorities shift quickly without enough context.
Interesting technical problems, flexible hours and the team is very collaborative. Great access to learning resources and frequent tech talks.
Compensation lags some competitors and the promotion path feels a bit opaque. Meetings can pile up across time zones.
Great mentorship and hands-on learning. Regular brown-bags and hackathons helped me ramp quickly. The tech stack is modern and well-documented.
Sometimes long hours during launches and the local office is a bit less flexible about remote days than HQ.
High-impact work, lots of ownership over roadmap items, and a talented engineering org. Good cross-functional processes once you learn them.
Roadmap can change quickly and compensation isn't always top market for PM roles. Culture can feel metrics-driven at times.
