This role pays more than
98%
of similar roles. Most pay
$169,557–$214,500
— the shaded band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$306k
versus about
$192k
for comparable roles.
Based on 240 similar postings.
Employer
About Datadog
Datadog, Inc. is an American company that provides an observability service for cloud-scale applications, providing monitoring of servers, databases, tools, and services, through a SaaS-based data analytics platform.
Datadog currently has
266 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$161,000–$205,000
across 138 roles with salary data.
As a Senior Staff Software Engineer, you will join the engineering team to serve as a technical leader and steward of large-scale systems. You will act as a technical owner for critical infrastructure areas, driving the design and delivery of high-impact projects from vision to production execution. Your daily work involves building distributed query engines, real-time event streaming, and observability data platforms while navigating complex, multi-team problem spaces to ensure consistent architectural alignment. You will optimize performance, reliability, and efficiency in distributed systems while mentoring other engineers and shaping the technical roadmap. The role requires expertise in backend infrastructure, distributed storage, networking, or data infrastructure. You must be proficient in using AI coding tools to refine outputs and improve software engineering best practices within the context of high-scale observability data processing.
What does a Software Engineer earn?
Median $197500 from 2196 postings across 133 companies.
Act as the technical owner for critical systems and architecture areas across multiple teams.
Drive the design and delivery of high-scale projects from initial vision to production execution.
Build consensus among stakeholders on key architectural decisions and long-term technical strategies.
Investigate and optimize performance, reliability, and efficiency in large-scale distributed systems.
Guide engineering teams through complex ambiguity and scaling challenges with clear technical direction.
Mentor engineers and improve engineering culture through design reviews and technical leadership.
Shape the company's technical roadmap by collaborating with senior leadership across the organization.
What we're looking for
You must have a BS/MS/PhD in a scientific field or equivalent practical experience.
You must have 10+ years of backend, infrastructure, or distributed systems engineering experience.
You must have 4+ years of experience leading complex technical initiatives and cross-team projects.
You must possess deep expertise in core systems domains like distributed storage, event streaming, networking, data infrastructure, or large-scale observability.
You must have the ability to navigate ambiguous problem spaces and align diverse stakeholders around a shared technical vision.
You must be able to design and deliver highly reliable systems that serve critical business needs.
You must demonstrate the ability to use AI coding tools in daily workflows and refine AI-generated output.