Manager II, Developer Advocacy
About The Position
Datadog is seeking a Manager II to lead its Community Advocacy functions. The role manages a team of Developer Advocates responsible for global programs including Datadog Ambassadors, Champions, and User Groups, and for enabling customer engineers to contribute expertise through technical writing, public speaking, and other community contributions. The manager will shape the strategy and roadmap for Community Advocacy, develop contributor programs and pathways, and help customer engineers turn their experiences into authentic, technically credible content and conference talks. The position combines people leadership, program strategy, technical judgment, and cross-functional influence to amplify customer voices, deepen understanding of Datadog products, and foster a thriving community of practitioners. The role partners across Product, Engineering, Marketing, Events, Customer Success, and regional teams, while bringing community insights back into Datadog. It balances strategic leadership with selective hands-on work such as coaching speakers, reviewing technical content, participating in community programs, and representing Datadog.
Requirements
- Experience as a people manager leading autonomous technical professionals, coaching performance, developing talent, and translating complex goals into achievable plans.
- Experience defining and delivering successful developer advocacy, developer relations, technical community, or related functions.
- Experience building or meaningfully contributing to programs that enable external practitioners to participate, contribute, create content, or lead communities at scale.
- Experience helping technical practitioners develop and communicate their stories, including coaching conference speakers or co-developing technically credible talks and content.
- Former software developer, SRE, or other technical practitioner, or equivalent technical depth to assess technical accuracy and coach effective technical narratives.
- Cross-functional leadership skills, including building alignment, making prioritization decisions, and influencing partners across Product, Engineering, Marketing, Events, and customer-facing organizations.
- Ability to use data and community insight to evaluate program effectiveness, identify opportunities, and make investment decisions.
- Understanding of how to build trust with technical communities and value authentic practitioner voices over purely promotional messaging.
- Comfort operating through ambiguity, establishing structure, and evolving programs as products, customers, and technical audiences grow.
Responsibilities
- Lead and develop a team of Developer Advocates by setting expectations, guiding priorities, coaching performance, supporting career growth, and fostering an inclusive, high-performing culture.
- Own Community Advocacy strategy, goals, and roadmap, translating broader Advocacy and company priorities into focused programs and measurable outcomes.
- Guide the development of Ambassador, Champion, and User Group programs, including contributor journeys, expectations, enablement, recognition, and opportunities for greater impact.
- Build repeatable systems that help customer engineers contribute technical knowledge, create content, share best practices, and lead their communities.
- Develop a pipeline of customer stories by identifying practitioners and helping them shape authentic, technically credible narratives.
- Oversee support, co-development, and coaching of customer-engineer conference talks, from idea and abstract development through content review, rehearsal, and delivery, for Datadog events including DASH and third-party industry conferences.
- Establish measures of success and use qualitative and quantitative insights to evaluate program health, contributor engagement, content quality, audience impact, and customer outcomes.
- Partner with Product, Engineering, Marketing, Events, Customer Success, and regional teams to align priorities, identify opportunities, and scale customer participation.
- Share insights from community members with appropriate internal teams to strengthen the connection between customers and Datadog products.
- Balance strategic leadership with selective hands-on contribution, including coaching speakers, reviewing technical content, participating in community programs, and representing Datadog when appropriate.
Benefits
- New hire stock equity (RSUs) and employee stock purchase plan (ESPP).
- Continuous professional development, product training, and career pathing.
- Intradepartmental mentor and buddy program for in-house networking.
- Inclusive company culture and ability to join Community Guilds (employee resource groups).
- Access to Inclusion Talks, internal panel discussions.
- Free global mental health benefits for employees and dependents age 6+.
- Competitive global benefits, which may vary by country of employment and nature of employment.
- Competitive salary and equity package, potentially including variable compensation.
- Healthcare, dental, parental planning, and mental health benefits.
- 401(k) plan and match.
- Paid time off.
- Fitness reimbursements.
- Discounted employee stock purchase plan.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
Education Level
No Education Listed
