Manager, Strategic Sourcing, AI Infrastructure & Services

Datadog•New York, NY

5d•$128,000 - $187,000•Hybrid

About The Position

We’re looking for an experienced sourcing leader to join the Datadog Procurement team and help grow the Strategic Sourcing group. Make an impact by partnering closely with senior technology and business leaders, owning our fastest-growing AI, neocloud, and inference spend end-to-end, and continuing to prove the value that Strategic Sourcing brings to the organization. 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.

Requirements

8+ years supporting procurement through strategic sourcing, with a history of category ownership and negotiated savings, ideally across AI software and services, SaaS, and engineering tooling, with neocloud or compute a plus
Fluent in AI spend economics: foundation-model and API pricing, seat- and consumption-based SaaS models, and the cost drivers behind inference, with neocloud provider models an emerging area
Able to lead complex, high-spend negotiations independently and present business cases and savings outcomes to senior stakeholders and Finance leaders in a clear, concise way
Strong executive presence, with the ability to build trust and align senior leaders (up to the executive level) on strategy and commercial trade-offs
Curious about AI and emerging technologies, with a track record of turning them into practical applications that improve team productivity and sourcing workflows
Able to create structure in ambiguous, high-growth environments: global initiatives, scaling headcount, and breaking down silos
Able to become an SME for sourcing and procurement systems such as Zip, and hold a Bachelor’s degree in a related field

Nice To Haves

neocloud or compute a plus

Responsibilities

Own the AI spend category end-to-end, covering foundation-model and AI APIs, AI development and productivity tools, and AI-enabled SaaS (with neocloud and inference compute as an emerging area), while developing and executing category strategies aligned to business objectives
Champion AI and automation adoption across the sourcing function by identifying tools (e.g. Claude, ChatGPT) and building repeatable workflows that make sourcing faster, smarter, and more scalable
Lead high-value AI vendor negotiations spanning foundation-model and API agreements, AI development and productivity tools, and AI SaaS, structuring seat- and consumption-based pricing across net-new purchases and strategic renewals, and building neocloud and GPU-capacity capability as the category grows
Partner with Engineering and Finance to turn architectural and consumption trade-offs into commercial business cases, forecasts, and savings targets
Build pricing and consumption models and apply FinOps discipline to quantify buying scenarios and uncover savings across a fast-moving spend base
Work alongside executive and senior technology leadership as a trusted advisor on AI and neocloud investment decisions, influencing strategy and commercial trade-offs at the leadership level
Track category KPIs (savings, pipeline, cycle time), monitor AI market, vendor, and pricing trends, and report outcomes and recommendations to leadership
Partner cross-functionally with Procurement Operations, Legal, and Security to ensure compliant, scalable execution