Senior Software Engineer - Linux

The eBPF APM team is building a zero‑instrumentation observability solution that automatically discovers services on every host, supports both plaintext and TLS‑encrypted traffic, classifies Layer7 protocols, decodes service‑level traffic, and reports RED (requests, errors, duration) metrics. Leveraging deep expertise in eBPF, the team operates across a wide range of Linux kernel versions, distributions, and complex customer environments. In addition to low‑level networking, the team solves challenges related to protocol versioning, TLS detection across diverse languages and runtimes, and resilient performance in production systems.

We’re looking for a senior engineer with strong systems‑level thinking and a good understanding of Linux. You should be comfortable working close to the kernel, ideally with experience in eBPF or a strong desire to dive into it. Proficiency in C, C++, or Go is essential, and familiarity with networking protocols, TLS internals, or distributed tracing is a strong advantage.

This role is a great fit for engineers who thrive on low‑level, performance‑sensitive problems and want to shape the future of observability through cutting‑edge kernel technology.

• Design and build core components of our zero‑instrumentation APM product using eBPF and Go
• Develop systems to auto‑discover services, classify L7 protocols, and extract RED metrics from both plaintext and TLS traffic
• Solve complex challenges around protocol parsing, encryption handling, and performance at the kernel level
• Ensure broad compatibility across Linux kernel versions, distributions, and diverse customer environments
• Collaborate across teams to drive technical direction, improve reliability, and scale the system for production use

• Significant experience in backend or systems‑level development, with strong proficiency in Go or similar languages (C/C++)
• Comfortable working close to the Linux kernel and has experience or interest in eBPF, networking, or observability tooling
• Deep focus on performance and efficiency
• Built or operated scalable systems in complex environments and understands how to design for reliability and compatibility
• Thrives in a fast‑paced, technically deep environment, excited to solve hard problems with a small, focused team
• Excited about leveraging AI tools to enhance coding and problem solving, or eager to learn how
• Demonstrated ability to use AI coding tools in day‑to‑day workflows and validate, critique, and refine AI‑generated output
• Motivated to push the boundaries of how AI can improve software engineering best practices and contribute to building AI‑enabled products

• New hire stock equity (RSUs) and employee stock purchase plan (ESPP)
• Continuous professional development, product training, and career pathing
• In‑department mentor and buddy program for in‑house networking
• Inclusive company culture, ability to join our Community Guilds (Datadog employee resource groups)
• Access to Inclusion Talks, our internal panel discussions
• Free, global mental health benefits for employees and dependents age 6+
• Competitive global benefits

Datadog values people from all walks of life. Datadog is proud to offer equal employment opportunity to everyone regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, disability, gender identity, veteran status, and other characteristics protected by law. We consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories and apply consistent legal requirements.