Greenhouse ·
full-timeResearch Manager - Post-training For Agents
Datadog · New York, New York, USA
Datadog AI Research (DAIR) focuses on advancing fundamental AI techniques that improve observability and security products. As a Research Manager for post‑training and autonomous agents, you will lead a team exploring reinforcement learning, simulated environments, synthetic data generation, and evaluation methods for agents that operate in complex real‑world systems. Day‑to‑day responsibilities include setting technical research direction, mentoring researchers and engineers, designing RL and post‑training pipelines, building training loops and evaluation frameworks, and collaborating with product and engineering groups to turn research advances into scalable Datadog capabilities. You will also contribute to top‑tier conference publications, present findings, and help open‑source model artifacts and benchmarks. The role suits candidates with a PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field (or equivalent experience) who have deep expertise in reinforcement learning, AI agents, post‑training, or generative modeling, a proven record of leading technically ambitious research, hands‑on experience with agent training systems and evaluation, and a track record of impactful publications or system contributions. You should be comfortable remaining hands‑on while guiding a team and communicating complex ideas across technical and non‑technical audiences.
As a Research Manager within Datadog AI Research (DAIR), you will lead a team working on fundamental research in post-training and autonomous agents while remaining deeply engaged in the technical direction of the work. You will advance reinforcement learning, simulated environments, synthetic data generation, and evaluation methods for agents operating across complex real-world systems. You will provide technical leadership to a team of researchers and research engineers, mentor and develop highly technical talent, shape research direction, and collaborate with Datadog’s product and engineering teams to translate research advances into products. This role is designed for an exceptional researcher or technical leader who wants to maintain a strong hands-on research identity while developing and leading a high-performing team. 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. What You'll Do: Lead research in agent post-training and reinforcement learning, setting the technical direction for ambitious research programs grounded in observability and security Guide and mentor researchers and research engineers while remaining closely involved in research strategy, experimentation, model development, and technical problem-solving Design and advance reinforcement learning approaches, post-training methods, and training loops for agents operating in complex environments Build simulated environments, synthetic data generation approaches, and evaluation frameworks that enable scalable agent training and rigorous measurement Collaborate with cross-functional teams across Research, Product, and Engineering to translate advances in autonomous agents into scalable Datadog capabilities Contribute to research publications, present at top-tier conferences such as NeurIPS, ICLR, and ICML, and help open-source key model artifacts and benchmarks Who You Are: You hold a PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field, or have equivalent experience, with deep expertise in areas such as reinforcement learning, AI agents, post-training, or generative modeling You have demonstrated the ability to lead technically ambitious research at meaningful scale, whether in an industry research lab, startup, academic environment, or another research setting You have extensive hands-on experience designing or implementing reinforcement learning systems, agent training methods, simulated environments, synthetic data pipelines, or evaluation frameworks You have a track record of research impact through influential publications, significant model or system contributions, widely used research artifacts, or equivalent technical achievements You have operated at a senior technical level and have experience leading, mentoring, and developing teams of researchers or engineers, while remaining deeply hands-on in technical direction and execution You want to develop and support a research team while maintaining a strong technical identity, and you can communicate complex research findings effectively across technical and non-technical audiences Datadog values people from all walks of life. We know not everyone will meet all the above qualifications on day one. That’s okay. If you’re passionate about technology and want to grow your experience, we encourage you to apply. Benefits and Growth: Competitive global benefits New hire stock equity (RSUs) and employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) Opportunity to collaborate closely with colleagues across the Datadog offices in New York City and Paris Opportunity to attend and present at conferences and meetups Intra-departmental mentor and buddy program for in-house networking An inclusive company culture, ability to join our Community Guilds (Datadog employee resource groups) Benefits and Growth listed above may vary based on the country of your employment and the nature of your employment with Datadog. #LI-Hybrid Datadog offers a competitive salary and equity package, and may include variable compensation. Actual compensation is based on factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, and experience. In addition, Datadog offers a wide range of best in class, comprehensive and inclusive employee benefits for this role including healthcare, dental, parental planning, and mental health benefits, a 401(k) plan and match, paid time off, fitness reimbursements, and a discounted employee stock purchase plan. The reasonably estimated yearly salary for this role at Datadog is: $244,000 — $305,000 USD About Datadog: Datadog is the leading observability and security platform for the AI era, providing businesses with unified visibility across the technology stack to manage complexity at scale. It brings applications, infrastructure, data, models, and security into one place, using AI to detect and resolve is
| Role | Research Manager - Post-training For Agents |
|---|---|
| Company | Datadog |
| Location | New York, New York, USA |
| Type | full-time |
| Compensation | Not disclosed |
| Posted | 2026-10-13 |
| Deadline | Rolling |
Typical process for this type of role
A general guide — the exact steps for this specific listing may vary; check the original posting for details.
- 1ApplicationSubmit your resume through the apply link.
- 2ScreeningRecruiter reviews your background against the role.
- 3AssessmentA technical test, assignment, or coding round, depending on the role.
- 4Interview(s)One or more rounds with the hiring team.
- 5OfferOffer letter with compensation and start date.
Before you apply
0/4About Datadog
Datadog provides a modern monitoring and security platform designed for developers, IT operations teams, and business users operating in the cloud. The company's platform offers a wide range of capabilities, including infrastructure, network, container, and serverless monitoring, as well as application performance monitoring, log management, and cloud security. These tools are utilized by organizations across various industries, such as financial services, healthcare, retail, and technology, to enable digital transformation and drive collaboration across teams. Datadog employs over 8,100 people globally and continues to expand its presence to support customers across diverse markets and regions.
More at Datadog
Other jobs at Datadog
- Regional Manager, Sales Engineering - AI Accounts · California, USA, Remote; Illinois, USA, Remote; Massachusetts, USA, Remote; New York, USA, Remote
- Enterprise Customer Success Manager - Boston/new York · Boston, Massachusetts, USA; New York, New York, USA
- Associate Customer Success Manager - Boston · Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Manager, Global Entity Management · New York, New York, USA
- Manager, Business Recruiting - GTM Ecosystems · New York, New York, USA
Explore Related Placements
// similar opportunities
You might also like
Staff Research Scientist - Post-training For Agents
Datadog
As a Staff Research Scientist within Datadog AI Research (DAIR), you will drive research in post-training and autonomous agents as a hands-on individual contrib...
Manager I, Engineering - Reference Tables Access
Datadog
The Reference Tables Access team owns the UI, MCP, APIs, and control plane that customers use to bring external data into Datadog. Reference Tables lets them us...
Manager, Business Recruiting - GTM Ecosystems
Datadog
As a Manager on our Business Recruiting team, you’ll lead a team of recruiters responsible for hiring across Americas Enterprise Sales. You’ll operate as a coac...
Manager, Global Entity Management
Datadog
About the role Datadog employs roughly 8,100 people across 35 countries through global subsidiaries, all under a Nevada parent. Some are operating companies. Ot...
Product Manager II - Agent Observability
Datadog
As organizations move AI agents from experimentation into production, engineering teams need to understand whether those agents are accurate, reliable, performa...
Hybrid work model; 3+ years PM experience required; Salary $156k‑$195k
Senior Design Manager - AI Monitoring & Management
Datadog
This team owns what it takes for an organization to trust the AI it runs in production, from the GPU infrastructure that trains and serves models, to the agents...