Principal Partner Solutions Architect (Public Sector - Fed)
$269k+Application analysis
Principal Partner Solutions Architect (Public Sector - Fed) at Datadog is a forward deployed observability platform role for engineers who want customer-facing technical work with real deployment ownership.
Reading this role
This Solutions / Sales Engineering role centers on technical discovery, demos, POCs, and helping buyers build internal consensus. Key signals from the listing: Kubernetes / containers, Terraform / IaC, AWS, Azure.
About Datadog
Datadog forward deployed engineers help enterprises adopt monitoring, security, and observability at scale. The role is anchored in District of Columbia, Remote, so expect on-site customer work in that region.
Signals in the listing
Stand out for Principal Partner Solutions Architect (Public Sector - Fed)
- Lead your application with one paragraph tying Principal Partner Solutions Architect (Public Sector - Fed) to a specific customer or deployment you owned — Datadog hires for shipped outcomes, not tool lists.
- Bring a tight demo narrative: customer pain, live workflow, and measurable before/after — treat the interview like a compressed POC.
- Show how you qualify opportunities and say no to bad-fit pilots; Datadog values technical judgment in customer-facing roles.
- State clearance status clearly up front (active, expired, or eligible) and mention any prior NIPR/SIPR, IL5, or government cloud accreditation work — recruiters filter on this early.
- For Kubernetes-heavy roles, describe a cluster you operated: upgrades, networking, secrets, observability, and how you debugged a production outage.
- Link to or describe Terraform modules you wrote with environment promotion strategy (dev → staging → prod) and how you handled state and drift.
Stand out at Datadog
- Demonstrate incident/debug fluency with a concrete example — Datadog will probe for specifics, not buzzwords.
- Demonstrate metrics and tracing literacy with a concrete example — Datadog will probe for specifics, not buzzwords.
- Stand out with war stories where observability data directly changed customer reliability or cost.
- Read recent engineering blog posts, product launches, and customer stories on datadog.com — reference one explicitly in your outreach to show genuine interest.
Tailored from this listing’s title, company, and description. Always verify requirements on the company careers page before applying.
Role description
The Team
Datadog is an enterprise SaaS company featured in Forbes Cloud 100, Deloitte's Fast 500 Technology list, and Forrester's Intelligence Application and Service Monitoring Wave as a leader. Our team works with a best-of-breed product that solves real problems for our customers and partners. We are Datadog's in-house product experts and strategic architects of the partner ecosystem. The Partner Technical Solutions team drives Datadog's worldwide growth by shaping how our partners go to market, build services, and create lasting technical differentiation for their customers. We work at the intersection of product strategy, technical depth, and business outcomes - defining the frameworks, programs, and practices that determine how the partner ecosystem scales. Partner Technical Solutions is a growing global team that operates with high autonomy, collaborates constantly across functions, and sets the standard for what technical partnership looks like at Datadog.
The Opportunity
This role is built for someone who has already proven they can operate at the intersection of deep technical authority and executive influence - as comfortable presenting observability architecture to a federal agency CISO as they are rolling up their sleeves to get hands-on with a partner's most complex deployment challenges. Aligned to our Channels & Alliances business segment, the Principal PSA will report to the Head of North America Partner Solutions Architecture. They are accountable for the technical success of our most strategically important federal and public sector partners - a trusted advisor, a force multiplier, and the definitive Datadog expert in every room they enter. Specifically, you will Own the senior technical relationship with a portfolio of high-value federal and public sector partners, serving as a strategic advisor to partner CTO, CISO, and VP-level stakeholders; Lead joint technical strategy sessions and executive business reviews, ensuring alignment between Datadog and partner technical roadmaps at the highest levels of the organization; Architect and lead technically complex partner initiatives including federal cloud migrations, zero-trust observability frameworks, FedRAMP-aligned deployments, and large-scale DevSecOps transformations; Design and deliver partner enablement programs - workshops, certifications, and technical deep-dives - that measurably elevate partner capabilities; Collaborate internally to support partner technical initiatives such as end-customer demonstrations and proofs of value; partner team enablement workshops; assessment, advice, and coaching on lead practices; Advocate on behalf of partners' technical concerns (use cases, feature requests, support issues, e.g.) with Datadog internal teams and personnel, helping to bring those concerns to resolution; Serve as the authoritative voice of federal partner needs with Datadog's Product, Engineering, and Technical Services teams - driving prioritization decisions that shape the platform roadmap; Continuously help curate and evolve lead/best practices for Datadog platform adoption and success.
Requirements
15+ years of experience in a customer- or partner-facing technical role, with a demonstrated record of operating at both the executive and deep-technical levels simultaneously; Proven track record building and sustaining C-suite relationships in federal or public sector environments; Deep familiarity with the federal technology landscape: procurement cycles, compliance frameworks (FedRAMP, FISMA, IL5), and the ecosystem of FSIs, GSIs, and channel partners operating in the public sector; A self-starter, tech-savvy professional with exceptional business acumen; the ability to articulate Datadog value from the server room to the boardroom - and every level in between; Fluency in English required;
Desired hands-on experience in five or more of the following areas:
Observability: Datadog, Splunk, AppD, New Relic, or Dynatrace
Public Cloud: AWS GovCloud, Azure Government, GCP
Containerization: Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift
Dev/Scripting: Python, Go, JavaScript, Ruby, Bash
Config Mgmt: Terraform, Ansible, Puppet, Chef
CI/CD & DevSecOps: Jenkins, GitLab, GitHub Actions
Additional Considerations
Previous experience in a senior technical role at a federal systems integrator, defense contractor, or public sector-focused ISV; Previous experience using Datadog and/or other cloud monitoring tools (APM, Infrastructure, Logs, Synthetics, NPM); Previous experience building or scaling partner technical programs; Previous experience with root-cause-analysis, troubleshooting, debugging. 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:
- $228,650—$268,600 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 issues before they impact customers. Trusted globally by Fortune 500 companies and high-growth AI leaders, Datadog enables businesses to move faster with clarity and confidence. Learn more about #DatadogLife on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Datadog Learning Center.
Equal Opportunity at Datadog:
Datadog is proud to offer equal employment opportunity to everyone regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, veteran status, and other characteristics protected by law. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. Here are our Candidate Legal Notices for your reference. Datadog endeavors to make our Careers Page accessible to all users. If you would like to contact us regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process, please complete this form. This form is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.
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