Engineering Manager I, Commercial Audit

As the Engineering Manager for Commercial Audit, you will lead a high-performing team responsible for scaling Datadog’s security and compliance posture through automation, tooling, and engineering excellence. Our GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) function is a critical partner to the broader Security and Engineering organizations, ensuring that Datadog not only meets rigorous global regulatory standards but does so in a way that is efficient, scalable, and integrated into our cloud-native infrastructure. You will manage a team of engineers and analysts who are transitioning to a GRC engineering direction to treat compliance as a software problem, leveraging AI, custom tooling, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud-native services to turn complex regulatory requirements into actionable, automated controls. You will lead the strategy, roadmap, and execution of Datadog’s Commercial Audit initiatives. This is a high-impact leadership role where you will grow a team of engineers and analysts responsible for directly maintaining our compliance programs and related audits (e.g., SOC2, PCI, HIPAA, ISO) while looking to improve efficiency and effectiveness through platforms and tooling. You will act as a bridge between technical engineering, legal, and compliance, enabling the organization to move fast while maintaining a secure and compliant environment. You will champion a culture of "compliance-as-code," identifying opportunities to automate evidence collection, streamline control testing, and reduce manual toil for both your team and our partner engineering teams. 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 the strategy, roadmap, and execution of Datadog’s commercial security compliance efforts, shifting from manual audit processes to automated, scalable platforms and methodologies. • Build, mentor, and grow a high-performing team of engineers and analysts, fostering a culture of technical excellence, continuous learning, and cross-functional collaboration. • Partner within Information Security to operationalize a common control framework that integrates seamlessly into Datadog’s architecture and processes. • Drive the development of internal tooling to automate evidence collection and dashboarding, reducing operational friction across the organization. • Define and track program metrics: control coverage, audit efficiency, and automation adoption • Collaborate with broader internal engineering teams to embed compliance-by-design into our infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud-native service adoption. Who You Are: • You build strong, trusted relationships across engineering, legal, product, and executive stakeholders. You remain calm under pressure, navigate disagreement with diplomacy, and consistently bring people to alignment without creating unnecessary friction. • You are a steady, low-ego leader who earns trust through consistency, diplomacy, and sound judgment. You can navigate difficult conversations, resolve conflict constructively, and maintain strong working relationships across diverse teams. • You have experience leading or managing teams in security engineering, GRC, or risk management with a focus on leveraging AI to build automation and tooling for transitioning to a GRC engineering approach. • Strong technical background with the ability to review code (Python, Go), interpret architecture diagrams, and understand infrastructure (Kubernetes, AWS/GCP/Azure). • Deep understanding of the modern compliance landscape (e.g., HIPAA, SOC2, PCI, ISO 27001, FedRAMP) and experience implementing them at scale in cloud-native environments. • You are a clear communicator who can translate complex technical or regulatory requirements into "plain language" for engineers, leadership, and external auditors alike. • You possess a systems-thinking mindset—you look for upstream root causes and downstream impacts rather than solving problems in isolation. • Experience in a SaaS or cloud infrastructure company where security scale and complexity are first-order challenges. • Experienced people leader with a focus on mentorship, team growth, and inclusion. You know how to build trust and alignment across diverse teams. • You operate with both rigor and pragmatism. You know when to build a bespoke engineering solution and when to leverage existing platforms or processes. Nice to Haves: • Prior experience working as an auditor (e.g., QSA) or directly facilitating audits, with the ability to negotiate scope and timelines effectively. Datadog values people from all walks of life. We understand 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 skills, we encourage you to apply. Benefits and Growth: • Generous and competitive benefits package. • New hire stock equity (RSUs) and employee stock purchase plan. • Continuous career development and pathing opportunities. • Employee-focused best in class onboarding. • Internal mentor and cross-departmental buddy program. • Friendly and inclusive workplace culture. Benefits and Growth listed above may vary based on the country of your employment and the nature of your employment with Datadog. To conform to US export control regulations, candidates should be eligible for any required authorizations from the US government. This job is available in various departments within our company; to conform to US export control regulations, some of these roles may require candidates to be eligible for any required authorizations from the US government. #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, qualifica