Datadog

Research Science Intern (PhD)

Datadog ๐Ÿ“ New York, USA ๐Ÿข On-site Posted Sep 15, 2026 via Datadog careers
internship ๐Ÿ“‚ Science & Research ๐Ÿข On-site ๐Ÿญ Technology

โœจ Job Highlights

  • โ˜…Pay: $110,000 to $140,000 a year
  • โ˜…On-site: New York or Pennsylvania
  • โ˜…Internship role in science & research
  • โ˜…Education: PhD or doctorate
  • โ˜…Apply directly on Datadog's careers site
  • โ˜…Posted September 15, 2026

Full Job Description

Research Science Intern (PhD) job at Datadog in New York

There is a Research Science Intern (PhD) vacancy at Datadog, and the role is based in New York or Pennsylvania. This is an internship or trainee position on site. Pay for this role is set at $110,000 to $140,000 a year, according to the posting.

Datadog describes the job as follows.

Datadog AI Research - Scholars Program with Carnegie Mellon University

Datadog AI Research (DAIR) is partnering with Carnegie Mellon University to support a small number of PhD students working on open research problems grounded by ongoing efforts at Datadog/DAIR.

You will frame a problem, run your own experiments, and write up what you find, with compute and data at a scale most academic labs cannot provide. You will collaborate with colleagues working on the same questions.

The Lab And The Research

DAIR is an industrial research lab motivated by practical challenges in observability and software operation: detecting and diagnosing failures, understanding complex production environments, and helping engineers operate software more effectively. The lab focuses on creating specialized foundation models, post-training and evaluating AI agents, and building frontier-scale machine learning systems. By combining fundamental research with Datadog's large-scale, real-world data and infrastructure, the lab develops new AI capabilities and translates them into practical systems with meaningful impact.

Internship projects are shaped with your DAIR mentor and your CMU faculty advisor. You do not need prior experience with observability, monitoring, or infrastructure.

What You'll Do

  • Own a research project end to end: framing the question, running the experiments, writing it up
  • Work directly with a DAIR mentor engaged in the same problem, and stay connected to your advisor and lab
  • Publish, and use the work toward your dissertation
  • See research reach production, when it works
  • Who You Are

  • Currently enrolled in a PhD program at Carnegie Mellon in machine learning, computer science, statistics, or a related field
  • Depth in at least one area relevant to the research above
  • Comfort running real experiments - training models, working with GPUs, reading and reimplementing recent papers
  • Evidence you can do research: conference or workshop papers, preprints, open-source contributions, or a lab project you can discuss in depth
  • Research taste. You can explain why a problem matters and what would change if it were solved.
  • Honest empiricism. You report the ablation that didn't work.
  • Support from your faculty advisor.
  • Not Required

  • A long publication record. How you think matters more than how much you've published.
  • Observability, monitoring, or SRE background.
  • A perfect match to the areas above.
  • Datadog values people from all walks of life. We know not everyone will meet all the above qualifications on day one. Thatโ€™s okay. If youโ€™re passionate about technology and want to grow your experience, we encourage you to apply.

    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.

    If possible, please apply using your personal email address instead of your university email address.

    Students can sign up for a free Datadog Pro account to learn more about our platform and products.

    #LI-Hybrid

    Datadog offers a competitive salary for this role and may include additional compensation elements. 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, paid time off, and benefits related to traveling and relocation, if eligible.

    The reasonably estimated yearly salary for this role at Datadog is: $110,000 to $140,000 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 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.

    Privacy and AI Guidelines

    Any information you submit to Datadog as part of your application will be processed in accordance with Datadogโ€™s Applicant and Candidate Privacy Notice. For information on our AI policy, please visit Interviewing at Datadog AI Guidelines.

    Quick answers

    What is the salary for the Research Science Intern (PhD) role at Datadog?

    Datadog advertises $110,000 to $140,000 a year for this role.

    Can I work remotely in this job?

    No, it is an on-site job in New York or Pennsylvania.

    What experience do I need for this Research Science Intern (PhD) job?

    The posting mentions a phd or doctorate or equivalent and skills such as Machine Learning. Read the full description above for the complete list.

    How do I apply?

    Use the apply button on this page. It takes you to Datadog's own application form, so your CV goes directly to their hiring team.

    When was this job posted?

    Datadog published the role on September 15, 2026. We check the employer's job board every day and take this page down when the role closes, so if you can read it, the job was still listed at our last check.

    Source: Datadog careers page (careers.datadoghq.com). Applications go straight to the employer. We check the listing daily and remove it once it closes.

    Required Skills

    Machine Learning

    ๐Ÿข About Datadog

    We tackle some of the hardest technical problems while delivering a product that "just works" for our customers. And we are backed by some of the best VCs in NYC and the world. Do you want to make a difference? Are you exceptional at your job, and intrinsically motivated by it? Do you eat hard problems for breakfast and find them beautifully simple solutions by lunchtime? Do you ever wish you were there in the early days of these startups everyone is talking about? If so, we want to hear…

    Industry: Technology

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    $110,000 - $140,000 / yearly

    Yearly salary

    Apply on Company Site โ†—
    ๐Ÿข Company Datadog
    ๐Ÿ“ Location New York, USA
    ๐Ÿ’ผ Job Type internship
    ๐ŸŒ Work Mode ๐Ÿข On-site
    ๐Ÿญ Industry Technology
    ๐Ÿ—“ Posted Date Sep 15, 2026
    ๐Ÿ”— Via Datadog careers
    ๐ŸŽ“ Education PhD or doctorate
    ๐Ÿ“… Deadline Dec 16, 2034

    About the Company

    We tackle some of the hardest technical problems while delivering a product that "just works" for our customers. And we…

    View Company โ†’