We've negotiated many Datadog offers this year. Don't leave $100K+ on the table.
Datadog used to be a particularly difficult company to negotiate with. They softened their policies in 2021 and are now middle of the pack. Some recruiters at Datadog might try to claim they don't negotiate, but that is not true.
- Base Salary
- Datadog Equity Package (see Datadog's RSU vesting schedule below)
- Signing Bonus (not included in all Datadog offer packages)
- Stock Refreshers
Datadog's compensation structure is fairly standard. Two specific things to note: 1) no cash performance bonuses 2) refreshers are not as consistent as other big tech companies.
Datadog doesn't offer cash performance bonuses. When comparing your Datadog offer to other competing offers, you should factor those performance bonuses into your total comp calculation. It's reasonable to push for a higher base salary from Datadog to offset the lack of performance bonus.
Datadog does offer stock refreshers. As mentioned above, these aren't as consistent as most stock refresher plans at public companies. These refresher grants are heavily performance based and strong performers typically received them starting at the end of their 2nd year. However, we have heard that Datadog is looking to update their policy to a yearly refresher grant with clearer targets (i.e. a target % of initial grant).
Datadog has a mixture of in-person and remote roles. The decision as to whether a role is eligible for fully remote is mainly based on the hiring team's needs and preferences. For in-person positions, you will be required in the office 3 days a week.
Datadog has comparatively smaller pay discounts for remote positions. This is a huge advantage if you are working in a low cost of living area.
Some roles at Datadog will require you to move, and in that case, you should push for a $10k+ relocation package.
Datadog's most negotiable component is equity, which is pretty standard in the industry. While base salary is more negotiable than at other companies, the component with the second largest comp band is still signing bonus.
Datadog doesn't usually require written competing offers when negotiating but will ask for additional information like location, breakdown, etc.
Datadog very rarely goes above band. For a long time they refused to match strong competing offers, though they've become somewhat more flexible on this if you use the right strategies.
It is always beneficial to have a strong relationship with your hiring manager. We've seen hiring managers tip the scales in Datadog negotiations. This is more common for companies Datadog's size vs. a company like Google.
The hiring process at Datadog is different for every role. For a software engineer, the hiring process typically has four stages: technical phone screen, take home, onsite interview, and offer stage.
Take-home assignments can be pretty time intensive. They aren't required for all roles and you might be able to avoid doing it in some cases.
Let's consider a Datadog software engineer salary. At the senior level, Datadog tends to give more equity, which can get close to $200k per year. Whereas at Splunk, the highest is around $140k/year. The base salary is pretty comparable at both companies, Splunk is around $225k/year, and Datadog is about $230k/year. Signing bonuses are also similar.
Nothing particularly unique in terms of benefits. It's a better idea to focus your negotiation on equity and signing bonus.
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Coming from a non-FAANG background, I was shocked to find out how much I could be earning. Before I signed up with Rora, I made the mistake of telling Amazon my current compensation. Thankfully, Rora knew exactly how to fix it and ended up getting me an offer that was 2.3X what I previously made and more than $600K higher than Amazon’s initial offer!
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Datadog
has a unique set of negotiation policies. If you don’t have experience negotiating with them, you risk losing out on large amounts of money because of very small mistakes.
There are many of these rules you need to know to get the highest
Datadog
offer possible