Senior Interaction Designer, Design Lab

We're looking for a Senior Motion Designer to join Design Lab: Datadog's internal innovation team focused on evolving the craft and visual language of our product. You'll be the first motion specialist in our design organization, which means you're not just executing motion work, you're defining what motion means at Datadog.

Datadog is a complex, data-dense platform. Motion here needs to do real work: clarifying state, guiding attention, communicating system behavior. We're looking for someone who approaches motion with that kind of discipline. Your immediate focus will be our product visual refresh, where motion is a core part of where we're taking the product. You'll help build the motion system from the ground up and create the frameworks that let other designers apply it well. From there, Design Lab will continue to work on forward-looking problems where motion will play a central role.

What You'll Do

• Define the motion system. Build the foundational motion language for Datadog: principles, timing, easing, tokens, component-level patterns and more.

• Lead through craft. Set the standard for motion quality across the design org. Influence how teams think about motion, when to use it, and how to choreograph it purposefully in complex product surfaces.

• Embed in product work. Partner directly with product designers across teams as a subject matter expert — bringing motion thinking into real product decisions, not just guidelines.

• Create teachable frameworks. Develop guidance, references, and critique tools that help designers throughout the org develop their own motion judgment over time.

• Collaborate on implementation. Work closely with Design Systems and engineering to ensure motion is feasible, performant, and translated accurately into production.

• Shape future interaction models. As Design Lab takes on AI-first and conversational experiences, contribute motion thinking to emerging interaction patterns where state, feedback, and system intelligence need to be expressed visually.

Who You Are

• You have a point of view. You can articulate why motion decisions are right for a given context

• Your portfolio shows motion applied to real product surfaces — UI states, transitions, feedback patterns — not just polished brand or marketing work.

• You have taste and restraint. You know when motion earns its place and when it doesn't, and you can make that case clearly.

• You've worked in complex interfaces. Dense, data-heavy, or developer-facing products are familiar territory.

• You prototype at multiple fidelities and are comfortable with tools like After Effects, Lottie, Framer, or Principle.

• You understand how motion gets built. CSS, SVG, front-end motion libraries — you don't need to write the code, but you can talk through implementation with an engineer as a peer.

• You make the work around you better, not just your own.

About Datadog

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: 

• New hire stock equity (RSUs) and employee stock purchase plan (ESPP)

• Continuous professional development, product training, and career pathing

• Intradepartmental mentor and buddy program for in-house networking

• An inclusive company culture, ability to join our Community Guilds (Datadog employee resource groups)

• Access to Inclusion Talks, our internal panel discussions

• Free, global mental health benefits for employees and dependents age 6+

• Competitive global benefits

Benefits and Growth listed above may vary based on the country of your employment and the nature of your employment with Datadog.

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