Staff Forward Deployed Engineer

CSQ128R47

Please note: this role is hybrid and has a requirement to travel to customer locations 20-25% of the time. It requires an active Secret or Top Secret clearance OR the willingness and eligibility to obtain one. 

As a Staff Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), you will work with federal, state, and local government customers to build and productionize solutions to their data & AI challenges using the Databricks platform. You will manage and lead technical design and implementations that integrate multiple platform capabilities for high-complexity, multi-faceted engagements. You'll also have the opportunity to influence by mentoring FDEs, customer and partner team members, as well as serve as a trusted advisor to both technical teams and senior leaders by connecting technical decisions to measureable business outcomes. In addition, you will expand platform adoption and restore confience in at-risk accounts by tailoring the approach to the customer's industry, maturity, and team context.

We work cross-functionally to shape long-term strategic priorities and initiatives alongside engineering, product, and developer relations. FDEs deliver with customer empathy, integrating with client systems, training, and other technical needs to help customers get most value out of their data. 

This is a hands-on, customer-facing role for builders who thrive at the intersection of technology and business impact. The ideal candidate combines engineering expertise with adaptability, curiosity, and a passion for working with customers and teammates to solve complex problems that drive measurable outcomes. FDEs are billable and know how to complete projects according to specification with exceptional customer empathy.

The impact you will have:

• Production Solution Delivery: Lead cross-functional execution for complex engagements, coordinating with FDE engagement teams, Sales, Product/Engineering, xSAs and Partner teams to remove roadblocks and scale best practices. Develop frameworks and tools adopted beyond the immediate team and influences Product and Engineering by surfacing platform gaps and roadmap priorities.
• Transformational Impact: Guide strategic customers as they implement transformational big data projects including end-to-end design, build and deployment of industry-leading big data and AI applications. Work with engagement managers to scope technical delivery work with input from the customer
• Empower Customers: Guide customers on architecture and design; bootstrap or implement customer projects which leads to a customers' successful understanding, evaluation and adoption of Databricks.
• Own the Architecture: Lead architecture and design decisions, ensuring solutions are secure, scalable, and aligned with both customer needs and Databricks best practices.
• Work with the Databricks technical team, Project Manager, Architect and Customer team to ensure the technical components of the engagement are delivered to meet customer's needs.
• Work with Engineering and Databricks Customer Support to provide product and implementation feedback and to guide rapid resolution for engagement specific product and support issues.
• Customer Immersion: Embed with customer teams, engaging with stakeholders from technical ICs to executives to deeply understand challenges and deliver impact.
• Reusable Assets & Scale: Contribute accelerators, frameworks, and best practices that scale impact across accounts and influence the Databricks product roadmap.

What we look for:

• 7+ years experience in data engineering, data platforms & analytics, or software engineering
• Expertise working with code in either Python, Scala, JavaScript/TypeScript, and modern frameworks
• Experience with two or more common Cloud ecosystems (AWS, Azure, GCP) with expertise in at least one
• Deep experience with distributed computing with Apache Spark™ and knowledge of Spark runtime internals
• Experience owning large-scale projects impacting multiple teams and BUs independently and work with account teams to grow Databricks consumption
• Deliver quantifiable impact outside of the immediate team
• 3+ years of experience with MLOps, ML/AI models and AI APIs
• Design and deployment of performant production end-to-end data architectures and applications that combine data pipelines, ML/AI models, and user-facing interfaces
• Experience with technical project delivery at the Director level or above, including managing scope, timelines and measurable outcomes, translating complex concepts into actionable solutions

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Experience working with enterprise clients at the C-level level and above and managing conflicts across a broad transformational path and stakeholder range
• Build skills in technical areas, and demonstrate curiosity, adaptability, and eagerness to explore new technologies which support the deployment and integration of Databricks-based solutions to complete customer projects
• Databricks Certification