Sr. Forward Deployed Engineer - National Security

Databricks is the Data and AI company, building and running the world's best data and AI infrastructure platform. More than 20,000 organizations worldwide, including 70% of the Fortune 500, rely on the Databricks Data + AI Platform to build and scale data and AI apps, analytics, and agents. Headquartered in San Francisco with 30+ offices globally.

As a Sr. Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), you will work with federal government customers to build and productionize solutions to their data & AI challenges using the Databricks platform. You will own the architecture, lead design decisions, and implement end-to-end systems spanning data engineering, AI, and application development. This is a hands-on, customer-facing role for builders who thrive at the intersection of technology and business impact.

• Lead impactful customer technical projects by delivering production-grade systems, designing and building reference architectures, custom applications, data ingestion, and ML/AI model integration.
• 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.
• Guide customers on architecture and design; bootstrap or implement customer projects to ensure successful adoption of Databricks.
• Lead architecture and design decisions, ensuring solutions are secure, scalable, and aligned with customer needs and Databricks best practices.
• Work with the Databricks technical team, Project Manager, Architect, and Customer team to ensure technical components are delivered to meet customer needs.
• Work with Engineers and Customer Support to provide product and implementation feedback and guide rapid resolution of engagement-specific issues.
• Embed with customer teams, engaging with stakeholders from technical ICs to executives to understand challenges and deliver impact.
• Contribute accelerators, frameworks, and best practices that scale impact across accounts and influence the Databricks product roadmap.

• 6+ years experience in data engineering, data platforms & analytics, or software engineering
• Fluency in writing code in Python, Scala, JavaScript/TypeScript, and modern frameworks
• Working knowledge of 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
• Familiarity with CI/CD for production deployments
• Working knowledge of 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, documentation, and white-boarding skills
• Experience working with enterprise clients and managing conflicts across a broad stakeholder range

• Expertise in MLOps, ML/AI models, and AI APIs
• Databricks Certification

Due to federal contract requirements and client site access obligations, U.S. citizenship and eligibility for a U.S. government secret clearance are required. Candidates with an active Secret or higher clearance are strongly encouraged to apply.

Pay range: $182,000—$250,208 USD (all zones). Total compensation may include annual performance bonus, equity, and benefits. Databricks offers comprehensive benefits and perks; specific details vary by region.