Databricks Lead (Staff IT Engineer)

Nutanix; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 117,000 - 175,000; Full time

Job summary

Qualcomm Incorporated seeks a hands-on Databricks Lead (Staff IT Engineer) to design, build, and operate enterprise Databricks solutions in San Diego, CA or Boulder, CO. This on-site role drives platform adoption, AI-native development, and cloud modernization while mentoring engineers and defining engineering standards.

You will lead scalable Lakehouse architectures, develop automation, and advance AI/ML enablement with best practices for SDLC and platform operations.

Qualifications

• 8–12 years of IT experience.
• 4–5 years hands-on Databricks experience.
• Experience in enterprise cloud and AI platforms.

Responsibilities

• Design and operate scalable Databricks Lakehouse architectures.
• Lead technical delivery and mentor engineers.
• Develop reusable platform accelerators and automation.
• Promote AI-native software engineering practices.
• Ensure reliability and observability of platforms.

Skills

Technical leadership

Mentoring

Problem solving

Cross-functional collaboration

Strong communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Databricks

Delta Lake

Unity Catalog

MLflow

Mosaic AI

Python

SQL

Spark

Workflows

Serverless

REST APIs

GitHub

CI/CD

AIOps observability

Job description

Company:Qualcomm IncorporatedJob Area:Information Technology Group, Information Technology Group > IT EngineeringGeneral Summary:The Databricks Lead (Staff IT Engineer) is a hands-on technical leader responsible for designing, building, and operating enterprise-scale Databricks solutions. This role drives platform adoption, AI-native development practices, machine learning enablement, AIOps automation, and cloud modernization initiatives. The individual will lead technical delivery, mentor engineers, establish engineering standards, and ensure highly scalable, secure, and intelligent data and AI platforms.This role requires full-time onsite work in San Diego, CA or Boulder, CO (5 days per week).This role is not eligible for Qualcomm immigration sponsorship.Key ResponsibilitiesDatabricks Platform LeadershipDesign and implement scalable Lakehouse architectures using Databricks, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Workflows, and Serverless capabilities.Develop reusable platform frameworks, accelerators, and automation capabilities.Optimize platform performance, reliability, scalability, and cost efficiency.Drive platform modernization and cloud-native engineering best practices.AI-Native DevelopmentPromote AI-assisted software engineering using Claude Code, GenAI, and automation frameworks.Develop AI-powered engineering workflows to improve developer productivity and quality.Implement intelligent code generation, testing automation, root-cause analysis, and deployment optimization.Establish best practices for AI-enabled SDLC and platform operations.Machine Learning & AI EnablementBuild and operationalize machine learning solutions using MLflow, Mosaic AI, Feature Engineering, and Model Serving.Support predictive analytics, anomaly detection, forecasting, and intelligent automation use cases.Implement model lifecycle management and MLOps practices.Collaborate with AI teams to enable enterprise AI workloads on Databricks.AIOps & Reliability EngineeringImplement observability, monitoring, and automated incident management solutions.Build AI-driven operational insights for proactive issue detection and remediation.Improve platform reliability through self-healing automation and intelligent alerting.Drive reduction in operational toil through automation.Technical LeadershipLead technical design reviews and solution architecture discussions.Mentor engineers and establish coding, testing, and deployment standards.Drive engineering excellence through automation and reusable frameworks.Required QualificationsExperience8–12 years of overall IT experience.4–5 years of hands-on Databricks experience.Strong experience implementing enterprise cloud and AI platforms.Technical SkillsDatabricks PlatformDelta LakeUnity CatalogMLflowMosaic AIPython, SQL, SparkDatabricks WorkflowsREST APIsGitHubCI/CD AutomationAIOps and Observability PlatformsGenerative AI tools and frameworksLeadership CompetenciesTechnical mentoringProblem solving and innovationCross-functional collaborationContinuous improvement mindsetStrong communication skillsSuccess MetricsPlatform availability and reliabilityAI adoption across engineering teamsReduction in operational incidentsDeployment automation maturityML use-case adoptionCost optimization and utilization efficiencyMinimum Qualifications:• 4+ years of IT-related work experience with a Bachelor's degree.OR7+ years of IT-related work experience without a Bachelor’s degree.*Completed advanced degrees in a relevant field may be substituted for up to two years (Master’s = one year, Doctorate = two years) of work experience.Applicants : Qualcomm is an equal opportunity employer. If you are an individual with a disability and need an accommodation during the application/hiring process, rest assured that Qualcomm is committed to providing an accessible process. You may e-mail [e-mail] or call Qualcomm's toll-free number found here . Upon request, Qualcomm will provide reasonable accommodations to support individuals with disabilities to be able participate in the hiring process. Qualcomm is also committed to making our workplace accessible for individuals with disabilities. (Keep in mind that this email address is used to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. We will not respond here to requests for updates on applications or resume inquiries).To all Staffing and Recruiting Agencies : Our Careers Site is only for individuals seeking a job at Qualcomm. Staffing and recruiting agencies and individuals being represented by an agency are not authorized to use this site or to submit profiles, applications or resumes, and any such submissions will be considered unsolicited. Qualcomm does not accept unsolicited resumes or applications from agencies. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias, Qualcomm employees or any other company location. Qualcomm is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes/applications.EEO Employer: Qualcomm is an equal opportunity employer; all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or any other protected classification.Qualcomm expects its employees to abide by all applicable policies and procedures, including but not limited to security and other requirements regarding protection of Company confidential information and other confidential and/or proprietary information, to the extent those requirements are permissible under applicable law.Pay range and Other Compensation & Benefits :$116,800.00 - $175,200.00The above pay scale reflects the broad, minimum to maximum, pay scale for this job code for the location for which it has been posted. Even more importantly, please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Qualcomm. We also offer a competitive annual discretionary bonus program and opportunity for annual RSU grants (employees on sales-incentive plans are not eligible for our annual bonus). In addition, our highly competitive benefits package is designed to support your success at work, at home, and at play. Your recruiter will be happy to discuss all that Qualcomm has to offer – and you can review more details about our US benefits at this link .If you would like more information about this role, please contact Qualcomm Careers .