Product Finance Director, R&D Capital Allocation & Engineering Operations

Databricks; Mountain View (WA); On-site; USD 224,000 - 308,000; Full time

Job summary

Databricks seeks a Product Finance leader to own R&D capital allocation and engineering operations, partnering with senior Engineering and Product Operations to drive ROI and scalable finance processes.

The role focuses on product-level ROI, global workforce strategy, and cost optimization for AI-enabled software development, with a strong emphasis on building and leading a high-performance finance team.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in Strategic/Product Finance or R&D FP&A.
• Deep experience managing large-scale R&D OpEx, headcount capacity modeling, and multi-site workforce planning in a high-growth software/cloud company.
• Proven track record partnering with senior Engineering, Product Operations, and People/Workplace executives to drive capital allocation and operational rigor.
• Systems-level thinker with ability to re-engineer financial processes from scratch—headcount tracking, procurement, close, and SOX controls.
• Experience building, leading, and developing high-output finance teams in fast-moving environments.

Responsibilities

• Drive product-level ROI and R&D capital allocation.
• Establish frameworks to measure product ROI across a fast-moving platform.
• Operationalize ROI metrics to inform product investment and resource allocation decisions.
• Define engineering economics in the AI era and model AI tooling and token spend vs. headcount.
• Measure end-to-end cost of AI-enabled engineering and optimize investments.
• Shape global workforce and location strategy with multi-year headcount planning.
• Coordinate with Workplace and Facilities on real estate and CapEx planning.
• Scale R&D finance operations with automated workflows across headcount, PO planning, accruals, and SOX.

Skills

Financial planning

R&D FP&A

Strategic finance

Headcount planning

SOX controls

Leadership

Tools

SQL

Python

Job description

(GAQ427R231)

About the role

As the company scales at unprecedented velocity, how we invest our R&D capital—both human and compute—is critical to our scale. We are looking for a Product Finance leader to own R&D capital allocation and engineering operations. You will be a key finance partner to our senior Engineering and Product Operations leaders, with a mandate that spans product-level R&D ROI, global workforce and location strategy, and the rapidly evolving economics of AI-enabled software development.

The impact you will have

• Drive product-level ROI and R&D capital allocation

• Establish frameworks to measure product-level ROI across a fast-moving platform like the company where engineering velocity is extremely high.

• Operationalize ROI metrics so they directly inform product investment and resource allocation decisions.

• Define engineering economics in the AI era

• Partner with Engineering to model how AI developer tooling and internal token spend scale alongside headcount, quantifying the tradeoff between human capital and compute capital.

• Measure the end-to-end cost of AI-enabled engineering, including the second-order impact on cloud spend, and partner with Engineering to optimize investments.

• Shape global workforce and location strategy

• Drive multi-year headcount planning across global engineering hubs, balancing cost per hire, talent density, and university recruiting pipelines.

• Partner closely with Workplace and Facilities leadership to synchronize R&D hiring roadmaps with global real estate strategy and multi-year CapEx planning.

• Scale R&D finance operations and build the team

• Bring systems-level thinking to R&D finance operations, building scalable, automated workflows across headcount management, PO planning, monthly accruals, and SOX audit compliance.

• Dogfood the the company platform to modernize internal finance tooling and deliver self-serve operational visibility to engineering leaders.

• Build, mentor, and scale a high-performing team of finance professionals capable of operating seamlessly across strategic capital allocation and rigorous operational execution.

What we look for

• Required

• 10+ years of experience in Strategic/Product Finance or R&D FP&A.

• Deep experience managing large-scale R&D OpEx, headcount capacity modeling, and multi-site workforce planning within a high-growth enterprise software or cloud company.

• A proven track record of partnering directly with senior Engineering, Product Operations, and People/Workplace executives to drive capital allocation and operational rigor.

• Systems-level thinker with a demonstrated ability to re-engineer financial processes from scratch—spanning headcount tracking, procurement, close, and SOX controls—to support rapid scale.

• Experience building, leading, and developing high-output finance teams in fast-moving environments.

• Preferred

• Direct experience analyzing cloud dev/test infrastructure and AI tooling/token costs.

• Experience attributing shared engineering and platform R&D costs across a complex, multi-product portfolio to establish product-level profitability.

• Hands-on proficiency with SQL, Python, or notebook environments (especially the company) to automate reporting and self-serve insights from large operational datasets.

Pay Range Transparency

the company is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. The pay range(s) for this role is listed below and represents the expected salary range for non-commissionable roles or on-target earnings for commissionable roles. Actual compensation packages are based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to job-related skills, depth of experience, relevant certifications and training, and specific work location. Based on the factors above, the company anticipates utilizing the full width of the range. The total compensation package for this position may also include eligibility for annual performance bonus, equity, and the benefits listed above. For more information regarding which range your location is in visit our page here.

Zone 1 Pay Range

$223,800—$307,650 USD

Pay Range Transparency

the company is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. The pay range(s) for this role is listed below and represents the expected salary range for non-commissionable roles or on-target earnings for commissionable roles. Actual compensation packages are based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to job-related skills, depth of experience, relevant certifications and training, and specific work location. Based on the factors above, the company anticipates utilizing the full width of the range. The total compensation package for this position may also include eligibility for annual performance bonus, equity, and the benefits listed above. For more information regarding which range your location is in visit our page here.

Zone 2 Pay Range

$201,400—$276,850 USD

About the company

the company is the Data and AI company. More than 20,000 organizations worldwide — including adidas, AT&T, Bayer, Block, Mastercard, Rivian, Unilever, and 70% of the Fortune 500 — rely on the the company Data + AI Platform to build and scale data and AI apps, analytics and agents. Headquartered in San Francisco with 30+ offices around the globe, the company offers a unified platform that includes Genie, Lakebase, Agent Bricks, Lakeflow, Lakehouse, and Unity Catalog. To learn more, follow the company on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, and Instagram.

**Benefits

**At the company, we strive to provide comprehensive benefits and perks that meet the needs of all of our employees. For specific details on the benefits offered in your region click here.

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

At the company, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture where everyone can excel. We take great care to ensure that our hiring practices are inclusive and meet equal employment opportunity standards. Individuals looking for employment at the company are considered without regard to age, color, disability,