Senior Engineering Manager - Notebook Dataplane

Neon; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 229,000 - 314,000; Full time

Job summary

Databricks is seeking a senior engineering leader to own and grow the Notebook Dataplane team, responsible for executing user code reliably at scale within our data and AI infrastructure platform.

You will shape the technical vision, drive architectural decisions, and ensure high-quality delivery through cross-functional collaboration with product and serverless teams. Join a fast-paced, innovation-first environment in San Francisco.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience.
• 4+ years of managing engineering teams, including experience leading managers.
• Experience building and leading teams responsible for high-quality, reliable infrastructure services in complex domains such as distributed systems, compute platforms, or execution environments.
• Proven ability to attract, hire, and coach engineers who meet high standards and develop leaders.
• Strong technical judgment and the ability to drive architectural decisions, manage technical debt, and balance product roadmap priorities with long-term infrastructure investments.
• Experience working cross-functionally with product management and engineering leadership to define strategy, align on roadmaps, and ensure delivery against milestones.
• Comfort operating in a fast-paced environment with evolving requirements, and the ability to diagnose and resolve organizational and technical challenges effectively.
• B.S. in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow the Notebook Dataplane team, building a world-class engineering organization focused on executing user code reliably and efficiently at scale.
• Drive the technical vision, architecture, and long-term roadmap for the Notebook Dataplane service to generalize it to a sandboxed User Code Execution service, balancing product requirements with technical excellence and infrastructure investments.
• Ensure high service quality and reliability, maintaining strong SLAs and minimizing regressions through rigorous testing, monitoring, and operational practices.
• Partner closely with Serverless platform and product teams to align on priorities, remove blockers, and deliver integrated solutions that meet customer needs.
• Establish and uphold engineering standards for design reviews, code quality, testing, and performance across the team.
• Evolve the organizational structure to support long-term initiatives, building strong teams with clear ownership and effective communication patterns.
• Attract, hire, and develop top engineering talent, including senior engineers and managers, to scale the team in alignment with product objectives.

Skills

Engineering leadership

People management

Distributed systems

Architectural judgment

Cross-functional collaboration

Roadmap strategy

Agile delivery

Bachelor's degree

Education

B.S. in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field

Job description

RDQ426R230

At Databricks, we are passionate about enabling data teams to solve the world's toughest problems — from making the next mode of transportation a reality to accelerating the development of medical breakthroughs. We do this by building and running the world's best data and AI infrastructure platform so our customers can use deep data insights to improve their business. Founded by engineers — and customer obsessed — we leap at every opportunity to tackle technical challenges, from designing next-gen UI/UX for interfacing with data to scaling our services and infrastructure across millions of virtual machines. And we're only getting started.

The Notebook Dataplane team runs user code in Databricks Notebooks, providing a reliable, low-latency service that executes stateful user code for Serverless products and agentic workloads. This is a strategic investment area for Databricks, requiring close collaboration with Serverless platform and product teams across the stack to deliver a high-quality service at scale.

The Impact You Will Have

• Lead and grow the Notebook Dataplane team, building a world-class engineering organization focused on executing user code reliably and efficiently at scale.
• Drive the technical vision, architecture, and long-term roadmap for the Notebook Dataplane service to generalize it to a sandboxed User Code Execution service, balancing product requirements with technical excellence and infrastructure investments.
• Ensure high service quality and reliability, maintaining strong SLAs and minimizing regressions through rigorous testing, monitoring, and operational practices.
• Partner closely with Serverless platform and product teams to align on priorities, remove blockers, and deliver integrated solutions that meet customer needs.
• Establish and uphold engineering standards for design reviews, code quality, testing, and performance across the team.
• Evolve the organizational structure to support long-term initiatives, building strong teams with clear ownership and effective communication patterns.
• Attract, hire, and develop top engineering talent, including senior engineers and managers, to scale the team in alignment with product objectives.

What We Look For

• 10+ years of software engineering experience.
• 4+ years managing engineering teams, including experience leading managers.
• Experience building and leading teams responsible for high-quality, reliable infrastructure services in complex technical domains such as distributed systems, compute platforms, or execution environments.
• Proven ability to attract, hire, and coach engineers who meet high technical standards, with a track record of upleveling teams through hiring senior talent, developing leaders, and supporting struggling team members.
• Strong technical judgment and the ability to drive architectural decisions, manage technical debt, and balance product roadmap priorities with long-term infrastructure investments.
• Experience working cross-functionally with product management and engineering leadership to define strategy, align on roadmaps, and ensure consistent delivery against milestones.
• Comfort operating in a fast-paced environment with evolving requirements, and the ability to diagnose and resolve organizational and technical challenges effectively.
• B.S. in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Pay Range Transparency

Databricks 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, Databricks 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.

Local Pay Range

$228,600 — $314,250 USD

About Databricks

Databricks 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 Databricks Data + AI Platform to build and scale data and AI apps, analytics and agents. Headquartered in San Francisco with 30+ offices around the globe, Databricks offers a unified platform that includes Genie, Lakebase, Agent Bricks, Lakeflow, Lakehouse, and Unity Catalog. To learn more, follow Databricks on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, and Instagram.

Benefits

At Databricks, 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 Databricks, 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 Databricks are considered without regard to age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other protected characteristics.

Compliance

If access to export-controlled technology or source code is required for performance of job duties, it is within Employer's discretion whether to apply for a U.S. government license for such positions, and Employer may decline to proceed with an applicant on this basis alone.