Senior Forward-Deployed Data & AI Engineer

FDE Times; California; On-site; USD 182,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Databricks is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to partner with customers in San Francisco Bay Area to architect, build, and productionize data and AI solutions on the Databricks Platform. You will own design decisions and deliver end-to-end systems spanning data engineering, AI, and application development.

The role emphasizes strong customer empathy, hands-on delivery, and cross-functional collaboration with engineering, product, and developer relations.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience in data engineering, data platforms & analytics, or software engineering
• Strong programming skills in Python, Scala, or JavaScript/TypeScript
• Deep knowledge of distributed computing with Apache Spark and its runtime internals
• Experience with two or more major Cloud ecosystems (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• CI/CD for production deployments and MLOps familiarity
• Excellent documentation and white-boarding skills

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture and design of production-grade data & AI solutions across data engineering, AI, and application development
• Own end-to-end solution delivery and ensure security, scalability, and alignment with customer needs
• Collaborate with customers, project managers, architects, and engineering teams to scope and deliver engagements
• Provide feedback to product and support teams to improve platforms and accelerators
• Embed with customer teams to understand challenges and drive measurable outcomes
• Travel to customers up to 20% and deliver with strong customer empathy

Skills

Data engineering

Cloud platforms

Scala/Python/JS

Apache Spark

CI/CD

Customer engagement

Tools

Apache Spark

Job description

Databricks is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to partner with customers in San Francisco Bay Area to architect, build, and productionize data and AI solutions on the Databricks Platform. You will own design decisions and deliver end-to-end systems spanning data engineering, AI, and application development.

The role emphasizes strong customer empathy, hands-on delivery, and cross-functional collaboration with engineering, product, and developer relations.