Senior Staff Architect, Observability & Governance

Databricks Inc.; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 217,000 - 299,000; Full time

Job summary

Databricks in Seattle is seeking a senior technical leader to drive strategy and execution across Query Observability, SQL Warehouse Management, and Account-Level Observability and Governance. You will shape durable architecture, mentor engineers, and partner with SQL, Unity Catalog, AI, security, and platform teams to deliver scalable observability and governance across data plane and control plane.

The role emphasizes long-term direction, cross-functional collaboration, and delivering customer

Qualifications

• 12+ years building and operating large-scale distributed systems or governance platforms.
• Proven track record as a technical leader in multi-stakeholder environments.
• Strong fundamentals in algorithms, data structures, and systems design.
• Experience with observability pipelines, query engines, or data governance.
• Excellent cross-functional communication across engineering, product, and infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Set long-term technical direction and multi-year architecture for three surfaces (query observability, warehouse management, account-level governance).
• Design and lead high-impact projects to improve performance, reliability, and cost transparency for customers.
• Mentor senior engineers and recruit top talent for observability, insights, and governance.
• Collaborate with Databricks SQL, Unity Catalog, AI, security, and platform teams to integrate visibility and governance across data and control planes.
• Champion reliable software and operational practices for large deployments used by thousands of customers.

Skills

Distributed systems

Platform leadership

Observability pipelines

Cross-functional communication

Algorithms & systems design

Education

BS in Computer Science or equivalent

MS/PhD a plus

Tools

Databricks SQL

Unity Catalog

LLM-based agentic experiences

Job description

Databricks in Seattle is seeking a senior technical leader to drive strategy and execution across Query Observability, SQL Warehouse Management, and Account-Level Observability and Governance. You will shape durable architecture, mentor engineers, and partner with SQL, Unity Catalog, AI, security, and platform teams to deliver scalable observability and governance across data plane and control plane.

The role emphasizes long-term direction, cross-functional collaboration, and delivering customer