Sr. Engagement Manager, FDE

Databricks; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Databricks Inc. is seeking an Engagement Manager within Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) to translate customer business challenges into outcome-driven engagements and lead the lifecycle from discovery to contract closure and handover to delivery.

You will define measurable success criteria aligned with customer priorities and bridge them into actionable service scopes and commercial contracts, driving bookings, services revenue, and platform adoption across Databricks.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of proven experience in enterprise professional services, management consulting, or technical services sales.
• Strong executive presence, negotiation skills, and a track record of shaping and closing complex commercial deals.
• Solid understanding of Data & AI landscape and ability to translate technical services into business value.

Responsibilities

• Lead value-driven opportunity shaping and platform positioning with account teams and customers.
• Formulate commercial deal structures and funding models to address customer budget constraints.
• Own the end-to-end services sales cycle including SOW drafting, pricing, approvals, and contract negotiations.
• Maintain disciplined oversight of deal pipeline health, milestones, risks, and forecasts for bookings and revenue.
• Cultivate executive relationships and align with partners to ensure smooth handover from contract to delivery.

Skills

Executive presence

Negotiation skills

Value framing

Data & AI domain literacy

Pipeline governance

Korean language

English proficiency

Job description

CSQ128R185

The Engagement Manager (EM) within Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) translates customer business challenges into outcome-driven FDE engagements, leading the entire lifecycle from early opportunity discovery and deal shaping to contract closure and seamless handover to the delivery team.

In this role, you will define measurable success criteria aligned with the customer’s strategic priorities and bridge them into actionable service scopes and commercial contracts. Serving as a business and commercial lead connecting customer strategy, services sales, and delivery operations, you will drive FDE bookings, services revenue, and platform adoption across Databricks.

You will collaborate closely with Account Executives, Field Engineering, customer executives, FDE technical leadership, and strategic partners to drive consensus and execution across opportunity qualification, SOW creation, pricing, funding strategy, pipeline forecasting, and delivery enablement.

You will report to the Director, Forward Deployed Engineering.

The Impact You Will Have

• Lead Value-Driven Opportunity Shaping & Platform Positioning: Engage early with account teams and customers to uncover business priorities, budget, and executive sponsorship, while articulating customer success stories and tangible business ROI to qualify high-impact FDE engagements (or route to partners) and drive Databricks platform adoption and expansion.


• Drive Commercial Structuring & Co-Funding Models: Formulate innovative commercial deal structures and unlock co-investment/funding vehicles across Databricks, CSPs (AWS, Azure, GCP), and strategic partners to solve customer budget constraints.


• Own the End-to-End Services Sales Cycle: Lead the full deal execution lifecycle—including solution scoping, proposal and Statement of Work (SOW) drafting, level-of-effort estimation, pricing models, internal approval governance, and commercial contract negotiations.


• Manage Pipeline Governance & Forecasting Accuracy: Maintain disciplined oversight of deal pipeline health, major milestones, risks, and forecasts to deliver predictable bookings and services revenue projections to sales and delivery leadership.


• Collaborative Delivery Architecture, Handoff & Partner Alignment: Cultivate trusted executive relationships and align with SI/consulting partners, collaborating closely with FDE technical leadership to define clear scopes, dependencies, and staffing plans that ensure a seamless transition from contract signature to execution.

What We Look For

• Senior Customer-Facing & Commercial Track Record: 7+ years of proven experience in enterprise professional services, management consulting, or technical services sales, demonstrating strong executive presence, negotiation skills, and a track record of shaping and closing complex commercial deals.


• Value Framing & Comprehensive Deal Crafting: Proven ability to translate complex business objectives into clear value propositions, measurable success metrics, and actionable SOWs, backed by hands‑on experience in drafting proposals, building pricing models, navigating internal approvals, and commercial negotiations.


• Data & AI Domain Literacy & Executive Advisory: Solid understanding of the Data & AI landscape (cloud architecture, data engineering, analytics, ML/AI) with the ability to articulate technical services in terms of business value/ROI and lead credible strategic discussions with both technical and C-level stakeholders.


• Pipeline Governance & Delivery Alignment: Demonstrated accountability for deal pipeline management, bookings/revenue forecasting, and risk mitigation, combined with a working knowledge of project delivery governance to ensure smooth post‑sale handover and stakeholder alignment.


• Language Proficiency: Native‑level fluency in Korean and professional working proficiency in English (both written and verbal).

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced Data & AI Deal & Contract Structuring: Experience leading business development, scoping, and contracting for Data & AI platform modernization, enterprise migrations, or generative AI solutions, including experience structuring outcome‑based, milestone‑driven, or fixed‑scope contracts.


• Cloud Ecosystem & Partner Co-Delivery Models: In‑depth familiarity with major cloud providers (AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud) and leveraging CSP co‑funding/incentive programs, alongside experience designing joint engagement or subcontracting models with System Integrators (SIs) and delivery partners.


• Korea Enterprise Market & Procurement Expertise: Proven track record of leading large‑scale enterprise engagements across key Korean industries (Financial Services, Manufacturing, Retail, Telecommunications, High‑Tech, Gaming), with a deep understanding of domestic procurement cycles and complex stakeholder navigation.

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.