Sr. Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) - Public Sector

Cacheflow; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 180,656 - 248,360; Full time

Job summary

Cacheflow is seeking a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer in Washington, D.C. to lead impactful projects in data engineering and AI solutions using Databricks. You will collaborate with clients and lead technical projects to ensure production-grade systems are designed and built effectively.

The ideal candidate has over 6 years of experience and is proficient in Python and Cloud environments, particularly Apache Spark. This role involves approximately 20% travel to customer sites.

Qualifications

• 6+ years experience in data engineering or software engineering.
• Knowledge of two or more Cloud ecosystems (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Experience with CI/CD for production deployments.
• Databricks Certification.

Responsibilities

• Lead impactful customer technical projects.
• Guide customers on architecture and design.
• Ensure solutions are secure, scalable, and aligned with best practices.
• Engage with stakeholders to understand challenges.

Skills

Data engineering

Python

Cloud ecosystems

Apache Spark

MLOps

Documentation skills

Customer engagement

Technical project delivery

Tools

Databricks

CI/CD

Job description

Position Identification

CSQ227R175

Eligibility & Security Clearance

Due to federal contract requirements and client site access obligations, U.S. citizenship and eligibility for a U.S. government secret clearance are required to access classified information. The position is based in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, or Virginia metropolitan area and includes periodic on‑site work and client collaboration. Candidates with an active Secret or higher clearance are strongly encouraged to apply.

Role Overview

As a Sr. Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) you will work with customers to build and productionize solutions to their data & AI challenges using the Databricks platform. You will own the architecture, lead design decisions, and implement end‑to‑end systems spanning data engineering, AI, and application development. FDEs deliver with customer empathy, integrating with client systems, training, and other technical needs to help customers get most value out of their data.

Impact You Will Have

• Production Solution Delivery: Lead impactful customer technical projects by delivering production‑grade systems, designing and building reference architectures, custom applications and data ingestion and ML/AI model integration
• Transformational Impact: Guide strategic customers as they implement transformational big data projects including end‑to‑end design, build and deployment of industry‑leading big data and AI applications. Work with engagement managers to scope technical delivery work with input from the customer
• Empower Customers: Guide customers on architecture and design; bootstrap or implement customer projects which leads to a customers' successful understanding, evaluation and adoption of Databricks.
• Own the Architecture: Lead architecture and design decisions, ensuring solutions are secure, scalable, and aligned with both customer needs and Databricks best practices.
• Work with the Databricks technical team, Project Manager, Architect and Customer team to ensure the technical components of the engagement are delivered to meet customer's needs.
• Work with Engineering and Databricks Customer Support to provide product and implementation feedback and to guide rapid resolution for engagement specific product and support issues.
• Customer Immersion: Embed with customer teams, engaging with stakeholders from technical ICs to executives to deeply understand challenges and deliver impact.
• Reusable Assets & Scale: Contribute accelerators, frameworks, and best practices that scale impact across accounts and influence the Databricks product roadmap.

Required Qualifications

• 6+ years experience in data engineering, data platforms & analytics, or software engineering
• Comfortable writing code in either Python, Scala, JavaScript/TypeScript, and modern frameworks
• Working knowledge of two or more common Cloud ecosystems (AWS, Azure, GCP) with expertise in at least one
• Deep experience with distributed computing with Apache Spark™ and knowledge of Spark runtime internals
• Familiarity with CI/CD for production deployments
• Working knowledge of MLOps, ML/AI models and AI APIs
• Design and deployment of performant production end‑to‑end data architectures and applications that combine data pipelines, ML/AI models, and user‑facing interfaces.
• Experience with technical project delivery - managing scope, timelines and measurable outcomes, translating complex concepts into actionable solutions.
• Documentation and white‑boarding skills.
• Experience working with enterprise clients and managing conflicts across a broad stakeholder range
• Build skills in technical areas, and demonstrate curiosity, adaptability, and eagerness to explore new technologies which support the deployment and integration of Databricks‑based solutions to complete customer projects.
• Travel to customers 20% of the time
• Databricks Certification

Pay Range Transparency

Zone 1 Pay Range: $180,656 – $248,360 USD

Zone 2 Pay Range: $180,656 – $248,360 USD

Zone 3 Pay Range: $180,656 – $248,360 USD

Zone 4 Pay Range: $180,656 – $248,360 USD

Equal Employment Opportunity

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.