Sr. Forward Deployed Engineer - Public Sector

Databricks Inc.; United States; Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Databricks is seeking a Sr. Forward Deployed Engineer for public sector work in a hybrid role based around the Washington, DC metro area.

You will own architecture and lead end-to-end data and AI solutions for federal, state, and local government customers, collaborating with engineering, product, and customer teams to deliver measurable impact. The role combines hands-on technical delivery with strategic guidance, requiring strong cloud experience across AWS/Azure/GCP and a passion for solving

Qualifications

• 6+ years experience in data engineering, data platforms & analytics, or software engineering
• Working knowledge of two or more common Cloud ecosystems (AWS, Azure, GCP) with expertise in at least one

Responsibilities

• Lead production-grade solutions for government customers
• Architect and implement end-to-end data/AI solutions
• Collaborate across engineering, product, and customer teams

Skills

Data engineering

Cloud platforms

Analytics

Software engineering

Job description

Sr. Forward Deployed Engineer - Public Sector

Berkeley, California; California; Connecticut; Los Angeles, California; Massachusetts; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; San Diego, California; Washington

CSQ327R221

PLEASE NOTE: Due to federal contract requirements and client site access obligations, U.S. citizenship and eligibility for a U.S. government Public Trust, Secret and/or Top 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 Public Trust or higher clearance are strongly encouraged to apply.

About Databricks

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 solve 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 Role

As a Sr. Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), you will work with federal, state, and local government 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. We work cross-functionally to shape long-term strategic priorities and initiatives alongside engineering, product, and developer relations. FDEs deliver with customer empathy, integrating with client systems, training, and other technical needs to help customers get most value out of their data.

This is a hands-on, customer-facing role for builders who thrive at the intersection of technology and business impact. The ideal candidate combines engineering expertise with adaptability, curiosity, and a passion for working with customers and teammates to solve complex problems that drive measurable outcomes. FDEs are billable and know how to complete projects according to specification with exceptional customer empathy.

Please note: this role is hybrid and has a requirement to travel to customer locations 20-25% of the time

The 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.
• Deliver Technical Components: Work with the Databricks technical team, Project Manager, Architect and Customer teamto ensure the technical components of the engagement are delivered to meet customer's needs
• Cross-Collaborate: Work with Engineers and Customer Supportto 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.

What We're Looking For

Minimum Qualifications

• 6+ years experience in data engineering, data platforms & analytics, or software engineering
• Working knowledge of two or more common Cloud ecosystems (AWS, Azure, GCP) with expertise in at least one