Staff Software Engineer, Technical Lead, Lakebase Manager (LBM)

Databricks; Bellevue (WA); On-site; USD 182,400 - 247,000; Full time

Job summary

Databricks is seeking a Technical Lead for the Lakebase Manager (LBM) team to drive the central control plane for Lakebase, including database lifecycle, wake/suspend, and HA failover across storage, compute, proxy, and console. You will lead technically while partnering with the engineering manager on people and delivery planning.

The role is hands‑on and focuses on Go, Rust, PostgreSQL, and Kubernetes, requiring 8+ years in distributed systems and a track record of architectural influence

Qualifications

• 8+ years designing, building, and operating large‑scale distributed systems.
• Technical leadership as an IC, setting architecture and direction without formal management.
• Hands‑on design and production coding for large distributed services.
• Experience with reliable, highly available services (on‑call, HA, failover).
• Ability to align stakeholders on competing priorities and deliver value.

Responsibilities

• Set technical direction for LBM and own reliability of core Lakebase components.
• Drive architecture, write code for the most critical parts of the project.
• Uphold high standards through reviews, testing, and engineering discipline.
• Mentor engineers and grow distributed‑systems and design expertise.
• Define SLIs/SLOs and improve database lifecycle reliability.
• Lead cross‑team initiatives across Lakebase stack and roadmap planning.

Skills

Distributed systems leadership

Go

Rust

PostgreSQL

Kubernetes

Production code

On-call / incident response

Architectural design

Education

BS in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Go

Rust

PostgreSQL

Kubernetes

Job description

Job ID: P-988

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.

Lakebase enables teams to deliver applications faster with an optimized database developer experience, integration with the lakehouse, and simplified operations. It provides a managed Postgres transactional layer for application state and workloads that combine operational data, analytics, and AI. You'll join as one of the key engineers building out the Lakebase product.

As the Technical Lead on the Lakebase Manager (LBM) team, you will drive, build, and operate the central control plane that owns the core logic for Lakebase: database creation and deletion, wake‑up and suspend, maintaining computes on hot standby, HA failover, and more. LBM interacts with every Lakebase component (storage, compute, proxy, and console) and manages the full database lifecycle at scale, with a focus on reliability. This is a hands‑on individual‑contributor role: you lead the team technically and partner with the team's engineering manager, who owns people management and delivery planning. The stack is Go, Rust, PostgreSQL, and Kubernetes.

The impact you will have

• Set the technical direction for LBM and own the quality and reliability of what the team ships, driving execution on the hardest, highest‑risk parts.
• Drive architecture and design, and write code on the hardest parts of your team's projects.
• Set and uphold high technical standards through architecture reviews, testing, and a culture of engineering excellence.
• Raise the technical bar of the team: mentor engineers, drive rigorous design and code review, and grow their distributed‑systems and design skills.
• Define SLIs, meet SLOs, and drive long‑term reliability improvements across the database lifecycle.
• Lead cross‑team initiatives across the Lakebase stack: align with partner teams on dependencies and unblock cross‑cutting projects.
• Partner with engineering and product leadership to shape and deliver a long‑term technical roadmap.

What we look for

• 8+ years designing, building, and operating large‑scale distributed systems, including the processes around testing, monitoring, and SLIs/SLOs.
• A track record of technical leadership as an individual contributor: setting architecture and direction for a team's projects through influence, without formal management authority.
• Strong hands‑on depth: you still design systems and write production code, and can go deep on architecture for large‑scale distributed services.
• Experience operating reliability‑critical, highly available services (on‑call, incident response, HA/failover).
• Comfortable working toward a multi‑year vision with incremental deliverables, and balancing short‑term delivery against long‑term stability.
• Ability to align multiple stakeholders on competing priorities.
• Motivated by delivering customer value and impact.
• Proficiency in Go, Rust, or a similar systems language; experience with PostgreSQL and Kubernetes is a plus.
• BS (or higher) in Computer Science, or a related field.

Pay Range Transparency

Databricks is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. The pay range(s) for this role is listed below and represents the expected salary range for non‑commissionable roles or on‑target earnings for commissionable roles. Actual compensation packages are based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to job‑related skills, depth of experience, relevant certifications and training, and specific work location. Based on the factors above, Databricks anticipates utilizing the full width of the range. The total compensation package for this position may also include eligibility for annual performance bonus, equity, and the benefits listed above. For more information regarding which range your location is in visit our page here.

$182,400—$247,000 USD

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.