Director, Cloud Cost and Capacity Programs

DataBricks • Mountain View, CA

58d

About The Position

At Databricks, our mission is to help data teams solve the world's toughest problems - from climate change to healthcare to cybersecurity - with the power of data and AI. As our platform scales globally, optimizing infrastructure efficiency, reliability, and cost is critical to our ability to innovate and grow. The Director, Cost and Capacity Programs will lead the company's cross-functional strategy and execution to ensure Databricks operates with predictable cost efficiency and elastic capacity across cloud providers, products, and global regions. You will build the programs, infrastructure, rhythms, and insights that empower teams to make data-driven trade-offs between performance, reliability, and cost. The Impact You Will Have Lead and scale programs focused on cost, capacity, and efficiency across Databricks infrastructure and product lines. Drive strategy and execution for multi-cloud infrastructure optimization, provisioning guardrails, utilization forecasting, and spend governance. Partner deeply with Infrastructure Engineering, Finance, and Product to align capacity plans, cost goals, and business growth objectives. Establish a clear operating rhythm - monthly/quarterly reviews, forecasts, and dashboards to provide transparency and accountability at every level. Develop metrics and insights that quantify ROI, utilization, and efficiency, enabling leadership to make informed investment decisions. Build and scale cross-functional initiatives such as rightsizing, multi-cloud optimization, reserved capacity planning, and workload placement. Implement FinOps best practices to embed cost awareness and accountability into engineering workflows, tooling, and culture. Influence cloud vendor negotiations and architecture choices, ensuring Databricks achieves the optimal balance between cost, reliability, and performance. Mentor a high-performing team of technical program managers and analysts driving impact across engineering, product, and operations.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical discipline (or equivalent experience).
• 12+ years of experience in program management, infrastructure operations, or engineering leadership.
• Proven track record leading large-scale cost, capacity, or cloud optimization initiatives in high-growth SaaS or platform environments.
• Deep understanding of cloud cost models (AWS, Azure, GCP), infrastructure provisioning, and performance optimization.
• Strong financial acumen and experience partnering closely with Finance, FP&A, and Ops teams.
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills - able to influence across engineering, product, and executive teams.
• Analytical and strategic thinker who can distill complex trade-offs into clear recommendations and metrics.

Nice To Haves

• Experience building or leading FinOps or CostOps functions in large-scale distributed systems environments.
• Familiarity with infrastructure forecasting, resource modeling, and capacity management tooling.
• Deep understanding of Kubernetes, data platforms, or compute/storage scaling patterns.
• Experience in a hyperscale, multi-cloud, or data infrastructure company.
• Strong people leadership and mentorship experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead and scale programs focused on cost, capacity, and efficiency across Databricks infrastructure and product lines.
• Drive strategy and execution for multi-cloud infrastructure optimization, provisioning guardrails, utilization forecasting, and spend governance.
• Partner deeply with Infrastructure Engineering, Finance, and Product to align capacity plans, cost goals, and business growth objectives.
• Establish a clear operating rhythm - monthly/quarterly reviews, forecasts, and dashboards to provide transparency and accountability at every level.
• Develop metrics and insights that quantify ROI, utilization, and efficiency, enabling leadership to make informed investment decisions.
• Build and scale cross-functional initiatives such as rightsizing, multi-cloud optimization, reserved capacity planning, and workload placement.
• Implement FinOps best practices to embed cost awareness and accountability into engineering workflows, tooling, and culture.
• Influence cloud vendor negotiations and architecture choices, ensuring Databricks achieves the optimal balance between cost, reliability, and performance.
• Mentor a high-performing team of technical program managers and analysts driving impact across engineering, product, and operations.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Industry: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees