Sr. Compensation Manager, R&D

Databricks•Mountain View, CA

7d•$217,800 - $299,550

About The Position

Databricks is seeking a strategic and technical Compensation Lead to partner with R&D founders and Engineering VP leadership. This role involves designing equity and cash strategies to attract, retain, and motivate engineers. Reporting to the Director of Compensation, the position requires bridging quantitative analysis with executive advisory to ensure compensation philosophy supports an owner mindset across technology and product teams.

Requirements

Deep understanding of the competitive landscape for core engineering, infrastructure, and AI/ML talent—including aggressive startup equity structures, tech-sector refresh strategies, and specialized software compensation models.
Ability to look beyond standard survey data to build custom, business-aligned compensation solutions from scratch.
Mastery of Excel/Google Sheets required.
Hands-on experience with SQL, Python, Tableau, or AI-driven analytics tools is a strong plus.
Confidence and credibility to partner directly with technical founders and executive leadership on high-stakes, sensitive pay decisions, M&A integrations, and critical offers.
Experience building scalable compensation solutions and operationalizing comp programs across complex systems without sacrificing speed or precision.

Responsibilities

Co-create custom incentive models, specialized technical compensation structures, and high-impact retention frameworks tailored specifically to hyper-competitive R&D skill sets.
Own the end-to-end execution of merit, refresh equity, and promotion cycles across global engineering cohorts, serving as the primary advisor for strategic executive hires and key retention scenarios.
Build and leverage automation and AI solutions to efficiently support complex and nuanced cases.
Scale Databricks’ global compensation structure, refining market pricing models, pay-for-performance mechanics, and equity strategies.