Sr. Forward Deployed Engineer - Public Sector

Databricks•San Diego, AL

About The Position

As a Sr. Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), you will work with federal, state, and local government customers to build and productionize solutions to data and AI challenges using the Databricks platform. You will own architecture, lead design decisions, and implement end-to-end systems spanning data engineering, AI, and application development. You will collaborate with engineering, product, and developer relations teams on strategic priorities and initiatives. This is a hands-on, customer-facing role focused on integrating with client systems, training customers, and addressing other technical needs so they can get the most value from their data. FDEs are billable and are expected to complete projects according to specification with exceptional customer empathy. The role requires 25% travel to client sites. Due to federal contract and client site access requirements, eligibility for a U.S. government Public Trust, Secret, and/or Top Secret clearance is required to access classified information; candidates interested in and eligible to obtain an active Public Trust or higher clearance are encouraged to apply.

Requirements

At least 5 years of experience in data engineering, data platforms and analytics, or software engineering.
Fluency writing code in Python, Scala, JavaScript/TypeScript, and modern frameworks.
Working knowledge of at least two common cloud ecosystems (AWS, Azure, GCP), with expertise in at least one.
Deep experience with distributed computing using 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.
Experience designing and deploying 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, documentation, and whiteboarding.
Experience working with enterprise clients and managing conflicts across a broad range of stakeholders.
Eligibility for a U.S. government Public Trust, Secret, and/or Top Secret clearance is required to access classified information.

Nice To Haves

At least 8 years of experience in data engineering, data platforms and analytics, or software engineering.
Databricks certification.
Expertise in MLOps, ML/AI models, and AI APIs.
Interest and eligibility to obtain an active Public Trust or higher clearance.

Responsibilities

Lead customer technical projects and deliver production-grade systems, including reference architectures, custom applications, data ingestion, and ML/AI model integration.
Guide strategic customers through end-to-end design, building, and deployment of big data and AI applications.
Work with engagement managers and customers to scope technical delivery work.
Guide customers on architecture and design, and bootstrap or implement projects to support their understanding, evaluation, and adoption of Databricks.
Own architecture and design decisions, ensuring solutions are secure, scalable, and aligned with customer needs and Databricks best practices.
Coordinate with the Databricks technical team, project manager, architect, and customer team to deliver engagement technical components to meet customer needs.
Collaborate with engineers and customer support to provide product and implementation feedback and help resolve engagement-specific product and support issues.
Embed with customer teams and engage stakeholders from technical individual contributors to executives to understand challenges and deliver impact.
Contribute accelerators, frameworks, and best practices that scale impact across accounts and influence the Databricks product roadmap.
Complete billable projects according to specification with exceptional customer empathy.