Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering
DatabricksThe Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering leads a team of FDEs to partner with strategic enterprise customers on data and AI transformations. This role involves shaping customer migrations to the lakehouse, building AI systems, and ensuring delivery excellence. Responsibilities include overseeing team performance, architecting solutions, establishing best practices, and providing feedback to product teams.
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Databricks is redefining what organisations can achieve with data and AI. As the unified platform powering the world's most ambitious data-driven enterprises, we sit at the intersection of cloud migrations, AI transformation, and real-time intelligence and our customers challenge us every day to go further.
As Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering, you will lead a high-performing team of Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) at the forefront of this transformation. Partnering with Databricks' most strategic enterprise customers, you will shape how leading organisations migrate to the lakehouse, build next-generation AI and GenAI systems, and unlock sustained business value from their data investments.
As a people leader, you will build and scale a team that represents Databricks' highest standard of technical excellence and customer impact. Your team will partner with enterprises across industries to architect and deliver mission-critical solutions, from large-scale data migrations and legacy modernisation programs to cutting-edge generative AI, MLOps, and AI agent deployments. You will set the bar for delivery quality, grow world-class talent, and drive the strategic governance framework that ensures every engagement is executed with precision and measurable impact.
The impact you will have:
- Oversee regional performance targets, including billable utilisation, team growth, and hiring, while championing delivery excellence and customer success across the FDE portfolio.
- Partner with Account Executives, Engagement Managers, and Field Engineering leaders to position, scope, and deliver transformational Professional Services (PS) programs spanning data migrations, AI/ML platforms, and advanced analytics.
- Establish best practices for project oversight, risk management, and quality standards that scale with a growing FDE practice, ensuring projects are delivered on time and to specification.
- Synthesise field insights from your team’s engagements to provide direct feedback to Engineering and Product management, helping to guide the Databricks roadmap while driving the creation of reusable customer accelerators and frameworks.
- Serve as the critical escalation point for high-stakes customer situations, leveraging deep technical credibility and leadership judgment to protect strategic relationships and drive rapid resolution.
- Mentor Forward Deployed Engineers through structured career pathways, technical coaching, and a culture of innovation, mastery, and continuous growth.
What we look for:
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Key requirements
- 4+ years leading high-performing technical delivery teams, with a proven track record building excellence-driven cultures
- 5+ years as a technical solutions architect or data/AI engineer, providing coaching credibility
- Familiarity with Databricks, Apache Spark™, MLflow, Delta Lake, or the modern data and AI ecosystem
- Consulting / professional services background with a hands-on technical foundation
- Proven technical depth to personally build with AI, coach teams with best practices, drive organisation-wide adoption
- Demonstrated success leading large-scale data platform migrations and AI/ML programs in enterprise environments
- Strong understanding of technical project delivery, including scope, timelines, and SOW management
- Strong stakeholder management skills navigating complex, high-stakes customer environments
- Ability to travel to customer sites approximately 20% of the time
Nice-to-Haves
- Prior experience at a hyperscaler (Google, AWS, Azure) or a top data/AI company
- An in-house/industry stint alongside vendor-side delivery experience
About Databricks
Databricks is the Data and AI company. More than 20,000 organizations worldwide — including adidas, AT&T, Bayer, Block, Mastercard, Rivian, Unilever, and 70% of the Fortune 500 — rely on the Databricks Data + AI Platform to build and scale data and AI apps, analytics and agents. Headquartered in San Francisco with 30+ offices around the globe, Databricks offers a unified platform that includes Genie, Lakebase, Agent Bricks, Lakeflow, Lakehouse, and Unity Catalog. To learn more, follow Databricks on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, and Instagram.
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.