Staff Systems Development Engineer (GovOps)

Location: On-site in McLean, Virginia, at a secure SCIF facility; participation in an on-call rotation is required.

Salary: $153,400–$210,825 USD per year, with potential annual bonus, equity, and benefits.

Company

Databricks builds a unified data and AI platform used by organizations worldwide for analytics, applications, and AI workloads.

What you will do

• Architect platform reliability solutions across Compute, Networking, Storage, IAM, and operating-system domains in GovCloud and air-gapped environments.
• Resolve complex escalations and lead critical incident response with incomplete or evolving information.
• Bridge uncleared core engineering teams and cleared secure facilities through precise technical communication and on-site escorts.
• Develop Python, Bash, and Go diagnostic tools, notebooks, and automated workflows to improve fleet-wide supportability.
• Partner with Product and Core Engineering leaders to identify platform defects, influence roadmaps, and integrate long-term supportability features.
• Maintain operational guardrails and deployment processes aligned with FedRAMP High, ITAR/IL5, and federal security requirements.

Requirements

• Active TS/SCI security clearance required.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Mathematics, or equivalent practical experience.
• 7+ years of experience in Systems Engineering, Cloud Infrastructure, Senior Support Engineering, DevSecOps, or a related technical operations role.
• Expertise in Linux/Unix internals, networking, process and resource debugging, distributed systems, and cloud infrastructure across AWS GovCloud, Azure Government, or GCP.
• Proficiency in Python, Bash, Go, or Java, plus Infrastructure-as-Code tools such as Terraform or CloudFormation and container technologies including Docker and Kubernetes.
• Ability to work on-site in the McLean, Virginia SCIF and participate in critical-incident on-call coverage.

Nice to have

• Active Counterintelligence or Full Scope Polygraph.
• Experience with AWS Worldwide Public Sector, isolated defense integration networks, FedRAMP High, or ITAR environments.
• Experience operating in low-egress or fully air-gapped networks.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on secure infrastructure supporting federal data and AI workloads.
• Comprehensive benefits and region-specific employee perks.
• Potential annual performance bonus, equity, and additional benefits.
• Inclusive hiring practices and a diverse working environment.