Sr. Deployment Strategist, FDE - Digital Native Business (AI)

Location: San Francisco, California, United States; customer work is often onsite 25–50% of the time, sometimes more.

Salary: $219,765–$302,220 USD per year in Zone 1. Total compensation may also include an annual performance bonus, equity, and benefits.

Company

Databricks provides a unified Data and AI Platform used to build and scale data, analytics, machine learning, and AI applications.

What you will do

• Partner with Sales and customer executives to discover complex business problems, map organizational and technical landscapes, quantify value, and define pilots.
• Own product direction by defining MVPs, writing PRDs, prioritizing engineering backlogs, managing scope, and translating business needs into data, integration, security, and operational requirements.
• Lead technical discovery, architecture discussions, design reviews, and agile delivery with Forward Deployed Engineers.
• Drive solutions from prototype through launch, production readiness, adoption, and resolution of data quality, testing, security, performance, and operational issues.
• Create maintenance plans, customer documentation, and training while identifying reusable solution patterns and future high-value engagements.

Requirements

• Typically 7+ years delivering complex customer-facing data, analytics, AI, or software engagements, or equivalent founder or technical-builder experience.
• Strong executive presence, communication skills, product judgment, and experience leading complex agile software projects.
• Fluency in modern data and AI architectures, including cloud platforms, data pipelines, data models, distributed systems, APIs, security, governance, machine learning, and generative AI application patterns.
• Proficiency in at least one programming or data language such as Python, Java, or SQL, with the ability to explore data, work in notebooks, review code and pipelines, build prototypes, and troubleshoot.
• Experience delivering data, machine learning, or generative AI systems into production and understanding integration, operations, and adoption challenges.
• Ability and willingness to work onsite with customers, often 25–50% of the time and sometimes more.

Nice to have

• Experience in a high-growth technology company, forward-deployed organization, or leading consultancy.
• Experience as a founder or technical builder.

Culture & Benefits

• Work as part of a strategic Forward Deployed Engineering initiative sponsored by Databricks leadership.
• Collaborate closely with executives, Sales, engineers, Product, and Engineering teams.
• Comprehensive benefits and region-specific employee perks.
• Inclusive hiring practices and a commitment to diversity and equal employment opportunity.