Senior Manager Compensation R&D (AI)

Location: United States

Base salary: $217,800–$299,550 USD annually for Zone 1; additional ranges are $196,100–$269,600 for Zone 2, $185,200–$254,650 for Zone 3, and $174,200–$239,600 for Zone 4. Total compensation may also include an annual performance bonus, equity, and benefits.

Company

Databricks is a data and AI company providing the Data + AI Platform used by more than 20,000 organizations to build and scale data and AI applications, analytics, and agents.

What you will do

• Partner with Engineering leaders to diagnose talent challenges involving AI/ML, infrastructure, specialist hiring, rapid scaling, acquisitions, and reorganizations.
• Design attraction, retention, leveling, and compensation solutions; advise on senior technical hires and high-stakes retention cases.
• Run merit, refresh equity, and promotion cycles end to end for global R&D teams.
• Build AI tools and workflows for offer modeling, retention-risk analysis, cycle quality checks, and leader self-service insights.
• Scale global compensation frameworks covering market pricing, pay-for-performance, equity strategy, and technical job architecture.
• Translate complex analysis into clear recommendations and influence senior stakeholders through data and judgment.

Requirements

• Expert-level analytical modeling, including cost-of-program scenarios, pay-positioning analysis, attrition and retention-risk modeling, and sensitivity and tradeoff analysis.
• Hands-on use of AI tools, LLMs, AI assistants, automation, or agent platforms to build compensation tools, models, or workflows, with the ability to explain implementation and validate output accuracy.
• Strong understanding of RSUs, options, vesting design, refresh strategy, grant values, share-price impact, and retention economics.
• Sound statistical judgment when evaluating market data, sample sizes, ranges, and market pricing.
• Expertise in job architecture, technical career ladders, compensation frameworks, market pricing, pay cycles, global compensation practices, and pay-for-performance design.
• Deep knowledge of competitor compensation for high-tech talent, including new-hire and refresh equity strategies at high-growth technology companies, public technology companies, and AI labs.
• Experience advising executives on sensitive compensation decisions involving offers, promotions, leveling, retention, transfers, and organizational changes.
• Operational excellence in delivering compensation programs end to end, accurately and on time, plus the ability to communicate concise, actionable recommendations.

Nice to have

• Experience supporting Engineering, R&D, or other technical organizations at a high-growth technology company.
• Familiarity with the AI/ML, research, or specialized infrastructure talent markets.
• Experience with acquisition or acqui-hire compensation and retention design.
• Experience with Tableau, other BI tools, or leadership dashboards.
• Experience scaling compensation programs through hypergrowth, IPO, or major organizational change.
• Background in finance, statistics, engineering, or another quantitative field, or equivalent experience.

Culture & Benefits

• Work in a deeply technical, fast-moving environment with high standards, changing priorities, and multiple concurrent initiatives.
• Collaborate with data-driven Engineering leaders and senior stakeholders through rigorous analysis, constructive perspectives, and feedback.
• Benefits and perks are provided according to the employee's region.
• The total compensation package may include annual performance bonus, equity, and regional benefits.
• Databricks is committed to inclusive hiring and equal employment opportunity standards.