Sr. Forward Deployed Engineer - Federal & AI

Databricks is the Data and AI company. Over 20,000 organizations globally—including 70% of the Fortune 500—rely on the Databricks Data + AI Platform (featuring Unity Catalog, Lakehouse, Lakeflow, Genie, and Agent Bricks) to build analytics, AI applications, and autonomous agents.

As a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), you will embed directly with federal government agencies and public sector clients to build and productionize end-to-end data and AI architectures. In this hands-on, billable, customer-facing technical role, you will own system architecture, design data pipelines, integrate MLOps models/APIs, and build custom applications on top of the Databricks platform. Combining software engineering depth with business consulting, you will work alongside Project Managers, Solutions Architects, and Product teams to transform complex federal data challenges into scalable production systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Production Solution Delivery: Lead technical implementations for federal clients, architecting and shipping production-grade data pipelines, custom web applications, and integrated ML/AI models.
• Architectural Ownership: Own end-to-end solution design—ensuring platforms are secure, performant, scalable, and fully compliant with federal government standards and Databricks best practices.
• Customer Immersion & Alignment: Embed directly with client engineering and executive stakeholders, conducting technical scoping, whiteboarding sessions, and architecture reviews.
• Product & Feedback Loop: Collaborate with Databricks core engineering and support teams to resolve product issues rapidly, providing field feedback to shape the Databricks product roadmap.
• Scalable Accelerators: Author and publish technical reference architectures, reusable code accelerators, and deployment frameworks that scale impact across public sector accounts.

Requirements

Clearance, Education & Experience

• Clearance: Active U.S. Secret or Top Secret Security Clearance is mandatory.
• Experience: 6+ years of hands-on experience in data engineering, software engineering, or data platform architecture.

Technical Competencies

• Fluency in modern programming languages: Python, Scala, or JavaScript/TypeScript.
• Expertise in distributed computing with Apache Spark™ and deep understanding of Spark runtime internals.
• Hands-on expertise with at least one major cloud provider platform (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• Practical experience designing end-to-end data pipelines, CI/CD deployment workflows, and MLOps / AI model API integrations.
• Experience delivering complex technical projects for enterprise or government clients, including stakeholder conflict management and whiteboarding.

Travel & Onsite Requirements

• Ability to travel 20%–25% to client locations per business needs.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced expertise in MLOps, LLM/GenAI APIs, and production AI models.
• Official Databricks Certifications (e.g., Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional, Machine Learning Professional).
• Deep knowledge of federal compliance, DoD Impact Levels, or government cloud environments (AWS GovCloud / Azure Government).

Total Rewards & Benefits

• Pay Transparency: Base salary range of $182,000 – $250,208 USD + eligibility for annual cash bonus and long-term equity grants.
• Comprehensive Healthcare: Robust medical, dental, and vision coverage options for employees and dependents.
• Financial & Family Support: 401(k) program, paid parental leave, flexible time off, and dedicated wellness allowances.