Staff Engineer - Federal Security Assurance | Databricks

Reporting directly to the Senior Director of Security Assurance, the Staff Security Assurance Engineer will serve as a strategic catalyst leading high-visibility security compliance and federal authorization initiatives. Operating across a complex cloud-native architecture, you will partner closely with Security, Software Engineering, IT, Internal Audit, Corporate Operations, and Product teams to drive end-to-end delivery of security certifications. In this high-stakes role, you will navigate federal compliance frameworks (FedRAMP, DoD IL5/IL6, NIST 800-53, CMMC, PCI, HIPAA), clear cross-functional engineering blockers, and assure that Databricks' Data + AI Platform meets the rigorous security standards required for expanding into defense, intelligence, and regulated enterprise markets.

Key Responsibilities

Federal Security Authorizations & Program Execution

• End-to-End Compliance Ownership: Lead the strategic delivery lifecycle for new security authorizations, federal accreditations, and regulatory compliance programs across cloud-native environments.
• Cross-Functional Governance: Drive consensus across Engineering, Product, IT, and Security teams on complex technical trade-offs, security controls, and architectural remediations.
• Velocity & Risk Mitigation: Identify and neutralize technical project blockers, streamline delivery methodologies, and maintain project momentum across geo-distributed teams.
• Executive & Federal Reporting: Provide clear transparency into project milestones, risk matrices, and dependency mapping through executive-level reporting and briefings for senior leadership and government stakeholders.

Strategic Security Assurance & Technical Leadership

• Framework Optimization: Continuously refine security assurance project frameworks to ensure compliance workflows remain agile, rigorous, and automated.
• Subject Matter Partnership: Forge deep technical relationships with Security Assurance SMEs, cloud architects, and software engineers to align security goals with business growth.

Requirements

Clearance, Location & Technical Foundations

• Security Clearance: Active Top Secret (TS) Clearance with the demonstrated ability to access and work within SCIF environments.
• Location Requirement: Must reside in, or be willing to relocate to, the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
• Professional Experience: 7+ years of technical program management experience in security compliance (or 5+ years with a Master’s degree/advanced technical degree), ideally within a cloud-native SaaS environment.
• Regulatory Framework Mastery: Proven track record of leading high-stakes security compliance initiatives (FedRAMP High, DoD IL5/IL6, NIST 800-53, CMMC, PCI-DSS, HIPAA) from inception to final authorization.
• Technical & Executive Communication: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, capable of bridging deep technical discussions with software engineers and executive-level briefings with government partners.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Cyber Security, or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience).

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience supporting the U.S. Federal Government, Department of Defense (DoD), Intelligence Community (IC), or highly regulated public sector entities.
• Familiarity with cloud-native security controls, container security, and data platform governance (e.g., AWS GovCloud, Azure Government).
• CISSP, CISM, PMP, or related security and program management certifications.