Sr. Engagement Manager, FDE

CSQ128R175

As a Senior Engagement Manager at Databricks, you will play a critical role in leading and scaling the Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) motion across a Business Unit or region. This position is ideal for someone who has been hands-on with data and AI technologies, understands architecture and delivery deeply, and now wants to transition into a customer-facing, sales-aligned leadership role. You will act as a trusted advisor to executives and a strategic partner to account teams, combining technical credibility with commercial impact.

This quota-carrying role goes beyond managing individual engagements — you will embed FDE into Databricks’ broader platform growth, ensuring our customers achieve measurable business value from their investments.

The impact you will have

• Lead the Forward Deployed Engineering motion in your region, aligning closely with Sales, Delivery, and Field Engineering leadership.
• Drive adoption and expansion by positioning and selling standard and customized Forward Deployed Engineering and training offerings from discovery through closing.
• Integrate services into platform deals, ensuring customers achieve measurable business outcomes.
• Act as the technical-commercial bridge: leverage your technical background to engage in architecture discussions, scope solutions, and guide customers toward successful implementations.
• Shape account strategies by aligning service offerings with client goals, transformation roadmaps, and long-term success.
• Collaborate with partners (GSIs, RSIs, cloud providers) to co-sell, develop joint account strategies, and deliver integrated services.
• Bring industry expertise to conversations with customers, demonstrating the art of the possible, creating demand, and building credibility as a trusted advisor.
• Demonstrate technical depth on Databricks and data/AI platforms to scope engagements, support solutioning, and lead technical conversations.
• Coach and mentor junior Engagement Managers, supporting peer development and best practice adoption.

What we look for

• Strong background in customer-facing roles, including consulting, solutioning, and executive engagement, with the ability to engage in architecture-level discussions and translate technical designs into business outcomes.
• Deep industry expertise with the ability to “speak the language” of customers and demonstrate relevant use cases.
• Extensive experience in Professional Services sales and delivery leadership, ideally in the Data & AI domain.
• Solid technical knowledge of data and AI platforms (preferably Databricks) with the ability to scope and solution services engagements.
• Strong program management and delivery oversight skills, with the ability to align cross-functional teams to customer outcomes.
• Excellent communication, influencing, and negotiation skills across executives, technical teams, partners, and internal stakeholders.
• Travel to customers 20% of the time.