CSQ327R60
About the Team
The FDE (Forward Deployed Engineering) team is a new, strategic initiative sponsored from the CEO and Founders down. Our mission is to win C-suite-sponsored, high-value AI opportunities by selling and delivering outcomes, not just a platform.
You will be part of the founding team, embedded with our most strategic customers from the very first sales call, all the way through to a production-ready solution. You will be the "product manager" for the customer's problem, responsible for the "why" and "what," while our FDEs (Engineers) will be your partners responsible for the "how."
Role Description
As a Deployment Strategist (DS), you are the critical bridge between a customer's multi-million dollar business problem and Databricks' technical solution. You are a "product manager for the field," owning the entire non-technical lifecycle of an FDE engagement.
You will partner with our Account Executives to build C-suite trust, perform deep discovery to map the customer's political and technical landscape, and, most importantly, scope the value. You will define the Minimum Viable Product for a pilot, write the PRD that guides the engineering team, and manage the project to a successful landing.
This role requires a rare mix of C-suite gravitas, deep product-style thinking, and a hands-on, "get it done" execution mindset.
What You’ll Do
- C-Suite Scoping & Value Definition: Partner with Sales to perform deep discovery, map the customer's organization, quantify the business value ($10M+ problems), and define the pilot (MVP, success criteria, timeline).
- End-to-End Product Ownership: Act as the "CEO" of the project by authoring the PRD, prioritizing the engineering backlog, relentlessly managing scope, and acting as the primary hands-on QA tester.
- Agile Project Execution & Delivery: Drive the FDE build team via an agile process, manage all stakeholder communications from the C-suite to individual engineers, and act as the "escalation manager" to unblock all technical or political issues.
- Solution Launch & Landing: Own the "Day 0" launch, manage the war room, and drive the solution from launch to full adoption by capturing user feedback, iterating, and proving the defined business value.
- Strategic Handoff & Growth: Scope the ongoing maintenance plan, create customer documentation/training, and leverage your trusted advisor status to identify the next high-value FDE engagement.
Requirements
- Executive Presence & Communication: A "Trusted Advisor" with C-suite gravitas and superb communication skills. You are opinionated, humble, and can build rapport and drive decisions in days, not weeks.
- Product & Strategy Mindset: A "Product Thinker" and "Systems Thinker" who can perform a SWOT analysis, understand a competitive landscape, and define "what" to build and "why."
- Relentless Execution: An "Execution Driver" with a "Hands-On" mentality. You are relentless, an expert at escalation, and willing to do the unglamorous work to get the project done.
- Ideal Experience: 2+ years as a Deployment Strategist OR 2+ years at a high-growth startup in a "builder" or "founder" capacity. (Alternatively: 5+ years in a senior, client-facing "product" or "delivery" role at a top-tier tech company or consultancy).
- Proven Skills: Demonstrated experience in value-based scoping (TCO/ROI), managing agile software projects, writing PRDs, and the ability/interest to travel up to 50%.
Pay Range Transparency
Databricks is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. The pay range(s) for this role is listed below and represents the expected base salary range for non-commissionable roles or on-target earnings for commissionable roles. Actual compensation packages are based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to job-related skills, depth of experience, relevant certifications and training, and specific work location. Based on the factors above, Databricks anticipated utilizing the full width of the range. The total compensation package for this position may also include eligibility for annual performance bonus, equity, and the benefits listed above. For more information regarding which range your location is in visit our page here.
About Databricks
Databricks is the data and AI company. More than 10,000 organizations worldwide — including Comcast, Condé Nast, Grammarly, and over 50% of the Fortune 500 — rely on the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform to unify and democratize data, analytics and AI. Databricks is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices around the globe and was founded by the original creators of Lakehouse, Apache Spark™, Delta Lake and MLflow. To learn more, follow Databricks on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Benefits
At Databricks, we strive to provide comprehensive benefits and perks that meet the needs of all of our employees. For specific details on the benefits offered in your region click here.
Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
At Databricks, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture where everyone can excel. We take great care to ensure that our hiring practices are inclusive and meet equal employment opportunity standards. Individuals looking for employment at Databricks are considered without regard to age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other protected characteristics.
Compliance
If access to export-controlled technology or source code is required for performance of job duties, it is within Employer's discretion whether to apply for a U.S. government license for such positions, and Employer may decline to proceed with an applicant on this basis alone.
Skills Required
- Executive presence and superb C-suite communication skills (Trusted Advisor)
- Product and strategy mindset; systems thinking and competitive analysis ability
- Relentless execution mindset; escalation management and hands-on approach
- Experience: 2+ years as a Deployment Strategist OR 2+ years at a high-growth startup in a builder/founder capacity OR 5+ years in a senior client-facing product or delivery role
- Demonstrated experience in value-based scoping (TCO/ROI) and quantifying business value
- Experience managing agile software projects and driving engineering teams
- Experience writing product requirement documents (PRDs) and prioritizing engineering backlogs
- Ability and interest to travel up to 50%
Databricks Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Databricks and has not been reviewed or approved by Databricks.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity grants and RSUs are a major part of total compensation and are highlighted for meaningful upside potential. Stock-based awards and refreshers contribute to strong overall pay positioning across senior technical and go-to-market roles.
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Healthcare Strength — Medical, dental, and vision coverage are complemented by mental-health resources, an EAP, and wellness reimbursements. Health benefits are consistently framed as comprehensive and competitive.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave for all parents, fertility support, and backup care options provide tangible assistance for family needs. Hybrid work norms and team-day structure further ease coordination for caregivers.
Databricks Insights
What We Do
As the leader in Unified Data Analytics, Databricks helps organizations make all their data ready for analytics, empower data science and data-driven decisions across the organization, and rapidly adopt machine learning to outpace the competition. By providing data teams with the ability to process massive amounts of data in the Cloud and power AI with that data, Databricks helps organizations innovate faster and tackle challenges like treating chronic disease through faster drug discovery, improving energy efficiency, and protecting financial markets.
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