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Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering

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92% of candidates apply because they are a Most Loved Workplace®
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Professional Services Operations

About the Role

At Databricks, a Most Loved Workplace® certified employer in the Technology space, Democratizing data and AI for every organization worldwide.

<p>REQ ID: CSQ427R209<br><br>Databricks is redefining what organisations can achieve with data and AI. As the unified platform powering the world's most ambitious data-driven enterprises, we sit at the intersection of cloud migrations, AI transformation, and real-time intelligence and our customers challenge us every day to go further.</p>

<p>As <strong>Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering</strong>, you will lead a high-performing team of Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) at the forefront of this transformation. Partnering with Databricks' most strategic enterprise customers, you will shape how leading organizations migrate to the lakehouse, build next-generation AI and GenAI systems, and unlock sustained business value from their data investments.</p>

<p>As a people leader, you will build and scale a team that represents Databricks' highest standard of technical excellence and customer impact. Your team will partner with enterprises across industries to architect and deliver mission-critical solutions, from large-scale data migrations and legacy modernization programs to cutting-edge generative AI, MLOps, and AI agent deployments. You will set the bar for delivery quality, grow world-class talent, and drive the strategic governance framework that ensures every engagement is executed with precision and measurable impact.</p>

<h2>The impact you will have:</h2>

<ul>

<li>Oversee regional performance targets including billable utilization, team growth, and hiring while championing delivery excellence and customer success across the FDE portfolio.</li>

<li>Partner with Account Executives, Engagement Managers, and Field Engineering leaders to position, scope, and deliver transformational Professional Services (PS) programs spanning data migrations, AI/ML platforms, and advanced analytics.</li>

<li>Establish best practices for project oversight, risk management, and quality standards that scale with a growing FDE practice, ensuring projects are delivered on time and to specification.</li>

<li>Synthesize field insights from your team’s engagements to provide direct feedback to Engineering and Product management, helping to guide the Databricks roadmap while driving the creation of reusable customer accelerators and frameworks.</li>

<li>Serve as the critical escalation point for high-stakes customer situations, leveraging deep technical credibility and leadership judgment to protect strategic relationships and drive rapid resolution.</li>

<li>Mentor Forward Deployed Engineers through structured career pathways, technical coaching, and a culture of innovation, mastery, and continuous growth.</li>

</ul>

<h2>What we look for:</h2>

<ul>

<li>4+ years of people leadership experience managing high-performing technical delivery teams, solution architects, or professional services organizations with a proven track record of building excellence-driven cultures.</li>

<li>5+ years of hands-on individual contributor experience as a technical solutions architect or data/AI engineer, providing the technical depth to coach and credibly support senior practitioners.</li>

<li>Demonstrated success leading large-scale data platform migrations and AI/ML programs within enterprise environments, across industries such as Manufacturing, Finance, Healthcare, Retail, Telco, or Energy.</li>

<li>Strong understanding of technical project delivery, including managing scope, timelines, statements of work (SOWs), and professional services delivery metrics.</li>

<li>Strong stakeholder management skills, with experience navigating complex, high-stakes customer environments and influencing at the C-suite level.</li>

<li>Familiarity with Databricks, Apache Spark™, MLflow, Delta Lake, or the modern data and AI ecosystem; hands-on experience with Databricks or a direct competitor is highly valued.</li>

<li>Ability to travel to customer sites and Databricks offices approximately 20% of the time.</li>

</ul><div class="content-conclusion"><p><strong>About Databricks</strong></p>

<p><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">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 <span style="color: rgb(255, 54, 33);"><a style="color: rgb(255, 54, 33);" href="https://twitter.com/Databricks" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/Databricks&source=gmail&ust=1700237575733000&usg=AOvVaw03FL8fJvOD97ytN02f5G2C">Twitter</a>, <a style="color: rgb(255, 54, 33);" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/Databricks" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.linkedin.com/company/Databricks&source=gmail&ust=1700237575733000&usg=AOvVaw15dLk3q8VxTfHEgCUg7NSt">LinkedIn</a> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">and</span> <a style="color: rgb(255, 54, 33);" href="https://www.facebook.com/databricksinc" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.facebook.com/databricksinc&source=gmail&ust=1700237575733000&usg=AOvVaw39EcncitnlqV72EG2-RqXJ">Facebook</a></span>.<br><br><strong>Benefits<br><br></strong></span>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 <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/154un3e8Xav4BceOSlcYFZRGEuQI54xMxVydRwQn54eQ/edit?usp=sharing">here</a>.<br><br></p>

<p><strong>Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion</strong></p>

<p>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.</p>

<p><strong>Compliance</strong></p>

<p><strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></strong></p></div>

Want to learn more about what it's like to work at Databricks? View our full profile.

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Why This Is a Most Loved Workplace® Certified Job

S

Systemic Collaboration

As Databricks continues our rapid growth, we strive to maintain a culture as open and transparent as it was in Databricks’s early days. Making sure employees have regular access to our CEO and co-founders to hear directly about our vision and priorities helps our employees forge a connection between Databricks priorities and their daily work.

P

Positive Vision for the Future

Databricks’ culture principles are derived from an internal study of the behaviors that have led to high impact work at Databricks. These values have a direct impact on company culture and play a large part in connecting teams across the organization. We believe in being customer-obsessed, truth-seeking, operating from first principles, having a bias for action, and putting Databricks first. Our co-founders are fully involved in day-to-day operations, including business and technical reviews, working alongside our team members to ensure that we are always aligned with our values.

A

Alignment of Values

Databricks’ CEO and Co-founder, Ali Ghodsi leads by example with a focus on truth-seeking and first principles thinking, two of Databricks’ core values that stay true to Databricks’s origins in academia. He champions the importance of data and reason to question biases and inform decisions. Ali remains hands-on with research and development and hosts company-wide weekly all hands, with a CEO “ask me anytime” session at the beginning of every agenda. His transparency and accessibility are core to the open and collaborative culture of Databricks.

R

Respect

At Databricks, we cultivate an environment where all employees can bring their unique selves and are empowered to do the best work of their careers. To ensure all voices are heard and ideas are valued, we conduct annual culture and pulse surveys and host all-hands Q&As to collect feedback from all employees. We then report back to Databricks on the specific changes implemented from the feedback collected to ensure employees feel heard and that their feedback is valued. In addition, we invest in our seven Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) that offer support and employee engagement events for individuals from underrepresented backgrounds and allies.

K

Killer Outcomes

Databricks prioritizes offering an exceptional employee experience by investing in tools, workspaces, and community-building. Our collaboration-first, hybrid model offers flexibility with in-person touchpoints like our annual employee kickoff, weekly CEO all-hands with happy hours, and monthly team building budgets. We are especially focused on maintaining a culture of transparency, honesty, and trust, with leaders actively engaging across channels like Slack and all hands while also championing inclusion efforts through ERG sponsorship. These initiatives help our team feel connected, valued, and empowered to do their best work.

What It's Like to Work Here

zap Bias for Action
lightbulb First Principles Innovation
users Collaborative Excellence
target Truth-Seeking Rigor
compass Generational Mission Focus
Certified for: Global Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces®, Certified Most Loved Workplaces® 2025, Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces® 2025

Frequently Asked Questions About Working at Databricks

Common questions candidates ask about this role and Databricks's workplace

With the Data Intelligence Platform, Databricks democratizes insights to everyone in an organization. Built on an open lakehouse architecture, the Data Intelligence Platform provides a unified foundation for all data and governance, combined with AI models tuned to an organization’s unique characteristics. Now, anyone in an organization can benefit from automation and natural language to discover and use data like experts, and technical teams can easily build and deploy secure data and AI apps and products. With origins in academia and the open source community, Databricks was founded in 2013 by the original creators of the lakehouse architecture and open source projects Apache Spark™, Delta Lake, MLflow and Unity Catalog.

Please review the specific job listing or contact Databricks's recruiting team for details on remote or hybrid work options for this role.

Salary information may vary by role and location. Please check the specific job listing or discuss compensation during the interview process.

Databricks is an established organization in its industry. The company is a certified Most Loved Workplace®, highlighting a strong, positive culture and committed workforce.

Key benefit categories include: Health & Wellness, Work-Life Balance, Office & Lifestyle, Professional Development, Financial. You can view more details on their CertCheck profile.

The day-to-day environment is guided by core values such as Bias for Action and First Principles Innovation and Collaborative Excellence.

The company has committed to inclusive practices including: Customer Obsession with Integrity and Empowering Every Team Member.

They score particularly well in the area of Systemic Collaboration. They have earned Most Loved Workplace® certifications including: Global Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces® and Certified Most Loved Workplaces® 2025.

Databricks currently has 789 open positions. They are hiring across departments like Field Engineering - Other, Delivery Solutions Architects, Enterprise Sales. You can view all current openings at certcheck.mostlovedworkplace.com/companies/databricks/jobs.

The interview process typically involves an initial recruiter screen followed by team interviews. Please contact Databricks's recruiting team for specific details on this role's process.

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