AI Engineer - FDE (Forward Deployed Engineer)

Databricks

CSQ327R50 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. As Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering for NSW, you will lead a high-performing team of Forward Deployed Engineers and AI Engineers at the forefront of this transformation. Partnering with Databricks' most strategic enterprise accounts, you will shape how Australia’s leading organisations migrate to the lakehouse, build next-generation AI and GenAI systems, and unlock sustained business value from their data investments.  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 ASX100 enterprises across industries to architect and deliver mission-critical solutions, from large-scale data migrations and legacy modernisation 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. THE IMPACT YOU WILL HAVE: * Drive regional performance targets—including billable utilisation, team growth, and hiring—while championing delivery excellence and customer success across the ANZ FDE portfolio * Lead high-stakes enterprise engagements: partner with Account Executives, Engagement Managers, and Field Engineering leaders to position and deliver transformational PS programs spanning data migrations, AI/ML platforms, and advanced analytics * Champion delivery governance and operational rigor: establish best practices for project oversight, risk management, and quality standards that scale with a growing RSA & AI Engineering practice * Act as executive escalation point for critical customer situations, leveraging deep technical credibility and leadership judgment to protect strategic relationships and drive resolution * Develop and retain exceptional technical talent: mentor Resident Solutions Architects and AI Engineers through structured career pathways, technical coaching, and a culture of innovation, mastery, and continuous growth WHAT WE LOOK FOR: * 4+ years of people leadership experience managing high-performing technical delivery teams, solution architects, or professional services organisations—with a proven track record of building excellence-driven cultures * 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 * Demonstrated success leading large-scale data platform migrations and AI/ML programs within enterprise environments, across industries such as Finance, Healthcare, Retail, Telco, or Energy * Strong executive presence and stakeholder management skills, with experience navigating complex, high-stakes customer environments and influencing at the C-suite level * 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 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.

Databricks

CSQ327R185 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. The impact you will have: * 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. What we look for: * 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%. 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.

Databricks

CSQ327R248 As a Forward Deployed Engineer in our Forward Deployed Engineering team you will work with clients on short to medium term customer engagements on their big data challenges using the Databricks platform. You will provide data engineering, data science, and cloud technology projects which require integrating with client systems, training, and other technical tasks to help customers to get most value out of their data. FDEs are billable and know how to complete projects according to specification with excellent customer service. You will report to the Sr. Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering. The impact you will have: * You will work on a variety of impactful customer technical projects which may include building reference architectures, how-to's and production grade MVPs / Greenfield projects * Guide strategic customers as they implement transformational big data projects, 3rd party migrations, including end-to-end design, build and deployment of industry-leading big data and AI applications * Consult on architecture and design; bootstrap or implement strategic customer projects which leads to a customers' successful understanding, evaluation and adoption of Databricks * Provide an escalated level of support for customer operational issues. * You will work with the Databricks technical team, Project Manager, Architect and Customer team to ensure the technical components of the engagement are delivered to meet customer's needs * Work with Engineering and Databricks Customer Support to provide product and implementation feedback and to guide rapid resolution for engagement specific product and support issues What we look for: * 8+ years experience with Big Data Technologies such as Apache Spark™, Kafka, Cloud Native and Data Lakes in a customer-facing post-sales, technical architecture or consulting role. * Comfortable writing code in either Python or Scala. * Experience with technical project delivery - managing scope and timelines. * Documentation and white-boarding skills. * Experience working with clients and managing conflicts. * Build skills in technical areas which support the deployment and integration of Databricks-based solutions to complete customer projects. * Travel to customers 20 - 30% of the time * Nice to have: Databricks Certification   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.