Sr. Forward Deployment Engineer

Location: Remote / Hybrid
Client: Confidential
Job Type: Full-Time / Contract

Position Overview

We are seeking a highly experienced Senior Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to partner directly with customers, translating complex business requirements into scalable, production-ready data and AI solutions. This role combines hands-on engineering expertise with customer-facing consulting, requiring deep experience across Databricks, data engineering, cloud platforms, and Generative AI integrations.

The ideal candidate will have a proven track record delivering enterprise-scale data platforms and applications, while working closely with stakeholders to drive business outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, and migrate enterprise data platforms to Databricks.
• Develop scalable data pipelines, APIs, and data-driven applications.
• Deploy, monitor, and optimize production environments.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex issues across the full technology stack.
• Collaborate directly with customer stakeholders to gather requirements and translate them into technical solutions.
• Architect end-to-end data solutions spanning ingestion, transformation, analytics, and application layers.
• Implement CI/CD pipelines and platform automation for scalability and reliability.
• Integrate Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI services into enterprise applications.
• Drive performance tuning, optimization, and governance initiatives across data platforms.
• Participate in architecture reviews and provide technical leadership to cross-functional teams.

Required Qualifications

Experience

• 10+ years of experience in Data Engineering, Analytics, Data Platforms, or related fields.
• Delivered a minimum of 6–8 enterprise-scale Databricks implementations with hands-on development responsibilities.
• Strong experience building and supporting production-grade data platforms.
• Proven customer-facing consulting or solution engineering experience.

Technical Skills

Databricks

• Deep expertise in Databricks Lakehouse architecture.
• Experience with Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Workflows, MLflow, and Databricks SQL.
• Databricks Professional Certification preferred.

Data Engineering

• Advanced expertise in Apache Spark and distributed computing.
• Strong programming skills in Python, SQL, and Spark.
• Experience building and optimizing large-scale ETL/ELT pipelines.

Cloud Platforms

• Working knowledge of at least two major cloud platforms:
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
• Experience designing cloud-native data architectures.

AI & Machine Learning

• Hands-on experience integrating AI services and LLMs into applications.
• Familiarity with:
  • OpenAI
  • Anthropic Claude
  • Google Gemini
• Understanding of prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), vector databases, and AI orchestration frameworks.

DevOps & Automation

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and Infrastructure as Code.
• Familiarity with Git, Terraform, Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, or similar tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• Databricks Data Engineer Professional Certification.
• Experience leading customer workshops and architecture sessions.
• Strong understanding of data governance, security, and compliance frameworks.
• Experience building customer-facing applications utilizing AI and analytics.
• Prior consulting, professional services, or forward deployed engineering experience.

What Distinguishes a Forward Deployed Engineer

• Ability to transform ambiguous customer requirements into scalable production solutions.
• Expertise spanning the full Databricks ecosystem from ingestion through application delivery.
• Comfortable operating in high-visibility, mission-critical customer engagements.
• Strong blend of technical depth, business acumen, and stakeholder management.
• Ability to influence architecture decisions and drive measurable business outcomes.