Sr. Manager, AI Forward Deployed Engineering (AI-FDE) – EMEA
Application analysis
Sr. Manager, AI Forward Deployed Engineering (AI-FDE) – EMEA at Databricks is a forward deployed data & ai platform role for engineers who want customer-facing technical work with real deployment ownership.
Reading this role
This Forward Deployed Engineer role centers on embedded customer delivery — discovery, prototyping, integration, and production rollout. Key signals from the listing: AWS, Azure, GCP, Government / DoD context.
About Databricks
Databricks sells a unified data platform to enterprises. Forward deployed engineers help customers migrate workloads and prove value on live data. The role is anchored in Amsterdam, Netherlands, so expect on-site customer work in that region.
Signals in the listing
Stand out for Sr. Manager, AI Forward Deployed Engineering (AI-FDE) – EMEA
- Lead your application with one paragraph tying Sr. Manager, AI Forward Deployed Engineering (AI-FDE) – EMEA to a specific customer or deployment you owned — Databricks hires for shipped outcomes, not tool lists.
- Prepare a 5-minute “week one on site” plan: who you would meet, what you would inspect in their stack, and what artifact you would deliver by day five.
- Show you can go from discovery notes → working integration → production checklist without needing a large internal team.
- State clearance status clearly up front (active, expired, or eligible) and mention any prior NIPR/SIPR, IL5, or government cloud accreditation work — recruiters filter on this early.
- This role is tied to Amsterdam, Netherlands — mention willingness to work on-site with customers and any existing ties to that market (clients, partners, or domain knowledge).
Stand out at Databricks
- Demonstrate Spark/SQL fluency with a concrete example — Databricks will probe for specifics, not buzzwords.
- Demonstrate enterprise stakeholder management with a concrete example — Databricks will probe for specifics, not buzzwords.
- Strong candidates show they can whiteboard a lakehouse migration and then actually implement the first milestone.
- Read recent engineering blog posts, product launches, and customer stories on databricks.com — reference one explicitly in your outreach to show genuine interest.
Tailored from this listing’s title, company, and description. Always verify requirements on the company careers page before applying.
Role description
Req Id: Csq427r198
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands - Remote
Mission
The Forward Deployed AI Engineering (AI FDE) team is a highly specialized customer-facing AI team at Databricks. We deliver professional services (PS) engagements to help our customers build and productionize first of its kind AI applications with a focus on GenAI. We work cross-functionally to shape long-term strategic priorities and initiatives alongside AI/ML Product, Research, and Engineering. We are looking for a world-class leader to lead and grow our EMEA AI FDE team. In this role, you will lead customers on their AI/ML transformation with Databricks, push the boundaries of our product, recruit and develop top data scientists/machine learning engineers, and manage a portfolio of key EMEA accounts. You will report directly to the Head of EMEA AI FDE. This role can be remote in Europe, but the preference is for candidates to be near a major office location such as London, Amsterdam, Paris, or Munich. Candidates should expect to travel at least once a month.
The impact you will have:
Lead and scale a world-class AI/ML professional services team, including hiring, mentoring, and building a team structure to support long-term growth and execution at scale Develop and expand executive relationships with EMEA customers and partners (including VP+, CIO/CDO-level stakeholders), acting as a trusted advisor during complex technical engagements and AI transformations Align with Field Engineering and Sales Leaders to define joint strategies for strategic accounts and ensure strong delivery coordination across functions Lead strategic AI PS initiatives, practice development, and standardized delivery processes; design scalable engagement models and reusable solutions for repeatability across the global team Shape cross-functional collaboration by influencing Product, R&D, and GTM—ensuring voice-of-customer insights and delivery learnings help inform the product roadmap and GTM strategy Own OKRs for AI-services led accounts, revenue, utilization, and public references Represent Databricks as a thought leader in AI/ML
What we look for:
Extensive experience managing, hiring, and building a team of high-performing data scientists/ML engineers and leaders, with a track record of scaling organizations through developing scalable processes and cultivating leaders Ability to scope, guide, and sell technical engagements, manage escalations, and ensure successful delivery in enterprise environments Deep technical expertise in ML, GenAI, and data science, and curiosity to continue to stay up-to-date in this ever-changing field Experience leading teams building cutting-edge production ML solutions in cloud environments (AWS, Azure, or GCP) Proven success developing strategy with senior executive stakeholders to define program-level goals, align technical vision, and build trust throughout complex enterprise engagements Demonstrated experience in cross-functional leadership roles, collaborating with Sales, Product, and GTM teams to drive business impact through AI/ML “Company-first” mindset Graduate degree in a quantitative discipline (Computer Science, Engineering, Statistics, Operations Research, etc.) or equivalent practical experience
Preferred:
Experience in a customer-facing consulting or professional services leadership role Experience working with Databricks
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.