Sr. Solutions Architect, Retail
$247k+Application analysis
Sr. Solutions Architect, Retail 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 Solutions / Sales Engineering role centers on technical discovery, demos, POCs, and helping buyers build internal consensus. Key signals from the listing: Python, Government / DoD context, 5+ years experience, Senior scope.
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 West Coast - United States, so expect on-site customer work in that region.
Signals in the listing
Stand out for Sr. Solutions Architect, Retail
- Lead your application with one paragraph tying Sr. Solutions Architect, Retail to a specific customer or deployment you owned — Databricks hires for shipped outcomes, not tool lists.
- Bring a tight demo narrative: customer pain, live workflow, and measurable before/after — treat the interview like a compressed POC.
- Show how you qualify opportunities and say no to bad-fit pilots; Databricks values technical judgment in customer-facing roles.
- 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.
- The posting mentions multiple languages — pick the one most relevant to this team and show production code, not tutorial exercises.
- This role is tied to West Coast - United States — 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
P-256 We are looking for experienced pre-sales professionals with a proven track record of helping large enterprises become more data-driven. Working with the Account Executive (AE), the Retail and CPG Sr. SA defines and directs the technical strategy for our largest and most important accounts, leading to more widespread use of our products and wider and deeper adoption of ML & AI. You will lean upon your solid background in value selling, technical account management, and technical leadership to maximize success in these accounts. While you work with a team that includes hands-on resources who will build proofs of concept and demonstrate Databricks' products, you need to be technical and must understand the relevance and application of ML & AI within a range of use cases important to the target accounts in the Retail and CPG space.
The impact you will have:
You will work with 1-5 clients as the main technical voice for Databricks You will lead your customers on a transformational journey, helping them to evaluate and adopt Databricks as part of their strategy You will implement the technical strategy in the account, in close understanding of the strategy Build a movement of technical champions within the account Align technical strategies around Databricks solutions You will provide structured mentorship for other team members
What we look for:
8+ years of experience working in very large (> $1m ARR), from the Retail and CPG-related space 5+ years working in a pre-sales capacity or supporting sales activity Technical in big data, data science, and cloud An ability in data-driven business transformation and driving change with data 3+ years of experience with design and implementation experience in big data technologies such as Hadoop, NoSQL, MPP, OLTP, and OLAP or full lifecycle data science solutions Maintain and extend production data systems to evolve with complex customer needs Production programming experience in Python, R, Scala, or Java Nice to have: Databricks Certification
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 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 anticipates 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.
Local Pay Range
- $139,900—$247,300 USD
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.