About this role
Leading the App Traffic team involves directing critical networking infrastructure that handles communication across the entire Databricks platform. Engineering managers in this group shape the technical roadmap and drive execution for unified service meshes, ingress, service discovery, service-to-service communication, traffic management, and intelligent routing across major cloud providers. These core systems operate on the critical path of company services, requiring a leader who can balance immediate operational priorities with long-term architectural investments.
Databricks built this role to oversee infrastructure engineers working on high-availability distributed systems operating across multiple clouds and regions. Qualified candidates will excel at partnering with senior and staff engineers on architectural decisions involving routing, control planes, reliability, and developer experience. A successful candidate brings deep technical judgment, experience managing teams in dynamic environments, and a proven track record of steering complex, cross-functional initiatives.
What you will do
- Manage, grow, and develop a high-performing team of engineers responsible for application traffic infrastructure.
- Drive the design and evolution of highly available distributed systems operating across multiple clouds and regions.
- Partner with senior and staff engineers on architectural decisions involving routing, control planes, reliability, scalability, and developer experience.
- Lead large, ambiguous projects with dependencies across multiple engineering teams.
- Establish clear goals, milestones, ownership boundaries, and operating mechanisms that enable predictable execution.
- Recruit exceptional talent and support the professional growth of engineers at all levels.
- Build strong partnerships with infrastructure and application teams while fostering a culture of technical excellence and operational rigor.
What you need
- Bring 9+ years of professional experience in software engineering.
- Possess 2+ years of engineering leadership experience in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
- Demonstrate experience managing engineering teams working on distributed systems, networking infrastructure, cloud infrastructure, or platform infrastructure.
- Exhibit strong technical judgment and the ability to engage deeply with senior engineers on complex systems architecture.
- Show a track record of successfully leading large, ambiguous, cross-functional engineering initiatives.
- Maintain a strong understanding of reliability, scalability, performance, and operational excellence in production systems.
- Display the ability to influence and align stakeholders across organizational boundaries alongside strong written and verbal communication skills.
Skills and tech stack
Questions candidates ask
What is the salary range for this role?
The expected salary range for this position is $190,000 to $237,500 USD. Actual compensation packages are based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including job-related skills, depth of experience, relevant certifications and training, and specific work location.
What systems does the App Traffic team build and operate?
The team builds and operates Databricks’ unified service mesh, including ingress, service discovery, service-to-service communication, traffic management, and intelligent routing across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
What kind of leadership background is required?
Candidates must have 9+ years of professional experience in software engineering, with 2+ years of engineering leadership experience in a fast paced, dynamic environment. This includes managing engineering teams working on distributed systems, networking infrastructure, cloud infrastructure, or platform infrastructure.