Sr. Deployment Strategist, FDE - Healthcare & Life Sciences
About this role
The Forward Deployed Engineering team at Databricks builds strategic AI solutions by embedding directly with high-value customers to win C-suite-sponsored opportunities and deliver measurable outcomes. As a Senior Deployment Strategist in the Healthcare and Life Sciences sector, you will act as the crucial link between complex business challenges and technical execution, defining product direction from initial discovery to production launch. You will write product requirement documents, guide engineering partners, and manage project delivery while maintaining a hands-on technical approach.
The role exists to bridge the gap between high-value customer needs and technical execution by owning the end-to-end product lifecycle in the field. Ideal candidates combine executive presence, strong product judgment, and hands-on technical fluency in data and AI architectures. Someone who thrives in ambiguous environments, enjoys working onsite with customers, and can translate complex enterprise problems into clear engineering requirements will do well here.
What you will do
- Partner with sales to perform deep discovery, map customer organizations, and quantify the business value of large-scale problems.
- Author product requirement documents, prioritize engineering backlogs, manage scope, and act as the primary hands-on QA tester.
- Drive the engineering build team through an agile delivery process while unblocking technical and organizational issues.
- Lead technical discovery, design reviews, and architecture shaping with forward-deployed engineers.
- Own production readiness across data quality, testing, security, performance, and operations from launch to full adoption.
- Codify reusable solution patterns and bring field insights back to internal product and engineering teams.
What you need
- Demonstrate strong executive presence, communication skills, and the ability to act as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders.
- Bring proven product judgment to define requirements, prioritize work, and lead complex agile software projects.
- Understand modern data and AI architectures including cloud platforms, data pipelines, distributed systems, and generative AI patterns.
- Possess hands-on technical ability with at least one programming language such as Python, Java, or SQL.
- Have 7 or more years of experience delivering complex customer-facing data, analytics, AI, or software engagements.
- Maintain a willingness to work onsite with customers approximately 25 to 50 percent of the time.
Nice to have
- Background as a founder or technical builder
- Experience in a high-growth technology company
- Experience in a forward-deployed organization or leading consultancy
Skills and tech stack
Questions candidates ask
What is the travel or remote policy for this role?
This role requires working onsite with customers, typically 25 to 50 percent of the time or sometimes higher, to drive delivery.
What is the salary range for this position?
The expected base salary range for the zones listed is $219,765 to $302,220 USD, with actual compensation based on factors like job-related skills, depth of experience, and location.
What kind of technical background is required?
You need an understanding of modern data and AI architectures along with hands-on proficiency in at least one language such as Python, Java, or SQL to explore data and review code.
What team will I be working with?
You will be part of the founding Forward Deployed Engineering team, a strategic initiative sponsored by the CEO and Founders.