Sr. Engineering Manager - Photon Team (San Francisco)

At Databricks, we are passionate about enabling data teams to solve the world's toughest problems — from making the next mode of transportation a reality to accelerating the development of medical breakthroughs. We do this by building and running the world's best Data and AI infrastructure platform so our customers can use deep data insights to improve their business. 

We’re looking to hire a Senior Engineering Manager to join our Photon team and help shape the next generation of lightning-fast, scalable data processing. As a Senior Engineering Manager, you’ll lead world-class engineers building Photon—the cutting-edge query engine powering Databricks’ industry-defining Lakehouse Platform. 

This is your opportunity to drive innovation at massive scale, optimize data systems for real-world impact, and collaborate with top minds in query optimization/execution, storage, and large-scale analytics. If you’re passionate about empowering teams, architecting pioneering technology, and making analytics dramatically faster for millions of users, we want you on our team.

The key responsibilities include:

• Lead and grow a team of top-tier software engineers.


• Drive the development of the Photon query engine and differentiating performance features.


• Partner with product and engineering leadership to define the roadmap and deliver industry-leading performance.


• Foster a culture of technical excellence, innovation, and collaborative problem-solving.


• Mentor and develop future leaders through coaching and growth opportunities.


• Attract, hire, and retain exceptional engineering talent.

What we look for:

• Deep expertise in database kernel or internals development (query execution, optimization, or storage engines).


• 8+ years of experience in database internals or related systems engineering.


• 5+ years of engineering management experience, including building and scaling high-performance teams.


• Proven ability to hire, develop, and retain top engineering talent.


• Strong track record of delivering complex, high-scale distributed systems.


• BS in Computer Science (MS or PhD preferred).