Staff Systems Development Engineer (GovOps)

The shape of it

In the posting’s own words

As enterprise data enclaves and Generative AI applications become mission-critical to national security and public sector modernization, maintaining the architectural resilience and operational integrity of the underlying platform is paramount. Databricks is seeking a Staff Systems Development Engineer (GovOps) to join our Cleared Engineering team in McLean, VA. Sitting at the vital intersection of core infrastructure operations and active platform reliability, this team serves as the ultimate technical authority for our platform across GovCloud, FedRAMP High, and air-gapped environments.

What it asks for · 7

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Mathematics, or equivalent practical experience.
• 7+ years of experience in Systems Engineering, Cloud Infrastructure, Senior Support Engineering, DevSecOps, or a related technical operations role.
• Deep expertise in Linux/Unix operating-system internals, networking, process/resource debugging, and distributed systems.
• Hands-on proficiency in Python, Bash, Go, or Java with the ability to read source code, debug software defects, and write custom diagnostic scripts.
• Solid working knowledge of Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) tools such as Terraform or CloudFormation, along with container orchestration mechanics (Docker/Kubernetes).
• 3+ years of experience writing clear, succinct written and verbal technical communications, including technical status reports, incident summaries, or cross-team escalations.
• Ability to work on-site out of our McLean, VA secure facility (SCIF), including participation in an on-call rotation for critical incidents.

What the job covers

• Architect High-Side Platform Reliability: Serve as the subject matter expert across multiple platform domains (Compute, Networking, Storage, OS), designing end-to-end operational workarounds and resolving the most complex escalations within air-gapped and GovCloud enclaves.
• Bridge Engineering Boundaries: Act as the lead technical interface and escort between uncleared core engineering teams and secure facilities, ensuring precise, succinct relay of system states, compliance constraints, and high-side operational requirements.
• Drive Fleet-Wide Supportability & Tooling: Identify systemic issue patterns across federal environments and author custom Python, Bash, or Go diagnostic tools, notebooks, and automated workflows to raise operational efficiency across the entire engineering organization.
• Partner with Core Engineering: Collaborate directly with Product and Core Engineering leaders to root-cause platform defects, influence product roadmaps, and integrate long-term supportability features into the core codebase.
• Lead Critical Incident Response: Anchor high-consequence platform incidents under intense pressure, establishing triage structure, making authoritative technical calls with incomplete data, and framing strategic communications for senior government and internal stakeholders.
• Uphold & Evolve Compliance Guardrails: Navigate and refine operational frameworks inside secure facilities (SCIF), ensuring platform interactions and deployment pipelines strictly align with FedRAMP High, ITAR/IL5, and federal security benchmarks.

Degree language

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Mathematics, or equivalent practical experience.

Tools and skills named

Words the posting leans on

• engineering10×
• platform9×
• technical9×
• systems7×
• experience6×
• operational6×
• core engineering4×
• federal4×
• high-side4×
• incident4×
• infrastructure4×
• secure4×
• air-gapped3×
• communications3×
• diagnostic3×
• escalations3×

Counted from the posting after the mission statement and the legal notices are set aside. The ones near the top are the ones a screener is looking for.

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