Solutions Architect – Digital Sovereignty

FEQ128R99 Location: Germany (remote or from a Databricks office – anywhere in Germany) Languages: Fluent German and business-level English At Databricks, we build the platform that makes data and AI usable across an entire organization. More and more of our customers in Germany – public sector, critical infrastructure (KRITIS), financial services, healthcare, defence and industry – need to keep control over where their data lives and who can access it. They want the full power of the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform without giving up data residency, jurisdictional control or the option to switch providers. As a Solutions Architect for Digital Sovereignty, you are the technical lead for this motion in Germany. You design sovereign data and AI architectures with customers, run proofs of concept end to end, and help our sovereign cloud partners and account teams turn a proven pattern into production workloads. The impact you will have • Act as the trusted technical advisor on digital sovereignty for strategic and regulated customers across Germany, from the first conversation with the CIO/CISO through to production. • Design and validate sovereign reference architectures • Run complex proofs of concept and pilots – performance, scalability, security and network connectivity tests with different data volumes – and translate the results into clear go/no-go recommendations. • Work hand in hand with sovereign cloud and storage partners: joint solution design, enablement of partner technical teams, co-selling and joint customer workshops. • Position Databricks clearly in the sovereignty discussion – CLOUD Act, GDPR, NIS2, DORA, BSI C5, EU Data Act, open formats and exit strategies – and articulate how our open architecture reduces lock-in compared with competing approaches. • Feed field requirements back to Databricks Product and Engineering, and collaborate with Legal, Security and Compliance on customer questions. • Build repeatable assets: reference architectures, demos, PoC playbooks, Terraform/automation templates and customer-facing collateral in German and English. • Build Databricks' visibility on sovereignty in the German market through workshops, meetups, webinars and conference talks. • Turn customer conversations into working prototypes fast, using AI-assisted development to build demos in hours rather than weeks. What we look for • Fluent German and business-level English. Both are used daily with customers, partners and internally. • Substantial experience in technical pre-sales, solution architecture or consulting, including complex enterprise customer interactions across the full sales lifecycle. • Hands-on experience with data platforms in at least one major public cloud (Azure, AWS or GCP), ideally including Apache Spark and/or Databricks. • Solid understanding of cloud infrastructure: networking (private connectivity, VPN, private endpoints), identity and access management, encryption and key management (BYOK/HYOK). • Experience with object storage and open table formats (S3-compatible storage such as MinIO, Delta Lake, Apache Iceberg) and with secure data sharing patterns. • Good working knowledge of the regulatory and sovereignty landscape in Germany and the EU (e.g. GDPR, CLOUD Act implications, NIS2, DORA, BSI C5, KRITIS) and the ability to discuss it confidently with CISOs, data protection officers and procurement. • Ability to drive technical and business conversations with C-level executives, orchestrate cross-functional and partner teams, and influence outcomes toward long-term customer success. • Hands-on coding ability in Python and SQL; infrastructure-as-code experience (e.g. Terraform) is a plus. • Daily, fluent use of AI tools in your own work. Coding assistants and agents are part of how you operate, not something you try out occasionally. • Able to vibe-code a demo: assemble a credible, working prototype for a specific customer problem with AI assistance, and recognize where the output still needs your own judgment. • Experience working with or for European / sovereign cloud providers, public sector or regulated industries is a strong plus. • Judgment to prioritize the right use cases and investments, and to navigate a competitive landscape. • Willingness to travel within Germany for customer and partner meetings. Why this role • You will shape a new, strategically important motion for Databricks in Germany and EMEA – building on a proof of concept that has already delivered results. • You will work at the intersection of data and AI, cloud infrastructure, regulation and partnerships. • You will collaborate closely with Field Engineering leadership, Product, and our partner ecosystem. About Databricks Databricks is the Data and AI company. More than 20,000 organizations worldwide — including adidas, AT&T, Bayer, Block, Mastercard, Rivian, Unilever, and 70% of the Fortune 500 — rely on the Databricks Data + AI Platform to build and scale data and AI apps, analytics and agents. Headquartered in San Francisco with 30+ offices around the globe, Databricks offers a unified platform that includes Genie, Lakebase, Agent Bricks, Lakeflow, Lakehouse, and Unity Catalog. To learn more, follow Databricks on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, and Instagram. 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 affi