What is the typical interview loop length?

Five to six rounds: recruiter screen, technical phone screen, coding, data modeling and SQL, system design, and a hiring manager round. Expect three to five weeks from first call to offer.

Do I need to know Scala?

Not for most roles. Python and SQL cover the majority of DE work. Scala helps if you are interviewing for the Spark runtime team or a platform role that touches Spark internals directly.

How important are open-source contributions?

Strongly favored. Pull requests to Apache Spark, Delta Lake, or MLflow are a clear signal at screening and shorten the path through early rounds. They are not required, but they help.

What does compensation look like after the IPO filing?

Equity grants now have a clearer liquidity path. IC4 senior DEs typically land between $310K and $420K total, weighted toward RSUs that vest over four years. IC5 staff roles cross $450K total comp.

What should a Databricks DE resume emphasize?

Quantified Spark and Delta Lake work, scale (records, TB, latency), governance with Unity Catalog or equivalent, and any open-source or conference contributions. Generic ETL bullets get filtered out fast.

Is Photon experience required?

No. Photon is proprietary to Databricks SQL and DBR runtimes, so most external candidates have not used it directly. Knowing what it is, when it engages, and its tradeoffs against open Spark is enough for the interview.

How does Databricks compare to Snowflake for DE careers?

Databricks DEs work closer to the engine on open formats (Spark, Delta Lake, Parquet) and often contribute upstream. Snowflake DEs work more in SQL and procedural extensions on a closed engine. Compensation is comparable at senior levels.

Data Engineer Hub

Data Engineer at Databricks: Roles, Interviews, and Compensation in 2026

By Blake Crosley · Last verified 2026-04-30

In short

Databricks hires data engineers to build and run the lakehouse stack it sells: Apache Spark, Delta Lake, Photon, Unity Catalog, MLflow, and Delta Sharing. Most DE roles sit on platform, ingestion, and customer-facing engineering teams in San Francisco, Seattle, Bellevue, Mountain View, Amsterdam, and Bengaluru. The interview bar is high: SQL, distributed systems, Spark internals, and a system-design round. Total comp at IC4 typically lands between $280K and $410K, weighted toward equity following the September 2024 IPO confidential filing.

Key takeaways

Databricks is the steward of Apache Spark and Delta Lake; DE work touches both code and product.
The core stack is Spark on Photon, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, MLflow, and Delta Sharing.
Interviews include SQL, coding (Python or Scala), distributed-systems design, and a Spark/data-modeling round.
Levels run IC2 through IC6; IC4 is the senior bar most external hires target.
Compensation is equity-heavy after the confidential IPO filing in September 2024.
Remote work is allowed for many DE roles, but hubs are SF, Seattle, Bellevue, Amsterdam, and Bengaluru.
Open-source contributions to Spark, Delta, or MLflow are a strong signal in screening.

DE at Databricks in 2026

Databricks operates the lakehouse platform that unifies data warehousing and data lakes on open formats. Data engineers at the company split roughly into three groups: platform engineering (Spark runtime, Photon, Delta Lake internals), data and analytics engineering (internal data platform, finance, GTM analytics), and field engineering (resident solutions architects and customer-facing DEs embedded with strategic accounts).

The company filed confidentially for an IPO in September 2024, so equity grants now carry near-term liquidity expectations rather than the indefinite lockup that private hires saw in 2022 and 2023. The DE org has grown alongside Unity Catalog adoption and the rollout of Databricks SQL Serverless, both of which expand the surface area data engineers own.

Job titles you will see on the careers page include Software Engineer (Data Platform), Senior Data Engineer, Resident Solutions Architect, and Specialist Solutions Architect - Data Engineering. Hub locations are San Francisco, Seattle, Bellevue, Mountain View, Amsterdam, and Bengaluru, with remote allowed for many North America roles.

Interview process and bar

The Databricks DE interview loop is five to six rounds and typically runs three to five weeks end to end. The structure is consistent across platform and field-engineering DE roles, with the system-design round weighted more heavily for senior candidates.

Recruiter screen - role fit, location, comp expectations, and a quick read on Spark and Delta Lake exposure.
Technical phone screen - one coding problem (Python or Scala) plus a SQL question, usually a window-function or join-heavy query.
Coding round - medium LeetCode-style problem with a data-structure twist; expect to discuss complexity and edge cases.
Data modeling and SQL - design a schema for a real scenario (event ingestion, slowly changing dimensions, or audit logs) and write the queries against it.
System design - design an ingestion or transformation pipeline at scale; Spark, Delta Lake, and streaming concepts come up directly.
Hiring manager and values - ownership, customer obsession, and how you handle ambiguity.

Bar-raisers look for depth on Spark internals (shuffle, catalyst, AQE), Delta Lake mechanics (transaction log, OPTIMIZE, Z-ORDER), and a clear mental model of when to use streaming versus batch. Open-source contributions to Spark, Delta, or MLflow get noticed at screening.

Compensation by level

Compensation at Databricks is heavily weighted toward equity, and the September 2024 confidential IPO filing means RSU grants now carry a clearer vesting and liquidity path. Levels.fyi data for US-based data engineers at Databricks shows the following ranges as of early 2026.

Level	Title	Base	Equity (annual)	Bonus	Total
IC3	Software Engineer	$170K-$190K	$60K-$90K	10%	$240K-$300K
IC4	Senior Software Engineer	$200K-$230K	$90K-$160K	15%	$310K-$420K
IC5	Staff Software Engineer	$240K-$275K	$170K-$280K	20%	$450K-$600K
IC6	Principal Software Engineer	$290K-$340K	$280K-$450K	20%	$610K-$830K

Resident Solutions Architects and field DEs are paid on a comparable IC ladder with a smaller equity slice and a larger commission or variable component tied to customer outcomes. European and APAC offers are typically 60-75 percent of US numbers in local currency.

Tech stack: Spark + Delta Lake + Photon + Unity Catalog

Databricks DEs work on the same stack the company sells, which means most skills transfer directly to other lakehouse and warehouse shops.

Apache Spark - Databricks employs many of the original Spark committers. Expect to know the Catalyst optimizer, Adaptive Query Execution, shuffle behavior, and structured streaming.
Delta Lake - the open table format Databricks announced in 2017. ACID transactions on object storage, time travel, and schema evolution are table stakes for the interview and the job.
Photon - the C++ vectorized query engine that became generally available in Databricks SQL in December 2022. Knowing when Photon kicks in and where it does not is part of senior DE work.
Unity Catalog - the governance layer for tables, volumes, models, and lineage. DEs design schemas, grant policies, and audit data access through it.
MLflow - tracking, model registry, and deployment. DEs supporting ML teams own the data side of the registry.
Delta Sharing - the open protocol for sharing tables across organizations without copying data.
Languages - Python and SQL are universal; Scala is common on the platform side; some teams use Rust for performance work.

Resumes that name specific Spark, Delta, or MLflow features and quantify scale (records per day, terabytes managed, latency targets met) read better than generic 'built data pipelines' bullets.

Frequently asked questions

Does Databricks hire remote data engineers?: Yes. Many DE roles are open to remote candidates in the US and Canada, with hub offices in San Francisco, Seattle, Bellevue, Mountain View, Amsterdam, and Bengaluru. Field engineering DEs are often hired regionally to be close to customer accounts.
What is the typical interview loop length?: Five to six rounds: recruiter screen, technical phone screen, coding, data modeling and SQL, system design, and a hiring manager round. Expect three to five weeks from first call to offer.
Do I need to know Scala?: Not for most roles. Python and SQL cover the majority of DE work. Scala helps if you are interviewing for the Spark runtime team or a platform role that touches Spark internals directly.
How important are open-source contributions?: Strongly favored. Pull requests to Apache Spark, Delta Lake, or MLflow are a clear signal at screening and shorten the path through early rounds. They are not required, but they help.
What does compensation look like after the IPO filing?: Equity grants now have a clearer liquidity path. IC4 senior DEs typically land between $310K and $420K total, weighted toward RSUs that vest over four years. IC5 staff roles cross $450K total comp.
What should a Databricks DE resume emphasize?: Quantified Spark and Delta Lake work, scale (records, TB, latency), governance with Unity Catalog or equivalent, and any open-source or conference contributions. Generic ETL bullets get filtered out fast.
Is Photon experience required?: No. Photon is proprietary to Databricks SQL and DBR runtimes, so most external candidates have not used it directly. Knowing what it is, when it engages, and its tradeoffs against open Spark is enough for the interview.
How does Databricks compare to Snowflake for DE careers?: Databricks DEs work closer to the engine on open formats (Spark, Delta Lake, Parquet) and often contribute upstream. Snowflake DEs work more in SQL and procedural extensions on a closed engine. Compensation is comparable at senior levels.

Sources

About the author. Blake Crosley founded ResumeGeni and writes about data engineering, hiring technology, and ATS optimization. More writing at blakecrosley.com.