Sr. Developer Advocate, AI and Machine Learning
Databricks is hiring a Sr. Developer Advocate, AI and Machine Learning in San Francisco, United States. It pays $149k-$205k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Databricks.
Level's read on this job
- Works on AI ●●●○ is how Level rates this role: the daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
- The posting mentions MLflow, Unity AI Gateway and MLOps among its tools and skills.
- Level classes it as a senior role.
- Databricks has 894 other open roles on Level.
AI in this role
Lead developer advocacy for Databricks' AI and machine learning platforms, focusing on generative AI and agentic systems.
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At Databricks, we are passionate about enabling data teams to solve the world's most challenging problems — from making the next mode of transportation a reality to accelerating medical breakthroughs. We do this by building and running the world's best data and AI platform, enabling our customers to use deep data insights to improve their businesses. Our ability to execute this mission depends on building trust and recognition within an ever-growing community of data engineers, analysts, scientists, machine learning practitioners, and AI practitioners.
Are you the person who is already at every AI meetup in the Bay Area — not to be seen, but because that's where the interesting conversations are happening? Are you a hands-on practitioner in generative AI, agents, and MLOps who can hold your own in a room full of AI engineers and leave them with something they can actually use?
As a Senior Developer Advocate for AI and Machine Learning, you'll be the voice of Databricks in the Bay Area AI community and a crucial link between our engineering teams and the global community of data scientists and AI engineers. You'll focus on how practitioners build, evaluate, govern, and ship agentic systems on the Databricks Data + AI Platform — with particular depth in Genie Agents, Genie Code, Genie One, MLflow, and Databricks Unity AI Gateway. You'll translate what you learn from customers and the community into reference implementations, demos, and content that are production-ready rather than merely impressive on stage.
This is a role for someone who wants to be in the room. San Francisco and the wider Bay Area are the densest concentration of AI practitioners in the world, and we want Databricks to be present and useful in that community — at meetups, hack nights, demo nights, founder dinners, and the hallway conversations around them. You'll build genuine relationships with the people building the future of AI here, and you'll bring what you hear back to our product and engineering teams.
Your responsibilities will encompass a wide range of knowledge-sharing activities. You'll deliver engaging talks, host panels and meetups, create blogs and video content, develop courseware, answer questions in community forums, and meet one-on-one with influential AI engineers and data scientists.
Reporting to the Head of Developer Relations, you'll collaborate with fellow Developer Advocates and program managers to create and execute a cohesive and impactful developer relations strategy.
The ideal candidate embodies the values of our Developer Relations team: a deep passion for data and AI, genuine empathy for developers' needs, and a strong commitment to explaining our products clearly and honestly.
More about the DevRel team
The Developer Relations (DevRel) team at Databricks is dedicated to building and fostering relationships with communities of data practitioners. Our goal is to drive awareness and adoption of the Databricks Data + AI Platform — including Lakeflow, Lakebase, Genie Agents, and AI/BI — alongside the open source projects that underpin it, such as Apache Spark™, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, MLflow, Apache Iceberg™, and Omnigent. Our team also owns programs like the Databricks MVP program, the user group program, and DevConnect roadshows.
The impact you will have
- Be a consistent, recognized presence in the Bay Area AI community — speaking at local user groups and meetups, showing up to the events that matter, and building real relationships with the practitioners and founders shaping the space.
- Own medium-to-large advocacy projects end-to-end, from scoping through delivery, for the AI and agents area.
- Create production-ready reference implementations, starter kits, and demos that show practitioners how to build, evaluate, and govern agents on Databricks — and get them to first value in minutes, not hours.
- Create high-quality educational content — videos, sample notebooks, datasets, tutorials, courseware, and blog posts — and reuse each core asset across formats to reach practitioners wherever they already are.
- Drive awareness and adoption of Databricks AI capabilities through speaking engagements at industry events and conferences.
- Act as a trusted advisor between the AI community and our product teams, and influence roadmap discussions with what you learn.
- Expand and nurture the Databricks AI and ML community by growing meetups and user groups and supporting practitioners in online communities.
- Gather and analyze community feedback to drive continuous improvement of Databricks products and services.
- Mentor and unblock less-experienced advocates in content, demos, and public speaking.
What we look for
- 5+ years of combined experience as a developer advocate and in a hands-on technical role — software engineer, ML engineer, data scientist, or solutions architect.
- Professional experience actually building and operating AI or ML systems, not only presenting about them.
- Subject matter knowledge of solving AI and ML problems at scale, including agent design, evaluation, and production operations.
- Comprehensive understanding of the Databricks AI ecosystem, including Genie Agents, Genie, MLflow, and Databricks Unity AI Gateway.
- Strong Python skills and fluency with the current agent and ML tooling landscape.
- Based in the Bay Area and genuinely willing to be out in the community on a regular basis, including evenings.
- Active participation and recognized leadership in AI and ML community forums, chats, and meetups — measured by what the community builds with your help, not by follower count.
- A public portfolio of technical work: tutorials, talks, repositories, or sustained community contributions.
- Proven track record in nurturing developer communities, organizing user groups, and facilitating meetups.
- Exceptional communication skills, with a talent for articulating complex concepts through writing, teaching, video, and public speaking.
- Deep empathy for developer needs, with the ability to craft engaging experiences across tutorials, notebooks, and community platforms.
- Adept at collaborating with cross-functional stakeholders to align community initiatives with product objectives.
Pay Range Transparency
Databricks is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. The pay range(s) for this role is listed below and represents the expected salary range for non-commissionable roles or on-target earnings for commissionable roles. Actual compensation packages are based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to job-related skills, depth of experience, relevant certifications and training, and specific work location. Based on the factors above, Databricks anticipates utilizing the full width of the range. The total compensation package for this position may also include eligibility for annual performance bonus, equity, and the benefits listed above. For more information regarding which range your location is in visit our page here.
Zone 1 Pay Range$149,200—$205,150 USD
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 affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other protected characteristics.
Compliance
If access to export-controlled technology or source code is required for performance of job duties, it is within Employer's discretion whether to apply for a U.S. government license for such positions, and Employer may decline to proceed with an applicant on this basis alone.
How we rate this
Sr. Developer Advocate, AI and Machine Learning at Databricks rates 65 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Works on AI (AI Level 3 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Works on AI. The daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
- ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
- ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
- ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
- ●○○○ Little AI0 to 39
Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Questions you could be asked
- How do you monitor a model once it's live, and how do you know it needs retraining?
- Tell me about a project where generative ai was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where developer relations was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where mlops was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where agents was part of your work. What did you do?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: ML Ops, Generative AI, Developer Relations, MLOps, and Agents. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
- Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
- Show where AI is part of your daily process, not a one-off project. This role expects it to be a running habit.
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