Senior Staff Applied Engineer

Business Area:

Seniority Level:

Job Description: 

At Cloudera, we empower people to transform complex data into clear and actionable insights. With as much data under management as the hyperscalers, we're the preferred data partner for the top companies in almost every industry.  Powered by the relentless innovation of the open source community, Cloudera advances digital transformation for the world’s largest enterprises.

The Leading Emergent Engineering Taskforce (LEET) is a new, agile operational unit designed to execute on Cloudera’s most critical strategic initiatives. Operating as an "empowered pod," we bridge the gap between abstract requirements and real-world execution, tackling both complex customer integrations and high-impact internal engineering projects. We move with the velocity of a startup while leveraging the massive scale of the Cloudera Data Platform.

As the Senior Staff Applied Engineer, you will serve as the Rosetta Stone between the taskforce's technical execution and our high-level business goals. You ensure our systems are business relevant.

Working closely with both internal and external stakeholders, you diagnose the root cause of friction to translate ambiguous goals into concrete engineering requirements for the pod. You are a hybrid technologist—part solutions architect, part systems engineer—responsible for preventing "pilot purgatory" by validating that we are solving the right problem before the team writes a single line of production code.

• Diagnose & Translate: Engage with non-technical stakeholders to decipher the "signal from the noise." You will transform high-level opportunities into precise technical specifications, ensuring the pod builds solutions that drive measurable ROI.

• Iterative Discovery & Prototyping: Leverage a full-spectrum skillset to build immediate, throwaway proofs-of-concept. You validate assumptions interactively with stakeholders, shortening the feedback loop from weeks to hours.

• Integration Engineering: Act as the hands-on integrator who connects abstract AI models and data platforms into complex, real-world hybrid-cloud environments.

• Drive Adoption: You do not leave when the code ships. You are responsible for the "last mile" of engineering—guiding teams on best practices, removing operational blockers, and ensuring the solution is adopted into daily workflows.

• Feedback Loop: Act as the "eyes and ears" for Product Management. You will capture the friction points users face and feed detailed technical insights back to the core engineering teams.

• Experience: 7+ years of engineering experience, with a significant portion spent in consultative, solutions architecture, or forward-deployed roles.

• Ambiguity Management: Proven ability to positively affect change and define technical approaches in environments with fuzzy definitions, shifting requirements, and no documentation.

• Applied AI Awareness: Ability to connect abstract AI models to real-world human workflows and business logic.

• Multidisciplinary Proficiency: A versatile technical skillset across multiple languages and the ability to seamlessly switch between hands-on coding and leading strategic workshops.

• Container Orchestration: Strong proficiency in Kubernetes and Cloud-Native technologies to troubleshoot deployments in distributed environments.

• Communication Mastery: Advanced oral and written skills. You must be able to hold your own with executive stakeholders and explain complex distributed systems concepts to non-engineers.

• Background in Forward Deployed Engineering (e.g., Palantir model) or high-end technical consulting.

• Experience integrating AI/ML workflows or data pipelines into existing enterprise business processes.

• Familiarity with the Hadoop ecosystem or modern data lakehouse architectures.

What you can expect from us:

• Generous PTO Policy 

• Support work life balance with Unplugged Days

• Flexible WFH Policy 

• Mental & Physical Wellness programs 

• Phone and Internet Reimbursement program 

• Access to Continued Career Development 

• Comprehensive Benefits and Competitive Packages 

• Paid Volunteer Time

• Employee Resource Groups

EEO/VEVRAA

#LI-RC1