ctaio.dev
Ask AI Subscribe free

Salary Report 2026

Databricks Salary (2026)

Databricks sits at the center of the enterprise MLOps stack. Post-MosaicML acquisition, the company has rebuilt its compensation curve around an IPO-track equity story with a heavy MLOps and generative-AI hiring push.

Databricks compensation 2026 chart with ML engineer bands

Executive Tech Jobs

High-value tech leadership roles, in your inbox

Join 2,000+ CTOs, VPs of Engineering, and Heads of Engineering getting new executive tech openings and salary intel every Monday.

Free every Monday. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

Browse the full executive jobs board →
Mid-Level (L4) $240K SWE / ML II
Senior Median (L5) $420K Senior ML / SWE
Staff / Principal (L6+) $700K+ Mosaic AI senior

Estimates based on Levels.fyi, public disclosures, and Glassdoor data through 2024 and early 2026. Total comp = base + bonus + private equity at 409A grant value. IPO conversion not yet priced in.

Where Databricks Sits in 2026

Databricks has been one of the most consistent IPO-track narratives in tech for the past three years. The company raised a Series I at a $43B post-money valuation in September 2023, a Series J at a $62B post-money in December 2024, and a Series K in August 2025 that pushed valuation above $100B. ARR crossed $3B in 2024 according to public statements from CEO Ali Ghodsi. The company has not yet IPO'd but has been described as IPO-ready since 2022.

Compensation tracks that trajectory. Databricks pays at or near FAANG cash levels for engineering and ML roles, with equity that has appreciated significantly through successive funding rounds. Engineers who joined in 2020 and 2021 are sitting on equity positions that have multiplied four to six times in 409A value, though without a liquidity event the value remains paper.

Databricks Levels and Comp Bands

Databricks uses an L3 through L8 ladder for engineering and a parallel track for ML and applied research roles. The Mosaic AI team, formed from the 2023 MosaicML acquisition, sits inside the company's broader engineering org but has slightly different leveling norms inherited from the acquired team.

Level Title Base Salary Total Comp
L3 Software Engineer I $140K - $175K $175K - $240K
L4 Software Engineer II $170K - $215K $240K - $330K
L5 Senior Software Engineer / Senior ML Engineer $200K - $260K $330K - $480K
L6 Staff Engineer / Staff ML Engineer $240K - $310K $480K - $700K
L7 Principal Engineer / Principal ML $280K - $360K $700K - $1.0M
L8 Distinguished / Senior Principal $320K - $420K $900K - $1.4M+

The L5 senior level is the largest band by headcount and the most competitive on hiring. Senior ML engineers at Databricks earn $380K to $500K total comp, which is at parity with Snowflake and slightly below AWS AI services for the same role. The equity side adds upside that depends entirely on the IPO and post-IPO trading.

The MosaicML Effect

In June 2023 Databricks acquired MosaicML for approximately $1.3B. The acquisition brought in the founding team, the MPT model family, the Composer training library, and roughly 60 ML engineers and researchers. The integrated team is now the Mosaic AI org inside Databricks, responsible for the foundation model training infrastructure and the customer-facing model serving stack.

The compensation effect was significant. MosaicML staff received Databricks equity in the acquisition and have continued to hire at frontier-lab-adjacent rates. Senior ML engineers inside Mosaic AI sit at $400K to $600K total comp at the L5 level, which is the top of the Databricks band. Staff and Principal ML engineers in Mosaic AI can clear $800K, again with significant private equity weight.

For candidates evaluating Databricks, the Mosaic AI team is the closest thing to a research lab inside the company. Outside of Mosaic AI, the ML work is more applied: MLOps tooling, AutoML, the integrations with managed model serving, and the customer-facing parts of the lakehouse AI features.

Equity, IPO Timing, and the 409A Lift

Equity is the variable. Databricks has done multiple tender offers since 2021 to give employees partial liquidity, which has softened the no-IPO-yet pain. New hires in 2026 receive equity grants valued at the current 409A, which reflects the August 2025 Series K at over $100B. If the IPO prices above that valuation, equity grants appreciate in dollar terms at IPO. If the IPO prices below, grants stay flat or decline.

For senior hires the equity math matters more than for junior hires. A new L5 senior engineer joining in 2026 receives a four-year equity grant valued around $400K to $600K at grant. If the IPO lands meaningfully above the $100B Series K valuation, that grant appreciates in dollar terms. If the IPO is delayed past 2027 or prices flat, the grant carries its grant-date value with minimal upside until liquidity.

Compare to Scale AI, which had a different liquidity story through the June 2024 Meta investment, and Perplexity, which is at an earlier stage with steeper valuation curves and more risk.

Signing Bonuses and Negotiation

Databricks signing bonuses range from $50K to $150K for engineering hires. Senior ML hires with competing offers from frontier labs or FAANG AI orgs have seen signing bonuses above $200K. The bonus is usually paid 50% on start and 50% at the one-year anniversary, with full clawback if you leave inside the first year.

The most flexible negotiating lever is the equity grant. Databricks recruiters have shown visible movement of 20 to 40% on the initial equity grant when presented with a strong competing offer. Base salary has narrower negotiation room. The bonus target (typically 10 to 15% of base) is essentially fixed by level.

Databricks vs Snowflake vs AWS AI

The three most common candidate comparisons for engineers considering Databricks are Snowflake, AWS AI services, and Mosaic-adjacent frontier labs.

Snowflake pays roughly comparable cash to Databricks at senior levels, with public-market equity that is liquid but has not appreciated as fast as private Databricks paper since 2022. Snowflake L5 senior engineers earn $350K to $480K total comp, very close to Databricks.

AWS AI services, which is part of the broader AWS comp model, pays $300K to $420K at senior SDE II level. Slightly below Databricks at the median, with the stability advantage of Amazon stock and the back-loaded RSU dynamic detailed on the Amazon AGI page.

Frontier labs (Anthropic, OpenAI, Mosaic-affiliated startups) pay more in equity expectation but less in liquid cash. The trade is research access and potentially higher upside for higher risk.

MLOps and AI Engineer Demand

Databricks has been one of the largest MLOps hirers in enterprise tech since 2023. The push to ship Mosaic AI training and serving capabilities into customer environments has created strong demand for engineers with production ML platform experience. ML platform engineers, model serving engineers, and evaluation tooling specialists all command 10 to 20% premiums over standard SWE roles at the same level.

For AI engineers considering Databricks specifically, the work splits roughly: 40% on the platform that serves customer AI workloads (Mosaic AI inference, model registry, evaluation, governance), 35% on the data lakehouse integrations with AI features (RAG over enterprise data, vector search), and 25% on customer-facing applications and tooling.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does an engineer at Databricks make?
Engineers at Databricks earn $175K to $240K at L3 (entry), $240K to $330K at L4 (mid-level), $330K to $480K at L5 (senior), $480K to $700K at L6 (staff), and $700K to $1.0M at L7 (principal). All numbers are total comp including base, bonus, and equity at 409A grant value. Estimates based on Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, and public disclosures through 2024 and early 2026.
How much does an ML engineer at Databricks make?
Senior ML engineers at Databricks earn $380K to $500K total comp at the L5 level, slightly above the standard SWE band. ML engineers on the Mosaic AI team, which traces back to the 2023 MosaicML acquisition, sit at the top of that range. Staff ML engineers at L6 earn $500K to $700K, and principal-level ML engineers at L7 earn $700K to $1.0M+.
Is Databricks IPO going to happen?
Databricks has been described as IPO-ready since 2022 and has not yet filed. The company raised a Series J at $62B in December 2024 and a Series K in August 2025 that lifted valuation above $100B, and has conducted multiple tender offers to provide partial employee liquidity. CEO Ali Ghodsi has said publicly that the company is in no rush. Most analysts expect an IPO in 2026 or 2027 depending on market conditions.
What is the Mosaic AI team at Databricks?
Mosaic AI is the team that resulted from Databricks's June 2023 acquisition of MosaicML for approximately $1.3B. The team owns the foundation model training infrastructure, the Composer training library, and the customer-facing model serving stack. Mosaic AI sits inside the broader Databricks engineering org but operates with research-adjacent compensation norms and senior ML engineers earning at the top of the Databricks bands.
Does Databricks give signing bonuses?
Yes. Signing bonuses range from $50K to $150K for engineering hires, and senior ML hires with competing offers have seen signing bonuses above $200K. The bonus is typically paid 50% on start and 50% at the one-year anniversary, with full clawback if you leave within the first year. The most flexible negotiating lever at Databricks is the equity grant rather than the signing bonus.
How does Databricks equity work before IPO?
Databricks issues equity as RSUs that vest over four years. The 409A valuation has appreciated through successive funding rounds, most recently the August 2025 Series K at over $100B post-money. Employees can sell portions of vested equity through periodic tender offers, which Databricks has run multiple times since 2021. Full liquidity arrives at IPO, which has not yet been priced.
How does Databricks compensation compare to Snowflake?
Cash compensation at senior levels is roughly comparable. Snowflake L5 senior engineers earn $350K to $480K total comp, very close to Databricks at $330K to $480K. The difference is in equity. Snowflake is public, so equity is liquid but tied to the post-IPO trading price. Databricks is private with appreciating 409A but no immediate liquidity. The trade-off depends on whether you prefer liquid public-market equity or private equity with potential IPO upside.
Is Databricks a good place for ML engineers in 2026?
Yes, particularly for ML platform engineers and engineers who want to work on MLOps at production scale. The Mosaic AI team is the closest thing to a research lab inside Databricks and offers research-adjacent compensation. For engineers focused on building model infrastructure used by enterprise customers, Databricks is one of the strongest options in 2026. For engineers wanting pure frontier research, OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google DeepMind remain stronger fits.
·
Thomas Prommer
Thomas Prommer Technology Executive — CTO/CIO/CTAIO

These salary reports are built on firsthand hiring experience across 20+ years of engineering leadership (adidas, $9B platform, 500+ engineers) and a proprietary network of 200+ executive recruiters and headhunters who share placement data with us directly. As a top-1% expert on institutional investor networks, I've conducted 200+ technical due diligence consultations for PE/VC firms including Blackstone, Bain Capital, and Berenberg — work that requires current, accurate compensation benchmarks across every seniority level. Our team cross-references recruiter data with BLS statistics, job board salary disclosures, and executive compensation surveys to produce ranges you can actually negotiate with.

Profile LinkedIn Newsletter

Sources & References

Compensation data on this page is sourced from the following public and proprietary datasets. We cross-reference multiple sources to improve accuracy.

  1. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — US federal wage data for Computer and Information Systems Managers (SOC 11-3021). May 2024 release.
  2. Kruze Consulting — Startup CEO & CTO Salary Report — Payroll-based salary data from 250+ VC-backed startups by funding stage.
  3. Riviera Partners — CXO Compensation Benchmarks — Executive search placement data for CTO, VP Engineering, and CPO roles (2023).
  4. Glassdoor — CTO Salary Data — Self-reported CTO salary data with percentile distribution.
  5. Indeed — CTO Salary Data — Job posting and self-reported CTO compensation data.
  6. Levels.fyi — Engineering Compensation — Verified compensation data for engineering and executive roles at tech companies.
  7. Compensia — Executive Compensation Survey — Executive compensation advisory and survey data for technology companies.
  8. Radford (Aon) — Global Technology Survey — Compensation benchmarking for technology companies across all levels.

Related Salary Guides

Compensation data for related companies and roles: