Director, Strategic Sourcing

GAQ127R130

Location: While the Bay Area is preferred, we will consider candidates in other locations. 

As Databricks continues to scale as the leading data and AI company, our technology footprint, vendor ecosystem, and third-party spend are growing rapidly in both size and complexity. Strategic sourcing is a critical lever for enabling innovation while ensuring Databricks remains disciplined, scalable, and commercially advantaged.

We are seeking a Director of Strategic Sourcing to build and lead a world-class sourcing function that partners deeply with Engineering, Product, Security, Legal, Finance, and IT. This leader will define how Databricks evaluates, negotiates, and manages technology and strategic suppliers—ensuring we invest in the right partners, on the right terms, at the right time.

This role is not about transactional procurement. It is about shaping Databricks’ vendor strategy, driving material business impact, and enabling teams to move fast without compromising rigor.

The impact you will have:

• Define and execute a global strategic sourcing strategy across technology, cloud-adjacent tools, marketing, professional services, and other high-impact categories.  Build scalable category strategies aligned with Databricks’ product roadmap and growth plans.
• Establish sourcing as a trusted advisory function, not a bottleneck.
• Act as a strategic partner to leaders in Engineering, Product, IT, Security, Legal, and Finance.  Guide stakeholders through vendor selection, commercial structuring, and contract negotiations.  Balance speed, innovation, risk management, and cost discipline in decision-making.
• Lead complex, high-value negotiations that deliver meaningful cost savings, risk reduction, and commercial flexibility.  Optimize total cost of ownership (TCO), not just price.  Build frameworks for vendor rationalization, demand management, and value realization.
• Develop and lead a team of strategic sourcing professionals.  Set high standards for analytical rigor, negotiation excellence, and stakeholder engagement.  Create clear operating models, governance, and escalation paths.
• Partner with Procurement Ops to improve processes, tooling, and data visibility.  Leverage market intelligence and benchmarks to inform sourcing decisions.  Support M&A, new product initiatives, and global expansion as needed.

What we look for:

• 10+ years experience in a Procurement or Strategic Sourcing role with knowledge of full end-to-end Procure to Pay process
• Experience managing global sourcing and procurement operations
• Leader with ability to drive change across the organization to achieve efficiencies in processes and systems
• Process and customer service inspired.
• Experience with systems such as Netsuite and Zip