Engagement Manager

LAKEORA is a Riyadh-based data and AI advisory firm and a pure-play Databricks partner. We build the governed data platforms that Saudi enterprises run their decisions on, going deep on one platform rather than wide across many, with governance designed in from the start. We are early-stage, flat, and deliberately small. You work directly with customers, own the architecture you design, and see it reach production. We like engineers who are direct, curious, and would rather get something right than get it agreed.

What are we looking for?

We're looking for an Engagement Manager who owns the client relationship and keeps engagements moving: the single point of contact who handles escalations, drives approvals, and makes sure every deliverable lands.

At LAKEORA, this role sits at the center of the engagement. You'll be the bridge between client stakeholders and our technical team and leadership, turning delivery into something clients trust and want to expand. Lean team, high visibility, real impact.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the client relationship across the engagement lifecycle, serving as the primary point of contact from kickoff through delivery and handover

• Manage scope, timelines, and resourcing across one or more concurrent client engagements

• Handle escalations directly, keeping client stakeholders and the Lakeora team aligned when issues arise

• Run approval workflows: scope sign-offs, change requests, milestone acceptance, and deliverable reviews

• Own engagement documentation: SOWs, status reports, meeting notes, decision logs, and delivery artifacts

• Lead steering committee and status meetings, translating technical progress into business language for client leadership

• Track engagement health (budget, burn rate, risks, dependencies) and surface issues before they escalate

• Coordinate across data engineers, platform engineers, and solutions architects to keep delivery on track

• Identify follow-on and expansion opportunities within accounts, working with the team to shape them

Qualifications

Required

• 4+ years in engagement management, delivery management, or technical project management, ideally in data, cloud, or consulting

• Proven track record managing client-facing technical delivery from scope through acceptance

• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to handle escalations and hard conversations calmly

• Solid understanding of data platform projects and modern data and cloud concepts (you don't need to code, but you need to speak the language)

• Experience managing scope, budget, timelines, and risk across concurrent engagements

• Excellent written and verbal communication, including executive-level reporting and disciplined documentation

• Comfortable in a lean, high-ownership team where you wear multiple hats

• Fluent English; Arabic strongly valued for KSA client engagements

Preferred

• Experience delivering Databricks, data platform, or analytics and AI projects

• Familiarity with the Databricks ecosystem (Lakehouse, Unity Catalog, delivery on cloud hyperscalers)

• Consulting background at a data and AI advisory or systems integrator

• PMP, PRINCE2, or Agile/Scrum certification preferred

• Sector exposure in Industrial (Manufacturing & Oil and Gas), Logistics & Transportation, or Insurance

• Presales or account growth experience

If this sounds like the kind of work you want to do, we would like to hear from you. LAKEORA is an equal opportunity employer and assesses every application on merit.