Chainguard
Mid (~350)
Databricks
Large (~7,000)
Best For
Chainguard
Best for: Security-minded engineers who want remote-first open-source work with strong comp
Databricks
Best for: Data engineers who want strong comp and deep technical pedigree at scale
Ratings
ChainguardDatabricks
4.5
4.1
Overall
4.2
3.9
Work-Life Balance
4.3
4.0
Culture & Values
4.2
4.3
Comp & Benefits
4.1
3.8
Senior Mgmt
4.0
3.9
Career Opps
👍 88% Recommend
👤 90% CEO Approval (Dan Lorenc)
👍 82% Recommend
👤 88% CEO Approval (Ali Ghodsi)
Culture Values
Chainguard only
🌐 Remote-Friendly🔓 Open Source⚖️ Work-Life Balance
Databricks only
🌱 Learning & Growth🌈 Diverse & Inclusive🎯 Direct Product Impact
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven💎 Strong Comp & Equity
Pros & Cons
Chainguard
- Fully remote with outstanding benefits — 100% employer-paid insurance for employees and families
- Founders are practitioners who understand what engineers and security teams need
- Growing so fast that some inefficiencies exist, though improving
- Fully remote means you miss in-person interactions with teammates
Databricks
- Engineers who built Spark, Delta Lake, MLflow — deep technical pedigree
- Strong compensation and equity packages consistently above market
- Hypergrowth means org changes are constant — teams restructure frequently
- Some legacy Spark-era tech debt that can slow down new features
Bottom Line
Chainguard
Choose Chainguard if you want to build supply chain security tools in a remote, open-source-first culture with strong equity — but expect a fast-moving startup pace.
Databricks
Choose Databricks if you want elite data infrastructure work with strong equity — but brace for constant org changes.
Open Roles
Chainguard — 63 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
27
💻 Engineering
24
📣 Marketing
3
📋 Product
2
🎨 Design
1
Databricks — 842 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
353
💻 Engineering
284
📋 Product
39
📣 Marketing
34
📊 Data
22
👤 HR / People
12
🧠 ML / AI
12
⚙️ Operations
11
🎨 Design
6
💰 Finance
5
⚖️ Legal
5
Summary
Chainguard scores 4.5/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.2 work-life balance rating. Databricks scores 4.1/5.0 overall with a 3.9 WLB. That’s a 0.4-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Strong Comp & Equity. Chainguard also emphasizes Remote-Friendly, Open Source, Work-Life Balance. Databricks also emphasizes Learning & Growth, Diverse & Inclusive, Direct Product Impact.
On the hiring front, Chainguard has 63 open roles and Databricks has 842 open roles.