Director of SLED Solutions Engineering

Skydio; United States; Remote; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Skydio seeks an experienced leader for Director, Solutions Engineering for SLED to own the technical outcomes for state and local government, education, and corrections across the United States and Canada. This is a remote role with ~30% travel, reporting to the VP of Solutions Engineering.

You will build and run a multi-team organization, set hiring and quality bar, and drive customer success through deployments, PODs, and field activities.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of relevant technical experience, including time in a customer-facing technical role.
• 2+ years leading managers or large teams.
• Strong understanding of drone technology and Public Safety sUAS operations.
• Experience with state and local government procurement and cooperative contracts.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, capable of briefing executives.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical outcome for SLED across the US and Canada.
• Build and scale a multi-team Solutions Engineering organization.
• Collaborate with Sales, Engineering and Product to drive deals and deployments.
• Oversee site assessments, proofs of concept, and deployments at scale.
• Define and manage forecast, capacity, and escalation paths.

Skills

Technical leadership

Customer-facing experience

Drone technology

Public Safety sUAS operations

Regulatory compliance

Scaling teams

Travel readiness

Tools

Salesforce

Palantir

Databricks

Job description

• Skydio is seeking an experienced Solutions Engineering leader to join our team as Director, Solutions Engineering for SLED. This role owns the technical outcome for state and local government, education, and corrections across the United States and Canada
• It is a leader of leaders role: you will build and run a multi-team organization through a year of significant growth, and the bar you set for hiring and technical quality is the one the whole vertical inherits
• This is a remote role. Travel of approximately 30% is required to support customer engagements, field activities, deployments, team onsites, and company events
• This role reports to the VP, Solutions Engineering
• The SLED Solutions Engineering team is the technical arm of Skydio’s state and local go-to-market motion. We sit between the agency and the product: turning operational problems into program designs, proving capability in the field, and making sure Skydio’s products are used, integrated, and flown at scale
• The team is measured on technical win rate, trial and proof of concept outcomes, program expansion, site assessment quality, and the requirements we push back into the product organization
• Solutions Engineers are critical members of the Skydio organization and work closely with Key Account Leaders, Engineering, and Product to support deal progression, customer confidence, successful deployments, and the long-term success of Public Safety sUAS programs
• As Director you are the technical counterpart to the VP of SLED Sales, and you own the coverage model that pairs the two organizations together
• Recruit, hire, and develop Senior Managers, and create the path that takes strong Solutions Engineers into their first management role
• Hold each manager to a segment outcome rather than an activity count, and coach them on coaching
• Scale the organization without losing the bar. Hiring velocity in the first half of the year is the single largest execution risk in the plan
• Own the operating rhythm of the vertical: forecast reviews, capacity decisions, and the escalation path when demand for technical resources exceeds supply
• Own the technical win across all of SLED, and own the coverage model that pairs Solutions Engineering to the sales organization seat for seat. Defend it, or revise it with evidence, each planning cycle
• Partner with the VP of SLED Sales as the technical counterpart on segmentation, territory design, and headcount, and bring a defensible position rather than a request
• Represent SLED in forecast, planning, and executive reviews, and bring technical risk forward early rather than at the end of the quarter
• Own site assessment quality as a performance measure. Solutions Engineers are the DRI for verifying a dock location before deployment, and the quality of the resulting installation reflects on the team
• Hold the bar on proofs of concept: structured deployments tied to an active opportunity with measurable operational value, not casual evaluations
• Guide integration and airspace strategy — CAD and dispatch, video and evidence management, streaming platforms, BVLOS approvals, waivers, COAs, and docked operations
• Maintain command of the public sector procurement path, including cooperative contracts, grant funded programs, and public sector buying cycles
• Be the aggregated voice of the customer to Product and Engineering. Turn field observations into prioritized, defensible requirements rather than a list of one-off asks
• Build the enablement content, reference architectures, and reusable technical assets that let the team scale, and maintain first-hand product knowledge through frequent hands-on use

Fluency in the commercial side of the business: coverage models, forecast discipline, deal strategy, and the judgment to know when to commit technical resources and when to decline8+ years of relevant technical experience, including time in a customer-facing technical role2+ years leading leaders. A track record of managing managers, or of managing a team large enough to have required a second layerStrong understanding of drone technology, Public Safety sUAS operations, and regulatory compliance, including Drone as First Responder concepts of operation and dock based remote operationsWorking knowledge of Public Safety technologies, including CAD, VMS, and related software platforms, and the ability to lead integration discussionsExperience with state and local government procurement, including cooperative contracts, grant funded programs, and public sector buying cyclesExcellent written and verbal communication. You can brief an operator, a program manager, and a senior executive without changing the factsA record of building organizations through fast growth — hiring, onboarding, and retaining technical people at volumeLead by example. Willing to do whatever is needed to get a customer situation resolvedAbility to travel approximately 30% of the timeObtaining FAA Part 107 certification within the first 60 days of employment is strongly encouraged for all Skydio employees and required for certain positionsAbility to lift up to 60 lbs unaidedWorking knowledge of Salesforce, Palantir, Databricks, or equivalentsPrior public safety service as a sworn officer, firefighter, or agency UAS program leadTrack record of building and scaling a technical team through a period of rapid growthExperience standing up a Drone as First Responder program from waiver through go-live, and with dock-based, remote, and BVLOS operations at scaleFamiliarity with grant funding pathways and cooperative purchasing vehicles used by state and local agencies