Manager, Solutions Engineering – Commercial, Emerging Industries

Description

Skydio is the leading US drone company and the world leader in autonomous flight, the key technology for the future of drones and aerial mobility. The Skydio team combines deep expertise in artificial intelligence, best-in-class hardware and software product development, operational excellence, and customer obsession to empower a broader, more diverse audience of drone users, from utility inspectors to first responders , soldiers in battlefield scenarios , and beyond .

About the Role

Skydio is seeking a Solutions Engineering leader to run the Emerging Industries team, the group responsible for turning promising use cases into repeatable, scalable businesses. You will lead a team of quota-bearing Solutions Engineers who operate at the front edge of the market: scoping and executing proofs of concept, defining success criteria where none exist, validating new hardware, software, and workflows, and determining whether a use case is real before the company invests behind it.

In addition to the Emerging Industries team, you will manage Solutions Engineers who support Skydio's high-leverage sales channels and our Inside Sales Representatives (ISRs). These roles extend Solutions Engineering coverage through partners and high-velocity sales motions, and they require a different operating model than field POCs: scalable enablement, fast technical qualification, and repeatable assets over bespoke engagements.

This is a remote role. Travel of up to 50% is required to support customer engagements, POCs, field validation, partner activities, and company events.

This role reports to the Director, Solutions Engineering – Commercial.

The Commercial Solutions Engineering team is the technical authority behind every commercial engagement. We sit between the customer and the product: running technical discovery, designing solutions, executing paid dock trials, and carrying customers from a first site through fleet-wide rollout.

The team is measured on technical win rate, trial and proof of concept outcomes, program expansion, and the quality of requirements we push back into the product organization. Solutions Engineers operate against a shared quota with their sales counterparts, and Solutions Specialists provide domain depth as an overlay across segments.

Solutions Engineers are critical members of the Skydio Sales organization and work closely with Account Executives, Inside Sales Representatives, Partner and Rental teams, Solutions Specialists, Deployment Engineers, and the Launch Team to support deal progression, customer confidence, successful deployments, and the long-term success of commercial UAS programs.

How You’ll Make an Impact

Lead the team

Hire, develop, and retain a team of Solutions Engineers with complementary domain coverage across target segments.

Build the qualification framework for new use cases and industries: what gets a POC, what gets a deferral, and what evidence is required to move a segment from exploratory to funded.

Own team productivity, engagement, and growth. Serve as the decision-maker for Solutions Engineering capacity within your segment: set priorities for where the team's time goes, decline requests that don't meet the bar, and keep Sales leadership informed of the tradeoffs behind each call.

Develop people beyond the seat they are in, including career paths, promotion cases, and succession inside your team.

Drive technical wins

Own technical win rate for Emerging Industries and partner with segment sales leadership on pipeline health and quota attainment.

Lead POC and pilot design across oil and gas including optical gas imaging and methane detection, construction and AEC progress documentation, survey and mapping, mining, and logistics and distribution.

Work with GTM, Marketing, and Sales leadership to shape segment definitions, target account lists, and go-to-market plays as the commercial segmentation model evolves.

Own the emerging industries problem set

Maintain team fluency in survey and mapping workflows: photogrammetry, PPK and RTK, 3D scan, survey-grade accuracy standards, and 3D data deliverables.

Partner with vendors and Product on payload and sensor requirements for new workflows; define constraints and acceptance criteria.

Build the technical assets — demo environments, workflow documentation, accuracy and validation whitepapers — that let a new segment scale beyond its first few deals.

Represent the customer inside Skydio

Own the team’s PRD output and act as the internal voice of the market for segments without a dedicated product owner.

Build and maintain scalable technical assets — reference architectures, demo scripts, workflow documentation, and playbooks — that reduce time-to-productivity for new Solutions Engineers.

Maintain first-hand product knowledge through frequent hands-on use, sufficient to engage meaningfully with both customers and your own team.

What Makes You a Good Fit

Prior experience as a Solutions Engineer, Solutions Architect, or equivalent technical pre-sales role in one or more of oil and gas, AEC and construction, mining, industrial, or logistics.

Experience running structured proofs of concept with defined success criteria, and the discipline to report results honestly when they are unfavorable.

Working knowledge of survey and mapping workflows: photogrammetry, PPK and RTK, 3D scan, survey-grade accuracy standards, and 3D data deliverables.

Familiarity with specialized payloads — optical gas imaging, LiDAR, therma, RGB — and the ability to define vendor requirements.

Experience with integrations, REST-based APIs, and customer data pipeline patterns.

Strong commercial judgment: the ability to distinguish a genuine market from an interesting demo, and to communicate that distinction to executives.

Excellent written and verbal communication, including the ability to write a clear PRD and a clear POC report.

Demonstrated people leadership, including hiring and coaching in a segment where the playbook is still being written.

Lead by example. Willing to do whatever is needed to get a customer situation resolved.

Requirements

• Direct operator or program experience in AEC, oil and gas, mining, rail, or ports.
• Experience bringing a new industry segment from first deal to repeatable motion.
• Experience with dock-based, remote, and BVLOS operations at scale.
• Working knowledge of Salesforce, Jira, Databricks, or equivalents.
• Track record of building and scaling a technical team through a period of rapid growth.
• What Is Required
• FAA Part 107 Certificate, or the ability to obtain one within 60 days of hire.
• Ability to travel up to 50% to support customer engagements, team field activities, and company events.
• Ability to lift up to 60 lbs unaided.
• Compensation: At Skydio, our compensation packages for regular, full-time employees include competitive base salaries, equity in the form of stock options, and comprehensive benefits packages. Compensation will vary based on factors, including skill level, proficiencies, transferable knowledge, and experience. Relocation assistance may also be provided for eligible roles. The annual salary range for this position is $215,000 - $270,000. Fundamentally, we believe that equity is the key to long-term financial growth, and we ensure all regular, full-time employees have the opportunity to significantly benefit from the company's success. Regular, full-time employees are eligible to enroll in the Company’s group health insurance plans. Regular, full-time employees are eligible to receive the following benefits: Paid vacation time, sick leave, holiday pay and 401K savings plan. This position and all associated benefits are subject to applicable federal, state, and local laws, as well as the Company’s policies and eligibility criteria.
• Compensation for certain positions may vary based on the position’s location.
• LI-AY1
• At Skydio we believe that diversity drives innovation. We have created a multidisciplinary environment that embraces the power of diverse perspectives to create elegant solutions for complex problems. We are committed to growing our network of people, programs, and resources to nurture an inclusive culture.