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Salary: USD 144,000 - 200,000 / annual
Skydio is the leading US autonomous drone company, serving defense, public safety, and enterprise customers. This is a first-line director role leading a regional sales team focused on the largest public safety agencies (law enforcement, fire, emergency management) across the Western US territory.
You will lead a team of Key Account Leaders selling into major SLED (State, Local, Education) customers, with a focus on Drone as First Responder (DFR) programs. You will not carry your own accounts; your success is measured by your team's attainment. Your core responsibilities are recruiting, coaching, and retaining top sellers, while setting the standard for how the team operates.
Key responsibilities include:
- Own hiring for the region: build a continuous talent pipeline, run a rigorous process, and personally close candidates who meet the bar on integrity, team instinct, conversational craft, and AI fluency.
- Coach and develop sellers through 1:1s, deal reviews, and field engagement. Get into customer meetings, provide specific feedback, and build MEDDPICC rigor and forecast discipline.
- Retain talent by designing achievable and equitable territories, having honest career conversations, and creating clear development paths.
- Own the region's number: pipeline coverage, forecast accuracy, linearity, and competitive positioning.
- Partner with Channel, Sales Engineering, Business Development, Marketing, and Government Relations to win deals against incumbent platforms and well-funded competitors.
- Act as executive sponsor on largest pursuits and represent regional customer insight and competitive intelligence to leadership.
- Model and coach systematic use of AI tools in daily work—research, call prep, RFP response, pipeline analysis—while maintaining quality control.
The role emphasizes high integrity, team-first mentality, conversational excellence, and curiosity. You will set the standard for how the team works, not just what it sells. This is a highly competitive market; success requires deep understanding of public safety procurement, budget cycles, and grant structures.
REQUIREMENTS:
- 3+ years leading quota-carrying sellers as a first-line manager, with documented team attainment year by year (including missed years and what changed).
- 4+ years total in enterprise software, hardware, or SaaS sales, including personal success closing complex, multi-stakeholder deals.
- Demonstrated success recruiting sellers: real network, clear point of view on talent, structured hiring process, and ability to close candidates.
- Articulated coaching approach with specific examples of people who improved measurably under your leadership.
- Strong voluntary retention history and track record developing people into larger roles.
- Experience selling or leading teams into SLED customers, with working knowledge of procurement vehicles and budget/grant cycles.
- Fluency selling with and through channel partners.
- Daily, systematic use of AI tools in your own work, plus at least one workflow, analysis, or tool you built or changed in the last two years that made you or your team measurably better (you will be asked to demonstrate it).
- Executive presence with customer leadership and your own team; high personal integrity under quota pressure.
- Ability to travel at least 50% of the time and based in West Region.
PREFERRED:
- Experience in public safety (law enforcement, fire, emergency management).
- Experience building a team from a small base rather than inheriting a mature one.
- You have built something with AI that other people use (research tool, analysis, team workflow) and can discuss what the first version got wrong.
- Demonstrated curiosity: can explain how something outside sales works (agency budget, airspace waiver, aircraft autonomy) in plain language.
- Familiarity with MEDDPICC, Salesforce, Clari, BGov, GovWin, Slack, Google Workspace.
- UAV, robotics, or emerging technology background; comfort in fast-moving environment.
About Skydio
Defense / GovTech; Industrial — autonomous drones for defense, public safety, and enterprise.
