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Salary: USD 172,000 - 215,000 / annual
Skydio is seeking an experienced Solutions Engineering leader to join as Senior Manager, Solutions Engineering for National Security, Defense. This role leads the technical team supporting the Department of War, United States Special Operations Command, and the Intelligence Community, with focus on upstream requirements development, evaluations and field trials, system integration, and unit-level enablement across Skydio's end-to-end UAS (unmanned aerial systems) solutions.
The National Security Solutions Engineering team is the technical arm of Skydio's defense go-to-market motion, sitting between customers and product teams. The team translates mission problems into requirements, proves capability in the field, and ensures Skydio's products are accredited, integrated, and deployed at scale in contested environments where network, spectrum, and GPS signals are challenged.
Key Responsibilities:
LEAD THE TEAM: Hire, onboard, coach, and retain team members with clear ownership across agencies and components. Set the bar for technical quality in demos, trial plans, integration designs, RFI/RFP responses, and customer-facing documentation. Own capacity decisions and manage deployment tempo to sustain retention while maintaining field presence.
DRIVE TECHNICAL WINS: Own technical strategy for pursuits including evaluation strategy, proof-of-concept and field trial design, and differentiation narrative. Serve as senior technical escalation point on critical pursuits, deployments, and customer issues. Partner with Sales on pipeline, forecast, account planning, and land-and-expand motions.
OWN THE DEFENSE PROBLEM SET: Shape requirements upstream by engaging program offices, capability development staffs, and operators early. Build team competency in exercises and operational assessments as primary proving grounds. Maintain fluency in accreditation paths (ATO, impact levels, NIPR/SIPR employment), NDAA compliance, Blue UAS status, and procurement vehicles (programs of record, OTAs, SBIR Phase III, IDIQs). Guide integration with existing force systems (TAK, MANET, secure tactical radios, tactical C2). Own airworthiness and airspace picture including flight clearances, BVLOS approvals, waivers, COAs, and range approvals. Understand employment in contested/degraded conditions (EW, GPS-denied, comms-limited).
REPRESENT THE CUSTOMER: Be the aggregated voice of the customer to Product and Engineering, turning field observations into prioritized requirements. Build enablement content, reference architectures, and reusable technical assets. Maintain first-hand product knowledge through frequent hands-on use.
Travel of approximately 50%, including regular international travel, is required to support customer engagements, field activities, deployments, and company events. This role reports to the Director, Solutions Engineering – National Security.
REQUIREMENTS:
- 5+ years of relevant technical experience, including time in a customer-facing technical role supporting defense customers
- 5+ years of federal government or defense experience in a discipline relevant to UAS (operations, maintenance, ISR, test and evaluation, acquisition, or training)
- 1+ years leading a technical team, formally or as a technical lead with hiring and mentorship responsibility. First-time managers with demonstrated record of leading and developing people in an operational environment will be considered
- Demonstrated understanding of defense acquisition process for technology, from requirements development through evaluation, award, and fielding
- Technical depth in at least one core area: UAS platforms, RF and datalink systems, EO/IR and other sensor payloads, software integration and APIs, cloud and data architecture, or government IT security
- Comfort operating inside a Sales organization, including owning a quota, deal strategy, and judgment on resource commitment
- Excellent written and verbal communication; ability to brief operators, program managers, and general officers without changing facts
- Lead by example; willing to do whatever is needed to resolve customer situations
- Ability to travel up to 50% of the time, including regular international travel
- Ability to lift up to 60 lbs unaided
- Active Secret or Top Secret security clearance, or ability to obtain one
- FAA Part 107 certification within first 60 days of employment strongly encouraged and required for certain positions
NICE TO HAVE:
- Direct experience supporting SOCOM or its components (NSWC, MARSOC, AFSOC, USASOC, JSOC), a Theater Special Operations Command, or Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force or Space Force units
- Prior military UAS operator, maintainer, or instructor certification
- Experience with shipboard, small boat, or maritime UAS employment, including launch and recovery from moving deck
- Experience in contested or degraded environments and with mission planning, CONOPS, and TTP development for small UAS
- Hands-on experience with MANET radios and secure comms (TSM, TrellisWare, Silvus, Persistent Systems), and familiarity with counter-UAS and airspace deconfliction
- Experience navigating RMF package or ATO from vendor side, and with OTAs, prototype agreements, or SBIR Phase III transitions
- Familiarity with foreign disclosure, ITAR, and FMS processes
- Working knowledge of Salesforce, Palantir, Databricks, or equivalents
About Skydio
Defense / GovTech; Industrial — autonomous drones for defense, public safety, and enterprise.
