Key Account Director, Small City (Central)

Skydio•San Mateo, CA

4d•$144,000 - $200,000•Remote

About The Position

Skydio is hiring a first-line sales leader to lead a regional team of Key Account Leaders selling to small-city public safety agencies with 1 to 40 sworn personnel. The role covers a Central U.S. territory and is remote. The director is accountable for the team’s results, not an individual account quota, and drives performance by recruiting, coaching, and retaining sellers; strengthening deal strategy; joining important customer pursuits; and building predictable territory, pipeline, and forecast practices. The segment is high-volume, so the director uses funnel measures such as conversion rates, cycle time, stage velocity, and activity quality to identify where the team needs support. The director also identifies small-city agencies with potential to grow into larger opportunities and coordinates appropriate account transitions with Mid-City and T1200 teams. The role works closely with peer directors and teams across Channel, Sales Engineering, Business Development, Marketing, Strategic Relationships, Government Relations, and Mission Success. The director sets expectations for integrity, teamwork, customer conversations, and practical use of AI tools. They lead hiring and onboarding, coach sellers in the field and through deal reviews, guide competitive and channel strategies, design territories and quotas, and represent customer and competitive insights to Marketing and Product. The position requires at least 50% travel and is based in the Central U.S. territory (IA, IL, KS, MN, MO, ND, NE, SD, TX, WI). The role is regular, full-time employment. Compensation is an annual base salary of $144,000–$200,000 plus commission, with stock options and comprehensive benefits. Relocation assistance may be provided for eligible roles. Compensation may vary by location.

Requirements

At least 2 years leading quota-carrying sellers as a first-line manager, with year-by-year team attainment results, including any missed year and corrective actions.
At least 4 years of total experience in enterprise software, hardware, or SaaS sales, including personal success closing complex, multi-stakeholder deals.
Demonstrated success recruiting sellers, including a network, a clear hiring bar, a structured process, and the ability to close candidates.
An articulable coaching approach with specific examples of people who measurably improved under the candidate’s leadership.
Strong voluntary retention history, a record of developing people into larger roles, and judgment to address poor role fit promptly.
Experience selling to or leading teams serving SLED customers, with working knowledge of procurement vehicles and budget and grant cycles.
Fluency selling with and through channel partners.
Daily, systematic use of AI tools and at least one workflow, analysis, or tool built or changed in the last two years that measurably improved the candidate’s or team’s work; the candidate must be able to demonstrate it.
Executive presence with customer leaders and the candidate’s own team, and high personal integrity under quota pressure.
Ability to travel at least 50% of the time and be based in the Central U.S. territory.
Personal success in a high-velocity, high-volume selling environment.
Data-fluent coaching ability, including management of funnel metrics and identification of the specific levers behind seller results.
Experience building or maintaining a repeatable sales process that supports growth in volume and headcount.

Nice To Haves

Experience in public safety, particularly law enforcement, fire, or emergency management, or experience standing up or scaling a high-volume segment.
Experience building a team from a small base rather than inheriting a mature team.
Experience building an AI tool, analysis, or workflow used by others, and ability to discuss what the initial version got wrong.
Demonstrated curiosity and ability to explain how an unfamiliar system works in plain language and learn quickly.
Familiarity with MEDDPICC, Salesforce, Clari, BGov, GovWin, Slack, and Google Workspace.
UAV, robotics, or emerging-technology background and comfort in a fast-moving environment.

Responsibilities

Own hiring for the region, build a continuous talent pipeline, run a structured and rigorous selection process, and close selected candidates.
Onboard and ramp new Key Account Leaders with a clear path to their first award and accountability for ramp progress.
Run one-on-ones and deal reviews that develop seller judgment, and join demonstrations, customer meetings, and executive conversations to provide specific feedback.
Coach competitive selling, including POV strategy, early requirements shaping, positioning Skydio differentiators, displacement plays, and defending accounts.
Develop team rigor in MEDDPICC, channel selling, and honest forecasting.
Build shared AI workflows for customer research, call preparation, RFP responses, and pipeline analysis; ensure AI-drafted customer-facing material is reviewed before use.
Retain and develop team members through clear expectations, development paths, recognition, career conversations, and timely action on disengagement or role fit.
Own territory and quota design so assignments are achievable, equitable, and supportive of retention.
Own the region’s number, pipeline coverage, forecast accuracy, quarter linearity, and related analysis.
Partner with Channel on partner strategy, joint planning, deal structures, and coordination between partner-led and direct sales.
Serve as executive sponsor for the team’s largest and most competitive pursuits without taking over the deal.
Represent regional customer insights, competitive intelligence, and product gaps to Marketing and Product.
Coordinate with Mid-City and T1200 leaders on account routing, shared credit, and customer transitions.
Lead the team to use AI tools as a normal part of territory management and sales work.