Sales Director, Utilities

Skydio

8h • $172,000 - $216,000

About The Position

Skydio is hiring a Sales Director to lead its Utilities sales team, which serves the company’s largest commercial segment. The team includes three Strategic Account Managers covering the largest utilities and two Enterprise Account Executives covering the next tier, with each seller paired with a dedicated Solutions Engineer. The director owns the team’s quota and is expected to grow the business substantially without initially adding headcount.

This is a land-and-expand role focused on a small set of named utility accounts. The director will sharpen deal strategy, join major pursuits in the field, serve as an executive sponsor, and establish discipline in pipeline management and forecasting. They will recruit, coach, develop, and retain sellers, while helping the team sell large autonomous drone programs and expand from pilots to territory-wide dock networks and multi-year agreements.

The role requires building alignment across utility organizations, from distribution and transmission operations leaders to executives responsible for reliability, capital allocation, regulatory outcomes, and grid transformation. The director will collaborate with peer Sales Directors and teams across Solutions Engineering, Customer Success, Deployment, Product, Marketing, and services partners. They will model and coach the effective use of AI tools in sales work, applying sound judgment and reviewing AI-generated content before it reaches customers.

The position requires travel at least 50% of the time. Skydio offers a base salary range of $172,000–$216,000 plus commission, stock options, and benefits to eligible regular, full-time employees. Relocation assistance may be available for eligible roles.

Requirements

• At least 3 years leading quota-carrying enterprise sellers as a first-line manager, with year-by-year team attainment details, including a missed year and the changes made afterward.
• At least 7 years of enterprise sales experience in hardware, software, or SaaS, including personal success closing complex, multi-stakeholder, multi-year deals in the seven- and eight-figure range.
• Experience selling to investor-owned utilities or leading teams that sell to them, with understanding of operating-company structures, sourcing and MSAs, capital versus O&M budgets, and regulatory influences on spending.
• A record of land-and-expand selling across a concentrated portfolio of named enterprise accounts and growing programs across business units over multiple years.
• A record of building alignment within customer organizations, from field operations leaders to VP and C-suite stakeholders.
• Demonstrated success recruiting sellers, including a relevant network, clear hiring criteria, and the ability to close candidates.
• A describable coaching approach with specific examples of employees who measurably improved.
• Strong retention history and a record of developing people into larger roles.
• Daily use of AI tools and at least one workflow, analysis, or tool built or changed in the last two years that measurably improved individual or team performance; candidates will be asked to demonstrate it.
• Executive presence with utility leadership and the team, and high personal integrity under quota pressure.
• Ability to travel at least 50% of the time.

Nice To Haves

• Utility operations experience in transmission and distribution, line work, asset management, inspection programs, vegetation management, or emergency response.
• Experience with UAS, robotics, LiDAR, GIS, or asset-management technology sold to utilities.
• Relationships across the utility industry, including UAS program leaders and industry groups such as EEI and EPRI.
• Experience building a team from a small base or scaling a team through rapid growth.
• Familiarity with MEDDPICC, Salesforce, Clari, Slack, and Google Workspace.
• Demonstrated curiosity and ability to explain how a non-sales subject works, such as a state inspection cycle, pole loading model, or aircraft autonomy, in plain language.

Responsibilities

• Own hiring for the utilities team, maintain a talent pipeline, run a rigorous hiring process, and close selected candidates.
• Onboard and ramp new sellers with a defined path to their first award, and hold ramp progress accountable.
• Run one-on-ones and deal reviews that develop seller judgment and inspect pipeline health.
• Join executive meetings, site walks, and pilot reviews, and provide specific, actionable feedback.
• Coach sellers on enterprise utility sales, including turning pilots into larger programs, building business cases for territory-wide dock networks, and navigating sourcing, MSAs, and multi-year agreements.
• Coach multi-level selling and help sellers align operations leaders with executive priorities such as reliability, wildfire mitigation, and storm response.
• Build MEDDPICC rigor and honest forecasting practices, including current close dates and notes and removal of duplicate or stale opportunities.
• Improve the team's use of AI through shared workflows for account research, call preparation, RFP responses, and pipeline analysis; ensure AI-drafted material is reviewed before customer use.
• Retain and develop the team through clear expectations, development paths, recognition, early career conversations, and trusted support in clearing obstacles.
• Design fair, achievable territories and quotas that support retention.
• Own the utilities business number, including pipeline coverage, forecast accuracy, linearity, and monthly analysis for executive leadership.
• Expand major accounts across operating companies and use cases, including transmission, distribution, substations, and emergency response.
• Grow program size and contract term by moving customers from pilots to territory-wide dock networks and toward five-year agreements.
• Partner with Solutions Engineering leadership to ensure coverage for every seller and with Inside Sales on smaller utilities and co-ops, with clear account routing as accounts grow.
• Serve as executive sponsor on the team's largest pursuits while supporting, rather than taking over, the deal.
• Partner with Customer Success and Deployment to turn signed programs into deployed, flying docks and measurable outcomes that enable further expansion.
• Share customer insight, competitive intelligence, and product gaps with Product and Marketing, including opportunities to use utility asset and construction data to scale autonomous inspection.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary plus commission.
• Equity in the form of stock options.
• Comprehensive benefits package, including eligibility to enroll in company group health insurance plans.
• Paid vacation time, sick leave, and holiday pay.
• 401K savings plan.
• Relocation assistance may be provided for eligible roles.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Education Level: No Education Listed