Senior Director, Field Application Engineering

Sonatus, Inc•Sunnyvale, CA

35d•Hybrid

About The Position

Join a high-performing team at Sonatus that's redefining what cars can do in the era of Software-Defined Vehicles (SDV). At Sonatus, we're driving the transformation to AI-enabled software-defined vehicles. Traditional automotive software methods can't keep pace with consumer expectations shaped by the mobile industry-where features evolve rapidly, update seamlessly, and improve continuously. That's why leading OEMs trust Sonatus to accelerate this shift. Our technology is already in production across more than 5 million vehicles on the road today and rapidly expanding. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, with 250+ employees worldwide, Sonatus combines the agility of a fast-growing company with the scale and impact of an established partner. Backed by strong funding and proven by global deployment, we're solving some of the most interesting and complex challenges in the industry. Join us and help redefine what's possible as we shape the future of mobility. The Opportunity We are seeking an experienced Senior Director of Field Application Engineering (FAE) to lead our global team of technical experts supporting automotive customers worldwide. This role is critical in bridging our customers' engineering needs with our internal product and technology teams, ensuring successful integration of our advanced software and AI solutions into next-generation vehicles and platforms. The ideal candidate is a proven technical leader with deep automotive industry knowledge, a strong background in embedded software, and a passion for helping customers deploy transformative technologies in production environments. This role reports directly to the Chief Revenue Officer and includes a variable component in addition to the base salary.

Requirements

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
Minimum 15 years of experience in the automotive or embedded software industry, including leadership roles in technical customer-facing organizations.
Deep understanding of automotive software stacks, including AUTOSAR, functional safety (ISO 26262), cybersecurity, and real-time embedded systems.
Proven success leading global technical teams in complex customer environments.
Strong experience working with OEMs, Tier-1 suppliers, and semiconductor partners.
Excellent communication and executive presence, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into strategic discussions.

Nice To Haves

Experience with AI, machine learning, or computer vision technologies applied to automotive use cases (ADAS, autonomous driving, predictive maintenance, etc.).
Familiarity with cloud-connected vehicle architectures and edge AI deployment.
MBA or equivalent business experience a plus.

Responsibilities

Lead, mentor, and grow a global team of Field Application Engineers supporting OEMs, Tier-1s, and ecosystem partners.
Define and execute the FAE organization's strategy, ensuring alignment with corporate objectives and customer success goals.
Establish best practices for technical engagement, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement across regional teams.
Serve as the primary technical liaison between customer engineering organizations and internal product and R&D teams.
Drive customer success through proactive engagement, architecture guidance, and technical issue resolution.
Build strong relationships with engineering leaders at key automotive customers, understanding their roadmaps, challenges, and requirements.
Represent the company's technical capabilities in executive-level discussions, technical workshops, and design reviews.
Provide structured feedback from the field to influence product roadmaps, feature prioritization, and long-term technology strategy.
Collaborate closely with product management, software engineering, and AI research teams to ensure customer requirements are translated into robust, scalable solutions.
Identify gaps in product capabilities and coordinate with internal teams to develop enablement tools, reference designs, and documentation.
Develop and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) for global FAE effectiveness and customer satisfaction.
Oversee technical training programs to ensure the FAE organization stays current with evolving software, AI, and automotive standards.
Champion a customer-centric, data-driven approach to support planning and resource allocation.