Senior Engineering Manager, Solutions Engineering

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and performance-manage Solution Engineers and Architects across levels; own hiring, promotions, and the calibrated hiring bar.
• Own engagement staffing and delivery quality across active customer programs.
• Lead the Solutions Engineering team through the full deployment lifecycle: ConOps and deployment design → field execution → customer handoff → After Action Review (AAR).
• Maintain exceptional technical standards on all customer-facing deliverables: deployment runbooks, ConOps documentation, and post-engagement debriefs.
• Partner with Product Management, Mission Leads, Field Operations, Business Dev, and engineering counterparts on cross-functional delivery.
• Funnel customer signal back to Product Management and Core Engineering with prioritized specificity.

Required Qualifications

• 6+ years of engineering experience, including 3+ years directly managing engineers.
• Track record leading customer-facing or forward-deployed engineering teams in defense, autonomy, or comparable high-stakes B2B environments.
• Strong technical credibility, can read Python, C++, or Rust and evaluate integration architecture decisions.
• Excellent written communication.
• U.S. citizenship with the ability to obtain a security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Background at leading defense tech companies or in the federal/defense arm of major tech companies.
• Direct experience with autonomous vehicles or unmanned systems (UAS, UGV, USV, UUV).
• Prior DoD, classified, ITAR, or CMMC-scoped delivery experience.
• Has performance-managed senior engineers, including at least one cleanly handled managed-out.
• Active security clearance.

Skills & Attributes

• People manager, not a senior IC with reports: your leverage is through the people you hire, develop, and hold to a bar.
• Calibrated and in-context: feedback is specific, timely, and grounded in observed behavior, not annual cycles or vague impressions.
• Bar-raiser in hiring: willing to walk away from a fast hire; the team’s long-term quality matters more than short-term headcount.
• Composed under customer pressure: stays technical, stays calm, and stays in control of the narrative when an engagement gets hard.
• Comfortable saying no: pushes back on BD, Product, and customers when commitments are at risk — and does it in a way that preserves the relationship.

What We Offer

• Hybrid work environment
• Competitive compensation
• Flexible PTO + federal holidays
• 401(k)
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits
• Free One Medical membership