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Federal Account Director

CognitionWashington DCSales
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Salary
Not listed
Job type
Full-time
Posted
8 Jan 2026
Status
Open · checked 9d ago

About this role

Cognition in Washington DC is seeking a Federal Account Director to drive market penetration and manage customer relationships within U.S. national security and government sectors. This full-time sales opportunity suits a technically fluent professional with a strong background in federal software sales and account management.

Role Overview

The Federal Account Director takes complete ownership of the commercial relationship and revenue lifecycle for U.S. federal customers and partners. This position centers on driving the adoption and sustained consumption of Devin, an applied AI software engineering agent, within mission-critical government environments. The professional in this role handles deal sourcing, closing, and operationalization, while remaining directly accountable for customer success, retention, and expansion. By working cross-functionally with engineering and product teams, the individual shapes federal use cases and translates mission needs into actionable technical strategies.

Key Responsibilities

Oversee the entire federal account lifecycle, managing everything from initial targeting and capture strategy to contract award, onboarding, expansion, and renewals.
Drive revenue growth across the Department of War, the intelligence community, federal civilian agencies, and large defense primes or system integrators.
Act as the primary strategic owner for accounts, cultivating relationships with executive sponsors, technical leadership, mission owners, contracting officers, and legal teams.
Formulate capture strategies utilizing OTAs, CSOs, pilots, direct awards, and prime subcontracting paths.
Deliver technically credible product demonstrations and collaborate closely with customer engineering teams before and after deployment.
Create comprehensive account plans to boost consumption, scale into new teams, and grow the long-term value of the relationship.
Gather structured feedback from prospective buyers and active production users to inform product and engineering roadmaps.
Shape the federal go-to-market motion, including pipeline generation, partner strategies, and repeatable customer lifecycle processes.

Requirements

Demonstrated success in selling technical software to U.S. federal clients, major defense primes, or system integrators via direct vehicles or prime wins.
Hands-on experience overseeing customer relationships past the initial sale, covering deployment, adoption, and consumption growth.
Background engaging federal civilian agencies, the intelligence community, or the Department of War in regulated or classified settings.
Solid technical background as a software engineer, sales engineer, forward-deployed engineer, or equivalent technical fluency.
Capacity to master complex technical systems, acquisition frameworks, and mission constraints rapidly.
Agility to shift smoothly between account strategy, hands-on technical problem-solving, closing, and customer success.
Comfort working within a fast-moving, ambiguous startup setting that requires minimal structure and a strong execution bias.

Nice to Have

Background founding or scaling an early-stage organization.
History of closing large, multi-stakeholder federal or enterprise software contracts and expanding those partnerships over time.
Track record of successfully moving federal pilots into production environments to drive meaningful ongoing adoption.
Experience managing strategic accounts where performance relies on both new revenue generation and existing usage expansion.
A computer science or engineering academic or professional background paired with a go-to-market career path.

Skills and Tools

Technical software sales
Federal capture strategy
Account lifecycle management
Cross-functional collaboration
Technical product demonstration

About the Company

Cognition operates as an applied AI lab recognized as the creator of Devin, the first AI software engineer. The enterprise brings together a talent-dense group featuring world-class competitive programmers, former founders, and industry veterans from leading artificial intelligence and technology organizations. The team focuses on solving complex global problems and building advanced artificial intelligence capable of reasoning through real-world tasks.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should visit the official Cognition careers page to submit an application for the Federal Account Director position.

Questions candidates ask

Where is this job located?

This position is located in Washington DC.

What department does this role belong to?

This role is part of the Sales department.

What is the primary product managed in this role?

The Federal Account Director drives the adoption and consumption of Devin, the first AI software engineer created by Cognition.

What types of federal entities will the account director work with?

The individual will work with the Department of War, the intelligence community, federal civilian agencies, and federal contractors including large primes and system integrators.

How should interested candidates apply?

Candidates should apply directly on the official Cognition careers page.

Ready to apply?

The application is on the official Cognition careers page.

Apply on company site