About the Role
We're the makers of Devin, the first AI software engineer, and Windsurf, the AI-native IDE. Together, they represent our vision for collaborative AI teammates that enable engineers to focus on more interesting problems and empower teams to strive for more ambitious goals. Our team is small and talent-dense. Among our founding team, we have world-class competitive programmers, former founders, and leaders from companies at the cutting edge of AI including Scale AI, Palantir, Cursor, Waymo, Tesla, Lunchclub, Modal, Google DeepMind, and Nuro. Building Devin and Windsurf is just the first step—our hardest challenges still lie ahead. If you’re excited to solve some of the world’s biggest problems and build AI that can reason on real-world tasks, apply to join us. As the Federal Civilian GTM Leader, you will be the core go-to-market (GTM) leader responsible for generating new revenue, building executive relationships, and leading account strategy across the civilian sector. You will serve as the ultimate owner of the federal civilian sales target. Your expertise in closing deals at key agencies and your ability to manage high-level CIO/CTO relationships will be crucial to securing major, multi-year contracts and establishing Cognition.ai as a primary AI partner for the government. You will work closely with Cognition’s federal leadership team to drive strategic growth.
Responsibilities
- Drive revenue for the federal civilian sector, owning the annual sales quota and the entire sales cycle, from multi-year federal government acquisition strategy to strategic prospecting, contract close and activation.
- Secure major contracts with a direct focus on our most critical target agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of the Treasury, Department of Transportation (DoT), and other high-priority civilian departments.
- Establish and maintain CIO/CTO-level relationships, serving as a trusted advisor on complex AI, digital modernization, and mission-critical technology initiatives.
- Partner with Product and Engineering to refine the federal GTM strategy, ensuring our product roadmap, positioning, and messaging align directly with agency needs and budget priorities.
- Navigate layered customer organizations, including working directly with C-suite executives (CIOs, CTOs), procurement, and legal stakeholders.
Requirements
- 10+ years of progressive experience in federal tech sales, with 5+ years focused specifically on the federal civilian market.
- Demonstrated track record of success consistently achieving and exceeding multi-million dollar sales quotas within the federal space.
- Mandatory Closing Experience: Proven, hands-on experience closing significant, complex enterprise software deals at one or more of our key target agencies (HHS, Treasury, DoJ, VA, DHS, DoT, etc.).
- Executive Credibility: Established track record of successfully managing and influencing CIO/CTO-level relationships within the federal government.
- Leadership Experience: Prior experience in managing, mentoring, or leading a sales team or direct reports.
- Domain Expertise: Strong understanding of the federal acquisition process, contracting vehicles (GWACs/IDIQs), and annual budget cycles.
Qualifications
- Have experience selling advanced, deeply technical solutions, specifically artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), or data science platforms.
- Were a software engineer, sales engineer, or technical consultant who moved into a go-to-market role to be closer to the customer's mission.
- Thrive in ambiguous, high-intensity environments and exhibit the drive and grit required to win consistently in a fast-paced, cutting-edge startup.
- Hold an active Top Secret security clearance (or ability to obtain one).