Senior Federal Account Executive (DC/MD/VA)

Cohesity•USA - Virginia - Remote, VA

13d•$287,280 - $359,100•Hybrid

About The Position

Cohesity is seeking a Senior Account Executive to own and grow a defined federal territory, specifically the Department of Transportation and Department of Commerce. This individual-contributor role focuses on acquiring new logos and expanding existing accounts by positioning Cohesity as mission-critical infrastructure for cyber resilience and data security. The successful candidate will plan and execute strategically in complex, competitive environments, build executive relationships, navigate multi-stakeholder buying groups, and close large strategic deals. The role includes developing multi-quarter pipeline and account plans, leading discovery and competitive deal strategies, building financial business cases, negotiating complex agreements, and coordinating cross-functional teams and partners. The Senior Account Executive will also manage commercial relationships and expansion plans with Customer Success and Renewals, forecast large deals, maintain Salesforce pipeline hygiene, contribute field feedback to Product and Marketing, and mentor other account executives. The position includes travel as required within the assigned territory. Employees within a reasonable commute of a core office are expected to work from the office two to three days per week. The company prefers candidates located in or near the designated job location; candidates outside the area must be committed to relocating before their start date and have the legal right to work there.

Requirements

Approximately 8 or more years of relevant sales experience, including extensive success in a quota-carrying, customer-facing role selling complex technology solutions.
Experience selling to and partnering with Information Security or Cybersecurity teams.
Strong understanding of enterprise security frameworks and compliance standards, and the ability to align solutions with customer security and risk requirements.
Demonstrated experience selling into accounts with multiple stakeholders and complex sales cycles.
Strong knowledge of data security architectures, ransomware resilience, and the competitive landscape.
Strong track record negotiating and closing high-value contracts.
Executive-level communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate technical and business value clearly.
Experience working with channel partners and cross-functional deal teams.
Proficiency with the sales stack, including Salesforce and forecasting tools, and demonstrated use of AI tools to improve productivity, organization, and sales effectiveness.
Bachelor’s degree in Business or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Professional English proficiency for customer and internal communication.
Willingness to travel as required within the assigned territory.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Cohesity solutions, including DataProtect, DataHawk, and SmartFiles.
Expertise with NetBackup, Backup Exec, and InfoScale, including immutable storage, hardened media servers, ACL-based controls, and encryption.

Responsibilities

Acquire strategic new logos, including through competitive displacements, and meet annual quota through new-logo acquisition and account expansion.
Own the strategic Department of Transportation and Department of Commerce territory and build multi-quarter pipeline against large-deal targets.
Maintain annual and quarterly plans for top accounts covering targets, whitespace, and executive coverage.
Lead discovery that reframes customers’ security and resilience problems, develop strategies for large competitive multi-year sales cycles, and improve qualification on peers’ deals.
Build and sustain CISO and CIO relationships and orchestrate cross-functional teams through complex deals and long competitive pursuits.
Independently develop financial business cases connecting Cohesity’s platform to security, resilience, compliance, and cost outcomes.
Structure and negotiate complex competitive deals, including ELAs, ramps, and partner-involved structures, trading value rather than discounting.
Lead multi-product, platform-level deals and position security and AI within customers’ resilience strategies, with depth in regulated verticals.
Own commercial relationships and expansion plans alongside Customer Success and Renewals; address risks and escalations and develop customer references and advocates.
Lead joint account strategies with channel partners and technology alliances.
Forecast large deals with high confidence, model quarterly risk, and maintain territory plans and pipeline hygiene in Salesforce.
Share field feedback with Product and Marketing, mentor account executives, model effective use of tools and AI, and provide enablement feedback.