CIQ OVERVIEW
CIQ builds the enterprise infrastructure that powers the world's most demanding workloads. From the operating system layer through AI infrastructure, high-performance computing, and cloud-native orchestration, CIQ delivers the speed, security, scalability, and sovereignty that major enterprises, government agencies, and research institutions depend on.
CIQ is the founding support and services partner of Rocky Linux and the developer of the RLC Pro family of Enterprise Linux distributions, Fuzzball workload orchestration, Warewulf Pro cluster provisioning, and Ascender Pro automation. Our customers include some of the largest and most technically sophisticated organizations in the world, working across HPC, AI/ML, defense, and regulated industries.
We are a company of builders, operators, and open source practitioners. If you want to do work that matters, at a company that is genuinely changing how enterprise infrastructure gets built and run, we want to talk.
As a Federal Account Executive, you will drive CIQ’s growth in the U.S. Federal Government sector, covering civilian agencies, the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, and federal systems integrators. You will own a quota-carrying territory, build and run a federal sales strategy, work through complex acquisition environments, and deliver accurate, predictable forecasts.
Success in this role requires first-hand experience selling directly to DoD and other federal customers, fluency in the federal buying process from budget formulation through contract award, and the ability to align CIQ’s open-source infrastructure with federal security and compliance requirements.
This position is based in the Washington, D.C. metro area and requires up to 40% travel to customer and partner sites, as well as relevant federal industry events.
NEEDED TO SUCCEED
- Direct federal selling: Proven track record of selling software or infrastructure directly to U.S. Federal customers, including DoD (Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, DISA, combatant commands) and/or civilian and Intelligence Community agencies, with a history of meeting or exceeding quota.
- Federal buying process: Working knowledge of the full acquisition lifecycle: PPBE/budget cycles, requirements development, acquisition strategy, contract vehicles (GSA MAS, NASA SEWP, DoD ESI, IDIQs, BPAs), OTAs, CSOs, and end-of-fiscal-year buying.
- Forecasting rigor: A demonstrated history of accurate, defensible forecasting (within ±10% quarterly) and disciplined CRM pipeline management on long, multi-stakeholder sales cycles.
- Compliance fluency: Familiarity with FIPS 140-3, DISA STIGs, NIST 800-53/800-171, CMMC, FedRAMP, and ATO processes, and the ability to tie those requirements to open-source infrastructure.
- Ecosystem relationships: Existing relationships with federal program offices, primes/FSIs, resellers, and the public-sector partner ecosystem.
- Channel deal structuring: Experience building compliant deals through teaming agreements, 8(a) and small-business partners, and federal primes.
- Pilot-to-production: Ability to run technical pilots that prove mission fit and convert them into funded production awards.
- Communication: Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation skills with contracting officers, program managers, technical evaluators, and senior leaders.
- Self-direction: A strategic, self-motivated operator with a growth mindset who thrives in a fast-paced startup environment.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
- 12-15 years of federal sales, account management, or business development experience in the public sector, with at least 3 years in a quota-carrying role selling directly to DoD and/or federal civilian agencies.
- Bachelor’s degree in business, public policy, marketing, computer science, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
- Deep understanding of public-sector IT modernization, open-source adoption, Linux/infrastructure, HPC/AI, and hybrid/cloud trends.
- Track record of landing new-logo agencies and growing them into multi-year, enterprise-wide agreements.
PREFERRED EXPERIENCE/QUALIFICATIONS
- Active U.S. security clearance (Secret or TS/SCI) is preferred but not required; U.S. citizenship is required to support clearance eligibility and customer access requirements.
- Experience selling Linux, open-source, HPC, or DevSecOps platforms in federal environments.
- Experience with MEDDPICC or a similar qualification methodology and with HubSpot.
BENEFITS
Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
Flexible paid time off.
Employee stock options.
Remote work; no travel required for most positions.
Skills Required
- 12–15 years of federal sales, account management, or public-sector business development experience
- At least 3 years in a quota-carrying role selling directly to DoD and/or federal civilian agencies
- Proven record of selling software or infrastructure directly to U.S. federal customers
- History of meeting or exceeding sales quota
- Working knowledge of PPBE, federal budget cycles, requirements development, acquisition strategy, GSA MAS, NASA SEWP, DoD ESI, IDIQs, BPAs, OTAs, CSOs, and end-of-fiscal-year buying
- Demonstrated accurate forecasting within ±10% quarterly and disciplined CRM pipeline management
- Familiarity with FIPS 140-3, DISA STIGs, NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171, CMMC, FedRAMP, and ATO processes
- Existing relationships with federal program offices, primes, federal systems integrators, resellers, and public-sector partners
- Experience structuring compliant deals through teaming agreements, 8(a) and small-business partners, and federal primes
- Ability to run technical pilots and convert them into funded production awards
- Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation skills
- Bachelor’s degree in business, public policy, marketing, computer science, or a related field, or equivalent experience
- Understanding of public-sector IT modernization, open-source adoption, Linux/infrastructure, HPC/AI, and hybrid/cloud trends
- Track record of landing new-logo agencies and expanding them into multi-year enterprise agreements
- U.S. citizenship
- Active U.S. security clearance at the Secret or TS/SCI level
- Experience selling Linux, open-source, HPC, or DevSecOps platforms in federal environments
- Experience with MEDDPICC or a similar qualification methodology
- Experience with HubSpot
What We Do
Empowering People To Do What They Do Great! At CIQ, we are here to help our customers and communities do amazing things! We are your escalation or development team. We are your infrastructure. We are your cloud. We are the people that will have your back, so you can do what you do great. Our Values Empowering Innovating software infrastructure solutions for extreme performance and scale including service models designed to meet the needs of your organization. Improving Our passion is to always do better. Always provide more value. Always drive intelligent innovation. Always provide what the customer & community needs. Growing CIQ believes in constant and never-ending growth. We are growing fast and looking for like-minded people with an unwavering passion for always doing better for ourselves and others. What do you get when you cross High Performance Computing with Enterprise, Cloud, and Hyper-scale? The Answer is CIQ. CIQ is composed of technology founders, innovators, engineers, some of the leading creators in the industry, and we all share the same vision: to help companies, teams, and individuals do amazing things. Open Source When we decide to open source a project, it is because we believe it would be best for the project and community. But open source is not a marketing gimmick nor a sales tool, and it should never be at the mercy of a corporate agenda. This is why we’ve given our open source initiatives properly to the community, and we strive to set the precedent such that other companies would do likewise. Always Customers First Our model is simple: We support people, not cores or sockets. People. Follow us on YouTube and Twitter: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQbKq1vIffqRAMUDPfHcU0w https://twitter.com/CtrlIQ?s=20&t=7pQXepSSimeTqytBY52Dhw
