Account Manager and Business Development Manager

Cogito Group; Sydney; On-site; AUD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Cogito Group is searching for an experienced Account Manager and Business Development Manager to grow and manage our customer base across Australia and New Zealand. The role blends new-business development with disciplined management of strategic accounts in government, defence, critical infrastructure and commercial markets.

You will own the full customer lifecycle, build relationships with executives and technical teams, support bids and contract negotiations, maintain account plans and drive

Qualifications

• Proven success in enterprise account management and business development.
• Experience working with Australian government customers.
• Strong understanding of government procurement, contracting, governance, performance reporting and renewal obligations.
• Ability to discuss cybersecurity and identity solutions credibly with technical and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Own a portfolio of government and commercial accounts across Australia and New Zealand with plans, forecasts and growth priorities.
• Build trusted relationships with executives, procurement, security and delivery teams.
• Lead commercial and relationship aspects between customers and Cogito's service delivery, engineering and finance teams.
• Monitor contracts, statements of work, service schedules and renewal dates with visibility of milestones and risks.
• Lead governance and service-review meetings with prepared agendas and clear actions.
• Coordinate monthly and quarterly reporting on service performance, KPIs, incidents and customer satisfaction.
• Identify opportunities for continuous improvement and track delivery of approved initiatives.

Job description

Account Manager and Business Development Manager

Cogito Group is seeking an experienced Account Manager and Business Development Manager to grow and manage our customer base across Australia and New Zealand. The role combines new-business development with disciplined management of strategic accounts in government, defence, critical infrastructure and commercial markets.

You will be responsible for the full customer lifecycle: identifying opportunities, building relationships, supporting bids and contract negotiations, maintaining account plans, coordinating delivery commitments, leading governance and reporting, and securing renewals and growth. You will work closely with Cogito's executive, technical, service delivery and commercial teams.

The opportunity

Cogito Group is seeking an experienced Account Manager and Business Development Manager to grow and manage our customer base across Australia and New Zealand. The role combines new-business development with disciplined management of strategic accounts in government, defence, critical infrastructure and commercial markets.

You will be responsible for the full customer lifecycle: identifying opportunities, building relationships, supporting bids and contract negotiations, maintaining account plans, coordinating delivery commitments, leading governance and reporting, and securing renewals and growth. You will work closely with Cogito's executive, technical, service delivery and commercial teams.

About Cogito Group

Cogito Group is an Australian cybersecurity company specialising in digital trust, public key infrastructure, certificate lifecycle management and identity solutions. Our customers include government and high-assurance organisations that depend on secure, reliable services and clear evidence that contractual and security obligations are being met.

What you will do

Account and contract management

• Own a portfolio of government and commercial accounts across Australia and New Zealand, with clear account plans, stakeholder maps, revenue forecasts and growth priorities.

• Build trusted relationships with executives, contract managers, procurement teams, security leaders, technology teams and operational stakeholders.

• Act as the commercial and relationship lead between customers and Cogito's service delivery, engineering, operations and finance teams.

• Understand each contract, statement of work, service schedule and customer commitment, and maintain visibility of deliverables, milestones, dependencies, risks and renewal dates.

• Lead regular customer governance and service review meetings, ensuring agendas, performance information, decisions and actions are prepared and followed through.

• Coordinate accurate monthly and quarterly reporting covering service performance, SLAs and KPIs, incidents, problems, changes, risks, issues, continuous improvement, customer satisfaction and agreed commercial measures.

• Monitor service and relationship health, raise emerging concerns early, coordinate recovery plans and maintain clear communication during incidents or delivery issues.

• Support accurate invoicing, purchase-order management, variations, contract changes and commercial reporting.

• Identify opportunities for continuous improvement and additional value, agree priorities with customers and track delivery of approved initiatives.

Business development

• Develop and execute a business development plan for Australia and New Zealand across government and non-government markets.

• Build and qualify a healthy pipeline through direct engagement, industry networks, partners, panels, events and targeted campaigns.

• Translate customer security, identity and certificate-management problems into clear opportunities for Cogito's products and managed services.

• Lead opportunities from discovery through solution shaping, proposal, procurement, negotiation and close, working with technical specialists where required.

• Monitor government procurement channels, forward work plans, panels and tender activity, and coordinate timely bid and no-bid decisions.

• Develop relationships with delivery partners, resellers, managed service providers and technology partners where they improve market access or customer outcomes.

• Maintain reliable CRM records, pipeline stages, probability-weighted forecasts and next actions, and report progress to management.

• Protect and grow recurring revenue through renewals, expansion, cross-sell and early management of commercial or delivery risks.

What success looks like

• Customers receive accurate, useful reporting and see Cogito as responsive, prepared and accountable.

• Governance meetings produce clear decisions and actions, with risks and issues managed before they affect service or relationships.

• Renewals and contract milestones are planned early, with no avoidable surprises.

• The qualified pipeline grows across Australia and New Zealand, and forecasts are evidence-based and current.

• New opportunities progress through government and commercial buying processes with clear ownership, compelling proposals and disciplined follow-up.

• Account growth is sustainable and aligned with Cogito's delivery capacity, security obligations and commercial objectives.

What you will bring

• Demonstrated success in enterprise account management and business development, ideally in cybersecurity, identity, cloud, managed services or enterprise software.

• Strong experience working with Australian government customers. Experience with New Zealand government or commercial markets is highly regarded.

• A practical understanding of government procurement, contracting, governance, performance reporting, probity and stakeholder management.

• Experience managing service-based contracts with SLAs, KPIs, governance forums, risk and issue registers, performance reports and renewal obligations.

• The ability to discuss cybersecurity and identity solutions credibly with technical and non-technical audiences. Direct PKI or certificate lifecycle management experience is desirable, but not essential.

• Strong commercial judgement, including opportunity qualification, pricing discussions, contract variations, forecasting and negotiation.

• Excellent written communication and the ability to turn operational and technical information into concise customer reports and proposals.

• A structured working style, sound attention to detail and the confidence to coordinate internal specialists without losing ownership of the customer outcome.

• The ability to travel within Australia and New Zealand as required.

Desirable experience

• Selling to or managing accounts in defence, public safety, financial services, critical infrastructure or other regulated sectors.

• Working within Australian Government security and procurement environments, including Commonwealth or state and territory contracts.

• Experience with tender responses, government panels, partner-led sales and complex buying groups.

• Familiarity with PKI, digital certificates, machine identity, certificate lifecycle management, zero trust or identity and access management.

• An existing network across Australian or New Zealand government and enterprise cybersecurity markets.

• Eligibility to obtain an Australian Government security clearance where a customer engagement requires one.

Why join Cogito Group

This is an opportunity to take meaningful ownership of customer relationships and growth in a specialist Australian cybersecurity company. You will work directly with decision-makers and technical experts, represent services used in high-assurance environments, and help shape Cogito's expansion across Australia and New Zealand.

Due to the nature of our work, applicants must be Australian citizens.

The successful candidate may be required to obtain and maintain an Australian Government security clearance.