Account Executive, Aerospace and Defense

Factory; San Francisco (CA); Remote; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Factory is seeking an Account Executive to drive adoption of its agentic engineering platform within the Aerospace and Defense sector. You will manage a named set of accounts, run multi-stakeholder sales motions, and lead engagements with CIOs, CTOs, and engineering leaders to demonstrate ROI and strategic value.

The role requires deep A&D sales experience, strong technical fluency, and ability to navigate complex government procurement processes, with remote work flexibility.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of sales experience, incl 4+ years selling technology into the Aerospace and Defense industry.
• Proven track record navigating commercial and government procurement in A&D.
• Strategic selling with multi-year account plans and long procurement cycles.
• Excellent technical aptitude across infrastructure, SDLC, and enterprise IT deployments.
• Knowledge of ITAR/EAR, DFARS, CMMC, NIST SP 800-171 and related frameworks.
• Strong interpersonal skills to engage CIOs, CTOs, and C-level executives.
• Self-motivated, startup-friendly, and capable of building an A&D practice.

Responsibilities

• Own a named Aerospace & Defense accounts and lead end-to-end sales cycles.
• Assist CIOs/CTOs and engineering leaders, articulating Factory's platform value.
• Run strategic selling motions with multi-year account plans and forecasts.
• Lead talks on integration of Droids into customer workflows across environments.
• Collaborate with Sales, Product, Engineering, and Security to tailor solutions.
• Develop the A&D ecosystem with SI partners, cloud providers, and integrators.
• Educate customers on AI-driven development tools and measure ROI.
• Drive expansions and renewals aligned to customers’ missions.

Skills

A&D sales

Enterprise sales

Executive engagement

Pipeline management

Government procurement

Strategic selling

Technical aptitude

Job description

About Factory

Our mission is to create a world where software builds and improves itself.

We build the platform for self-improving software development, helping the world's largest enterprise engineering teams turn their organizations into autonomous software factories. Customers including Nvidia, Blackstone, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Palo Alto Networks, Adobe, and T-Mobile run Factory to ship code, review PRs, run tests, and deploy continuously - getting smarter with every cycle.

In 2026, we raised $200M at a $5B valuation, bringing our total funding to over $400M. We are backed by world-class investors and operators including Khosla Ventures, Sequoia, Blackstone, Ali Ghodsi (CEO of Databricks), and Frank Slootman (Former CEO of Snowflake).

About the Role

Factory is on the hunt for an Account Executive with deep knowledge of developer tools, AI, and the Aerospace and Defense industry to drive adoption of Factory's agentic engineering platform across defense primes, defense technology companies, and the broader defense industrial base — turning mission-driven engineering organizations into autonomous development systems. You will own a named set of accounts, run strategic multi-stakeholder deals through commercial and government procurement motions, and help build Factory's A&D practice from the field alongside our CEO, VP of Sales, product, and engineering teams.

What you will do and achieve

• Own a named set of Aerospace and Defense accounts — defense primes, defense technology companies, and strategic suppliers — to lead enterprise sales cycles end-to-end: build pipeline, manage evaluations and pilots, navigate procurement, and close multi-stakeholder deals

• Serve as the expert in conversations with CIOs, CTOs, chief AI officers, engineering leaders, chief engineers, program managers, and business development and capture teams, demonstrating deep understanding of Factory's platform and its value to each customer's mission.

• Run strategic, consultative selling motions: map business value and IT-modernization priorities to the platform, build multi-year account plans aligned to federal buying cycles, and maintain accurate forecasts, pipeline tracking, and sales plans.

• Lead technically credible conversations spanning infrastructure, technology modernization and the SDLC — CI/CD, DevSecOps, code review, testing, and release pipelines — and guide A&D engineering teams on integrating Factory's Droids into their existing workflows, including enterprise IT deployments across cloud, on-prem, and air-gapped enclaves.

• Work directly with the Sales leadership, and closely with product, engineering, and security teams to customize solutions for each customer's requirements. Be an expert in on prem, cloud, and edge deployments.

• Develop the A&D ecosystem: cultivate relationships with systems integrators, cloud providers, and delivery partners so they embed Factory into their own solutions and service offerings.

• Educate and guide customers through the technical and practical adoption of AI-driven development tools — addressing risk, security, and compliance concerns while showcasing measurable engineering outcomes and ROI.

• Establish Factory as a trusted partner for A&D customers, driving expansion and renewals by aligning to their long-term mission and modernization roadmaps, and feed market intelligence back to product and marketing.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of sales experience, including 4+ years selling technology into the Aerospace and Defense industry (e.g., defense primes, defense technology companies, or aerospace manufacturers), managing complex sales cycles from start to finish.

• Proven track record of achieving and exceeding sales targets, with hands‑on experience navigating commercial and government procurement in the A&D industry and selling through or alongside systems integrators and resellers.

• Strategic selling expertise: multi‑threading executive relationships, building multi‑year account plans, and navigating long budget and procurement cycles tied to the federal fiscal year.

• Exceptional technical aptitude across infrastructure, the SDLC, and enterprise IT deployments — fluent in conversations about CI/CD, DevSecOps, cloud and on‑prem environments, and large‑scale modernization of legacy and mission‑critical systems, with the ability to articulate complex solutions in a straightforward manner.

• Working knowledge of A&D security and compliance frameworks (ITAR/EAR, DFARS, CMMC, NIST SP 800-171) and how they shape technical evaluations and deployment architectures; experience with air‑gapped, on‑prem, or classified enclave deployments is a plus.

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to engage effectively with technical decision-makers and C-level executives alike.

• Established relationships within defense primes, defense technology companies, and the SI ecosystem serving them.

• Self‑motivated and able to thrive in a dynamic, fast‑paced startup environment, including building an A&D practice. A genuine enthusiasm for AI, software development, and the defense mission is a plus.

Location: Remote