Account Executive, Defense & Government

Avala; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

Equity

Unlimited PTO

FSAs

Job summary

Avala is seeking a Defense Account Executive in San Francisco to lead opportunities from prospecting to close within defense and government sectors. You will articulate Avala's platform capabilities to technical evaluators and program managers, coordinating with solutions engineering for demonstrations.

Ideal candidates have 4+ years selling to defense buyers, a Secret clearance or ability to obtain one, and a track record closing multi-stakeholder deals above $500K.

Qualifications

• 4+ years selling technology solutions to defense or government buyers.
• Active Secret clearance or ability to obtain one.
• Understanding of defense procurement processes and contract vehicles.
• Experience selling to technical buyers (ML engineers, program managers).
• Track record of closing $500K+ deals with complex multi-stakeholder sales cycles.

Responsibilities

• Build and manage a pipeline of defense and government opportunities from prospecting to close.
• Navigate complex procurement cycles including SBIR, OTA, and traditional contracting.
• Present Avala's platform capabilities to technical evaluators and program managers.
• Partner with solutions engineering to deliver compelling technical demonstrations.
• Develop account strategies for major defense primes and autonomous programs.
• Represent Avala at defense industry events (AUSA, NDIA, defense tech conferences).

Skills

Defense sales

Government buyers

Procurement cycles

Technical buyers

Deal closing

Job description

San Francisco, CA full-time

About This Role

Open and close Avala's defense and government accounts - the autonomous vehicle programs, drone platforms, and reconnaissance systems that need production-grade training data with the highest security standards. You'll be the first dedicated defense seller, building the playbook for a vertical that represents a massive growth opportunity.

What You’ll Do:

• Build and manage a pipeline of defense and government opportunities from prospecting to close
• Navigate complex procurement cycles including SBIR, OTA, and traditional contracting
• Present Avala's platform capabilities to technical evaluators and program managers
• Partner with solutions engineering to deliver compelling technical demonstrations
• Develop account strategies for major defense primes and autonomous programs
• Represent Avala at defense industry events (AUSA, NDIA, defense tech conferences)

Requirements

• 4+ years selling technology solutions to defense or government buyers
• Active Secret clearance or ability to obtain one
• Understanding of defense procurement processes and contract vehicles
• Experience selling to technical buyers (ML engineers, program managers)
• Track record of closing $500K+ deals with complex multi-stakeholder sales cycles

Nice to Have:

• Existing relationships at defense primes or autonomous vehicle programs
• Experience selling AI/ML, data infrastructure, or developer tools
• Understanding of perception systems for defense autonomy programs

What We Offer

• Competitive salary and meaningful equity in the team building Fleet Learning Infrastructure for Physical AI
• Full health, dental, and vision coverage, plus FSA and unlimited PTO
• Work on the closed-loop data infrastructure that the next generation of autonomous systems learns from
• A team that built Tesla Autopilot's data infrastructure, now building something bigger