Federal Capture Lead — Build the Win Engine

Cognition; Washington, Northern (District of Columbia, KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognition is building its federal business, and capture is the engine that drives it. We're hiring a Capture Lead to partner directly with Federal leadership and own that engine end to end—from identifying the right pursuits to standing up the systems that make winning repeatable.

This is a builder's role: you'll create the capture function, not inherit one. Based in Washington, DC, or willing to relocate, you will help define capture strategy, run proposal operations, and establish performance

Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience in federal business operations, capture management, or revenue strategy at a defense tech, federal SaaS, or government services company.
• Deep fluency in federal procurement: contract vehicles, working knowledge of FAR/DFARS, capture lifecycle, and the rhythm of federal sales cycles.
• Strong analytical foundation—you can build the model, run the analysis, and tell the story.
• Track record of working in and building capture programs from scratch in a fast-moving environment.
• Based in Washington, DC, or willing to relocate. Security clearance preferred, or ability to obtain one.

Responsibilities

• Capture strategy & planning: partner with Federal sales leadership on quarterly and annual capture planning.
• Pursuit & proposal operations: identify solicitations, build the operational backbone for proposal response, and manage relationships with partners.
• GTM systems & performance: define metrics for a federal motion and build dashboards; track solicitation responses.
• Cross-functional execution: identify bottlenecks and build systems to remove them.

Skills

Federal procurement fluency

Analytical mindset

Stakeholder collaboration

Job description

Cognition is building its federal business, and capture is the engine that drives it. We're hiring a Capture Lead to partner directly with Federal leadership and own that engine end to end—from identifying the right pursuits to standing up the systems that make winning repeatable.

This is a builder's role: you'll create the capture function, not inherit one. Based in Washington, DC, or willing to relocate, you will help define capture strategy, run proposal operations, and establish performance