Federal Account Executive (Contract) - Reston, VA at The Wilkinson Firm in Reston, Virginia, United States

Job description

• Engagement type: Independent consultant, 1099 hourly.
• Rate range: $100 - $500 per hour, based on experience and scope (three-tier band detailed below).
• Time commitment: Part-time or fractional, scales with account activity.
• Location: Remote, with DC and agency travel as opportunities require.
• Reports to: GovCon Division Lead.

Responsibilities

• Federal customer targeting across our priority verticals (HHS workforce, VA behavioral health, DoD behavioral health support, federal hospitality)
• Account development: agency POC outreach, small business office relationships, prime contractor BD relationships, industry day attendance
• Pipeline development feeding the Federal Capture Director with qualified opportunities
• Federal contracts literacy: FAR/DFARS basics, SAM.gov management, set-aside qualification (8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, SDVOSB), small business certification lifecycle
• Capability statement positioning and customer-tailored briefings
• HubSpot CRM hygiene for the GovCon pipeline
• Cross-coordination with the Capture Director on captured opportunities and the Proposal Manager on past performance inputs
• Day 30: Target account list documented and approved. Capability statement positioning sharpened. Initial outreach cadence active.
• Day 90: 10+ qualified agency or prime contractor conversations logged. 3+ teaming or partnership discussions advancing. Pipeline visibility documented in HubSpot.
• Day 180: 2-4 captured opportunities handed off to the Capture Director. First responded RFP or RFI. First named agency relationship producing visible activity.

Requirements

• 5-12 years in federal sales, agency BD, prime contractor account management, or government affairs
• Documented relationships at one or more of: DoD (behavioral health, lodging, F&B), VA (mental health programs, workforce), HHS (workforce IDIQs), GSA, DHS
• Working fluency in FAR/DFARS basics, set-aside qualification, and federal procurement vocabulary
• Comfortable with SAM.gov, GSA Schedules, and small business certification mechanics
• Strong outbound voice and the ability to convert cold outreach into recurring meetings
• Comfortable working inside a founder-led firm building its federal motion from the ground up
• Located in DC, NC, GA, or willing to travel to DC quarterly
• Prior role at a Tier 1 GovCon prime, boutique federal sales shop, or agency BD team
• Past role inside DoD, VA, HHS, GSA, or DHS as a contracting officer, technical representative, or program staff
• APMP credential
• Existing small business teaming network

Skills

Required

• Federal sales
• Agency business development
• Prime contractor account management
• Government affairs
• FAR/DFARS basics
• Set-aside qualification
• Federal procurement vocabulary
• SAM.gov
• GSA Schedules
• Small business certification mechanics
• Outbound sales
• Cold outreach

Preferred

• APMP credential
• Experience at Tier 1 GovCon prime

Benefits

• Foundational ($100-200/hr): Federal sales operators with 3-7 years agency or prime contractor BD experience
• Senior ($200-350/hr): Established federal AEs with documented relationships at named agencies
• Principal ($350-500/hr): Senior federal account principals with multi-agency portfolios and existing prime relationships
• Engagement is hourly. Time commitment scales with active account development, typically 10-30 hours per week. Win-based bonus stack negotiable on top of hourly rate for awarded contracts where the engagement materially sourced the relationship.