Capture Lead - Federal

About the role

Cognition is seeking a Capture Lead to establish and manage our federal business operations from the ground up. You will work alongside leadership to develop our capture strategy, build repeatable proposal processes, and drive our growth within the government sector.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Collaborate with federal sales leadership to create quarterly and annual capture plans.
• Coordinate with GTM, Mission Success, and Engineering teams to structure deals, set pricing, and manage negotiations.
• Oversee contract vehicle strategy, including GSA, OTAs, IDIQs, SBIR pathways, and prime/sub partnerships.
• Monitor federal solicitations from the RFI stage through the final RFP.
• Develop operational workflows for proposal responses, including bid/no-bid decisions, compliance, and color team reviews.
• Manage external capture and proposal partners.
• Build and maintain libraries for past performance, capabilities, and pricing.
• Establish dashboards to track federal GTM metrics and solicitation progress.
• Conduct post-action reviews on wins and losses to refine internal processes.

Requirements

• 4+ years of experience in federal business operations, capture management, or revenue strategy within defense tech, federal SaaS, or government services.
• Comprehensive understanding of federal procurement, including FAR/DFARS, the capture lifecycle, and federal sales cycles.
• Ability to build analytical models and translate data into actionable insights.
• Experience building capture programs from the beginning in high-growth environments.
• Willingness to operate without existing playbooks and handle hands-on tasks.
• Must be based in or willing to relocate to Washington, DC.

Nice to have

• Existing security clearance or the ability to obtain one.

Skills & tools

• Federal procurement and FAR/DFARS
• Contract vehicle management (GSA, OTAs, IDIQs, SBIR)
• Capture lifecycle management
• Proposal operations and bid/no-bid processes
• Data modeling and GTM performance tracking

Practical notes

Cognition is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities during the hiring process.