Senior Account Executive (SLED, East)

• As an Account Executive at Cohere you will have ownership of the full sales cycle - from identifying leads to closing deals, with State, Local and Higher Education customers in the Western region of the United States
• In this role you will be focussed on business development activity within the government departments and agencies at the state and local level, as well as within higher education within your territory
• You’ll lay the foundation for Cohere’s growth by owning your territory and collaborating with teammates across Customer Success, Sales Development, Marketing, and Sales Engineering
• You’ll be the voice of the field and help our Product and Engineering teams prioritize the Cohere roadmap with customer-centric care. In this highly self-directed role, you will thrive in a quickly evolving environment
• Drive net-new customer acquisition through targeted outbound activity, senior leader engagement, and relationship building across SLED organizations
• Develop and execute a sales plan and prioritization for the SLED market in your territory, identifying pathways and partners to scale growth regionally
• Act as a trusted advisor and thought partner to SLED customers and prospects by understanding their goals and shaping AI solutions that deliver measurable value
• Work closely with channel and local partners, particularly Distributors and VARs as well as major system integrators to scale outreach, accelerate adoption, and maximize customer success
• Leverage senior-level relationships with executives and government decision-makers to drive strategic opportunities and long-term partnerships
• Collaborate with Product and Engineering teams on strategic efforts to deliver enterprise and public-sector solutions
• Partner with SDRs and Marketing to drive top-of-funnel activity and overall territory growth
• Own the full sales cycle; including discovery, technical and business validation, proof-of-concept, procurement, and deal close within a team-selling environment

Benefits

• Six weeks’ paid vacation
• Equity / stock options
• RRSP, 401(k), and Pension Scheme contributions
• Coverage for 100% of your insurance premiums across health, dental, vision, and travel
• Additional coverage for accessing mental health providers/services
• Six months of fully paid parental leave, including adoption and surrogacy
• Financial support for egg freezing and IVF in Canada and the UK
• A monthly fitness and wellness allowance
• Globally dispersed company that supports a remote work culture
• A $2,000 annual education benefit for professional development
• A weekly stipend for meals when working remotely and catered lunch when working from one of our global offices
• A monthly arts and culture allowance
• A monthly quality time allowance

• We’re looking for an approachable and compelling communicator who loves working with SLED customers to uncover their needs and feels comfortable developing tailored value propositions around how Cohere’s platform can help them drive better citizen outcomes
• Preference given to candidates within California, Texas, Washington, Arizona and Colorado with willingness to travel (25-35%)
• 5+ years of direct public sector sales experience in the SLED Market, with a proven track record of closing $2M+ annual quotas
• Creativity and strong technical acumen to structure unique, mutually beneficial partnerships
• Deep knowledge of SLED procurement cycles and decision-making processes, how to work with resellers, VARs and distributors
• High tolerance for ambiguity, you are both a strategist and a hands-on operator capable of building a market from the ground up
• Established regional network, including state and local departments and agencies, prime contractors, and industry associations
• Experience selling SaaS, AI/ML, or enterprise software solutions to government clients
• Excellent communication skills, you listen deeply, understand what matters to senior decision-makers, and confidently present to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Strong organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple internal and external stakeholders across fast-moving deals