AVP, Federal Sales

About the role

Samsara is building its Federal business, and we're looking for the Sales leader who will build out the team and strategy. As the AVP of Federal Sales, you will be the first and most senior specialized Federal hire, accountable for taking the Samsara Connected Operations Cloud into U.S. federal civilian agencies as part of Phase 1 and defense agencies as part of Phase 2 on a dedicated, FedRAMP-authorized government cloud environment.

Federal agencies run some of the largest vehicle and asset fleets in the world, and they are modernizing how they manage safety, maintenance, sustainability, and mission readiness. Samsara already partners with state and local government agencies across the country, including statewide programs. This role turns that foundation into a durable federal practice.

You will operate as the leader of a dedicated federal practice: you'll design the team, hire it, set the go-to-market strategy, shape our partner and contract-vehicle approach, and own federal bookings. You'll work hand in hand with Product, Security and Compliance, Legal, Marketing, Partnerships, and Revenue Operations to make Samsara easy for federal agencies to buy and trust. This role reports to the Vice President of Public Sector Sales.

This is a remote position open to candidates based on the East Coast (Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida), with a preference for candidates based in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. This position requires travel up to 40% of the time.

In this role, you will:

• Build and own Samsara's federal go-to-market strategy for civilian agencies, including agency prioritization, territory design, and a multi-year plan that sequences investment against certification milestones and the federal budget cycle - with a plan to expand to defense agencies in the future
• Build Samsara's federal route-to-market with Partnerships: distributors and resellers, contract vehicles such as GSA MAS and GWACs, and co-sell relationships with federal systems integrators
• Hire, develop, and lead a dedicated federal team of account executives, future business development and capture managers, and solutions engineers, starting with a focused pod and scaling headcount as pipeline and bookings prove out
• Own federal pipeline and bookings, with clear leading indicators (agency relationships, qualified opportunities, RFI and proposal activity) in the early stage and full bookings accountability once the authorized product is available to transact
• Develop senior relationships with agency fleet, logistics, operations, and CIO/CISO leaders, and represent Samsara at industry days, federal events, and with government affairs partners
• Partner with Security and Compliance and Product to translate FedRAMP authorization progress into a clear, accurate customer narrative and to bring agency requirements back into the GovCloud roadmap
• Work with Revenue Operations, Finance, and Sales Compensation to design federal-specific pipeline stages, forecasting, quotas, and compensation plans for long-cycle selling
• Partner with Legal, Deal Desk, and Contracts on FAR-compliant terms, teaming agreements, and federal ethics requirements, setting a high bar for compliance across the team
• Champion, role model, and embed Samsara’s cultural principles (Focus on Customer Success, Build for the Long Term, Adopt a Growth Mindset, Be Inclusive, Win as a Team) as we scale globally and across new offices

Minimum requirements for the role:

• 12+ years of enterprise technology sales experience, with 8+ years selling to U.S. federal government agencies
• 5+ years leading federal sales teams, including leaders of account executives, as a second-line manager or above
• Track record of building or scaling a federal sales practice at a commercial-first SaaS, cloud, or IoT company, including selling through and after FedRAMP authorization
• Consistent over-achievement of federal bookings targets, with closed multi-year, seven-figure agency contracts
• Hands-on experience with federal acquisition: GSA Schedule and other contract vehicles, distributor and reseller models, and teaming with federal systems integrators
• Established relationships with federal civilian agency stakeholders, systems integrators, and the federal partner ecosystem
• Experience leading business development and capture for competitive federal procurements, from pre-RFP shaping through proposal and award
• Eligibility to obtain a Public Trust position

An ideal candidate also has:

• A network that includes experienced federal sellers, capture managers, and solutions engineers who would follow them to a new practice
• Experience co-selling with federal systems integrators inside a direct sales organization, including clear account ownership and compensation rules
• Familiarity with Shipley or a comparable capture and proposal methodology
• Experience designing activity-based or MBO compensation for federal teams before authorized product is available
• Working knowledge of FedRAMP, FAR/DFARS, Section 508 accessibility, and Buy American and Trade Agreements Act requirements, and how they show up in deals
• Experience with Department of Defense or National Guard fleet programs, as a foundation for future expansion