Account Executive, NRO & Combatant Commands

Location: This position can work onsite or hybrid from one of our offices in the US or fully remote.
Travel: Up to 50%
Job ID: 1972

The Role:

IonQ is building the world's first fully-expressive, full-stack quantum computer based on trapped ion technology. Quantum computing is poised to reshape medicine, materials, simulation, and much more. To support our rapid growth, we're hiring creative collaborators with top skills in their areas of expertise and a commitment to success.

If you're looking for a sales role where you can genuinely build something from the ground up, this is it. As our Specialty Sales Account Executive for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the U.S. Combatant Commands (COCOMs), you'll bring IonQ's full space portfolio — SAR Data-as-a-Service and SAR satellites, DevSecOps and platform software, TCPED modernization, AI tools, and our quantum computing, networking, sensing, and security offerings — to some of the most important missions in national security.

You won't do this alone. You'll have product and engineering partners helping you sharpen your pitch, a federal sales team helping you find opportunities in accounts we already hold, and technical program management, finance, legal, and customer success all working with you to get deals done right. What matters most to us is that you know how to sell into national security space or mission systems — you don't need a quantum background to thrive here.

Responsibilities:

• Help set the strategy for NRO and the COCOMs: You'll work with sales leadership to shape how we approach these accounts, using what you're hearing from customers to guide it.
• Own a number, and go hit it: You'll bring in new business and grow existing accounts across NRO and the COCOMs, with the backing of our broader federal sales team.
• Run your deals start to finish: From the first conversation to a signed contract to a smooth handoff to delivery, you'll own the process and keep leadership in the loop.
• Help define what success looks like — you'll help build the metrics that show whether our approach in this territory is working.
• Become the person who knows this market best: You'll understand what NRO and the COCOMs need, who else is competing for their business, and where IonQ genuinely has an edge — across SAR, DevSecOps, AI, and quantum.
• Bring in the right people at the right time — customer success, technical program management, and others — to make sure customers are well taken care of after the deal closes.
• Represent IonQ out in the world: show up at conferences and industry events with our Marketing team and help build our name in this space.

Requirements:

• 7 years selling into national security space, ISR, or mission systems, or equivalent experience — including exposure to large, multi-million dollar deals with NRO, a Combatant Command, or similar federal customers.
• Real relationships with senior leaders across space, intelligence, or defense.
• A track record of winning business in new or emerging markets — you don't need to have managed an existing book, just proven you can build one.
• Strong communication skills — you can rally people across teams and make a compelling case, in writing and in person.
• Active TS/SCI required. This one's non-negotiable given the nature of the work, so we want to be upfront about it.

Preferred Qualifications:

None of these are required — but they'll help you stand out.

• Experience selling both hardware and software into production environments for national security customers.
• A technical foundation in space systems, ISR, SAR, RF/PNT, networking, cybersecurity, AI/ML, or quantum.
• Time spent at a fast-growing company navigating an early or emerging market.
• Comfort with ambiguity — new products, rapid scaling, whatever the moment calls for.
• Experience on a distributed or remote sales team.
• Existing relationships within NRO and/or the Combatant Commands.

OTE for this role is expected to be $240K
The total compensation package includes base, commission, equity, and a range of benefit options found on our career site. If this role has a commission structure, the compensation range below just reflects the base compensation range.