How To Become A Federal Account Executive: What It Is and Career Path

What is a federal account executive and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Kaustav Misra Ph.D.

A federal account executive is responsible for managing and securing a company's sales to the federal government. Federal agencies are lucrative sources of business for many companies in the technology or communications industries, and federal account executives play a vital role in securing those contracts.

The job of a federal account executive is similar in many ways to the job of a regular account executive. They have their set territory, which they canvass for sales leads. They use their excellent communication skills to maintain relationships with account holders and manage multiple accounts at the same time. However, federal account executives need to exercise extra discretion with their government clients and may even need to pass a background check.

Most federal account executives have a bachelor's degree in business or communications. A few have gone on to earn a master's degree.

Before they can handle lucrative federal accounts, federal account executives usually need to prove themselves with several years of experience in sales or account management. With the extra responsibility of handling federal accounts also comes a lucrative salary of $82,821 a year.

What general advice would you give to a federal account executive?

Kaustav Misra Ph.D.

Associate Dean, Central Connecticut State University

I have spent almost two decades in the higher education industry and about a decade in administration. I often advised students, and it is astonishing to see how many of these students do not plan for their future. A good plan is a starting point to lead a good and successful career and life. Hence, by all means, it is worth noting that developing a future-oriented focus is important, so taking time to streamline the plan should be an important exercise for every graduate before they begin to do anything.

ScoreFederal Account ExecutiveUS Average

Salary

7.9

Avg. Salary $110,539

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.4

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.38%

Asian 5.66%

Black or African American 6.94%

Hispanic or Latino 14.74%

Unknown 4.07%

White 68.21%

Gender

female 23.18%

male 76.82%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.5

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a federal account executive

Explore federal account executive education requirements

Most common federal account executive degrees

Bachelor's

69.5 %

Master's

14.1 %

Associate

9.1 %

Start to develop specific federal account executive skills

Skills	Percentages
Account Management	15.00%
Cloud	11.95%
Business Development	10.91%
DOD	7.85%
Professional Services	7.79%

Research federal account executive duties and responsibilities

Manage national VA and DoD contracts with individual institutions.
Manage day-to-day activity of client relate projects including IP voice, MPLS infrastructures and CPE implementations in a deadline-orient high-pressure environment.
Identify and capture numerous DoD and SI projects.
Prepare and adhere to sales forecasts using SIEBEL CRM software.

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