Proposal Manager
Full TimeJob Overview
The Proposal Manager leads the firm's proposal and pursuit efforts while managing a seasoned team of Proposal Coordinators. This role is responsible for overseeing proposal operations, ensuring high-quality and compliant submissions, and developing pursuit strategies. The Proposal Manager serves as a mentor and resource to the proposal team, driving process improvements, workload balancing, and professional development while collaborating with technical and executive leadership on strategic opportunities.
What You'll Do:
Proposal Leadership & Pursuit Management
- Lead and oversee the development of proposals, qualifications packages, interview presentations, and marketing deliverables for public and private sector pursuits.
- Manage high-priority and strategic pursuits from kickoff through submission.
- Ensure compliance with RFQ, RFP, SOQ, and interview requirements.
- Establish proposal schedules, assign responsibilities, and monitor progress to meet deadlines.
- Review and approve final deliverables for quality, consistency, and compliance.
Team Management & Staff Development
- Supervise, mentor, and develop a team of Proposal Coordinators and marketing staff.
- Assign workloads and manage team resources to support multiple concurrent pursuits.
- Conduct performance evaluations, coaching, and career development planning.
- Provide training on proposal best practices, writing, editing, compliance, and pursuit management.
- Foster a collaborative, high-performing team culture focused on excellence and continuous improvement.
Strategic Pursuit Support
- Partner with project managers and technical staff to develop pursuit strategies.
- Facilitate go/no-go discussions and capture planning efforts.
- Identify competitive differentiators and win themes for key pursuits.
- Support interview preparation, presentation coaching, and client-facing materials.
Process Improvement & Quality Assurance
- Develop and maintain proposal standards, templates, and best practices.
- Implement process improvements to increase efficiency, consistency, and proposal quality.
- Oversee maintenance of proposal content libraries, project descriptions, resumes, and marketing databases.
- Monitor proposal metrics, workload forecasting, and win/loss trends.
What You'll Need:
Education
- Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, English, Journalism, or a related field preferred.
Experience
- 10+ years of proposal management, marketing, or business development experience within the A/E/C industry.
- Experience supporting transportation, infrastructure, environmental, water/wastewater, or building market sectors.
- Previous experience supervising or leading proposal teams.
- Demonstrated success managing complex, high-value pursuits and strategic proposals.
Skills & Competencies
- Strong leadership, coaching, and team development skills.
- Exceptional writing, editing, and communication abilities.
- Advanced project management and organizational skills.
- Ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
- Strong understanding of A/E/C procurement processes and qualifications-based selection.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite, CRM platforms, and proposal management tools.
- Experience with Deltek Vision, Deltek Vantagepoint, Salesforce, or similar CRM systems.