Job Title: Senior Director of Proposals

Location: Remote

​​​​Position Summary:

Our client is a growing consulting firm looking for a dynamic Assistant Senior Director of Proposals to lead and manage a highly strategic, value-focused, high-volume centralized proposal organization. The proposal organization provides vital support with helping the company and its business units achieve their growth goals.

As the Senior Director of Proposals, the candidate is chartered with leading a team of proposal management professionals, standardizing and improving best practices, setting strategy and culture, and building a center of excellence. It is essential to work collaboratively with executive leadership, business unit leaders, subject matter experts (SMEs), and all functional support teams including business development, marketing, communications, contracts, finance, human resources, IT, and any other stakeholders who assist in the development and execution of proposals.

In addition to leading the proposal operations, will need to manage and develop a more strategic pursuit to support the team and balance workload. Support the development of proposal / pitch strategies, writing/editing, graphic design / visual layout coordination, compliance and QA/QC review, maintain schedules, support production, and lead debriefs and other related tasks as needed. This role is integral to forming and transforming best practices, processes, and developing / maintaining content libraries and resources.

The Senior Director of Proposals is also integrated into the capture process and will work with closely with capture and proposal managers to develop cohesive capture and proposal management plans that maximize our opportunity for winning strategic pursuits. Guide and support strategy discussions that involve developing win themes, performing SWOT analyses, client and competitive analyses, differentiators, etc.

This position requires strong executive presence and verbal / written communication skills. Must be self-motivated, responsible, and confident with a commitment to integrity. Must possess high attention to detail, be very organized and able to prioritize multiple projects, meet deadlines, and effectively lead a team of proposal development professionals.

The Senior Director of Proposals is required to manage, guide and train direct reports. It will be essential to the success of the team for the Senior Director of Proposals to enhance and develop the team’s skillsets and knowledge base of creating effective, high quality proposals that win. Some limited travel may be required to effectively manage a pursuit and/or for team meetings.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop strategy, structure, and staffing to maximize quality and volume of winning bids.
• Serve as the foremost expert on proposal management and responses.
• Collaborate with executives from contributing functions and business units to ensure cross-departmental strategy and coordination.
• Help shape a company culture that promotes collaboration across departments, best practice proposal development methodologies, high standards of excellence, learning, and accountability.
• Provide full oversight of proposal team, including capture management, proposal & bid management, graphics and presentations, writing, compliance, and quality.
• Ensure workload balancing for all proposal team members and key stakeholders involved in proposal response (cross-functional).
• Develop, manage, and report on KPIs for proposal responses.
• Actively manage current staff and recruit top industry talent. Work to develop and grow proposal development capabilities over time.
• Manage and enhance “center of excellence” functions of the proposal team including content management, proposal academy / training, orals training, etc.
• Contribute to training efforts that support broader organizational development specific to proposal preparation. This includes training for proposal team members, as well as trainings for stakeholders outside the team who participate in the proposal process.
• Partner with Marketing to develop brand-aligned proposal response templates and materials that advance our brand identify within our proposals.
• Contribute to writing/editing/rewriting efforts to include researching subject matter resources and interviewing subject matter experts for required proposal content development.
• Implement and maintain centralized best content proposal library and repository of resumes, project profiles and descriptions, case studies, etc.
• Lead go/no-go process and collaborate with business unit leads/SMEs and business development team on pursuit decisions
• Develop and enforce quality control and proposal management processes, toolsets, and systems
• Manage surge support staff or third-party support, as needed.
• Perform other duties as assigned

Skills and Competencies:

• Expertise and knowledge of solicitation (RFP, RFQ, RFI) requirements and developing proposal management plans, schedules, assignments, and delivery
• Deep understanding of federal, state, and local government procurements
• Knowledge and understanding of CRM and data management databases
• Ability to assist in developing strategic approaches and concepts
• Advanced experience with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Solid understanding and experience using Adobe InDesign for proposal design and production
• Detail oriented with exceptional writing, editing, document formatting and organization skills
• Ability to manage, organize, and prioritize project assignments to meet competing deadlines
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills with the ability to evaluate data sets to determine trends, establish strategies, and make decisions
• Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to effectively communicate across diverse audiences and influence cross functionality
• Use project management and communication skills to manage, organize, and prioritize proposal operations initiatives and multiple projects to meet competing deadlines.
• Ability to multi-task and be strategic, creative, and innovative in a dynamic, fast paced matrix team environment
• Proven ability to “surge” effort in times of need (i.e. when the company is helping its clients manage through a disaster, emergency, or other crisis)
• Self-starter with a positive attitude and the ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team
• Ability to effectively train and develop staff
• Understanding and ability to diagnose and promptly report issues in need of escalation

Required Education and Experience:

• Degree: Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, Communications, English or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Years of Experience: 2-5 years leading proposal operations / teams for professional services firm and a minimum of 10 years’ experience with planning, development, production and overall management of proposals and qualifications packages for government and private clients

This position description incorporates the core responsibilities of the job. It recognizes that other related duties not specifically mentioned might also be performed, and that not all responsibilities may be carried out depending on operational needs.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Our client is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.