Proposal Manager

The Proposal Manager is responsible for the development of customized, winning proposals as well as manage preproposal activities (opportunity identification, bid decisions, etc.).

Duties include leading the proposal process, reading the customer solicitation to determine proposal requirements, developing and ensuring compliance with the company's proposal process, integrating written submissions from various sources to respond to RFIs/RFPs, providing responses to follow-up and clarification questions, and supervising support staff.  These duties will include coordinating the weekly BD meeting; managing and updating the company’s opportunity pipeline; maintaining corporate capabilities briefings and marketing materials; and manage opportunity research activities. This position will also be responsible for following established proposal development processes and procedures, coordinating tasks to meet applicable deadlines, interviewing internal subject matter experts and when required, supervising the ECS business development specialist. 

Performance Objectives: The following reflects management's definition of essential functions for this job but does not restrict the tasks that may be assigned. 

• Ensure compliance to bid process and make improvements when necessary
• Work with Finance and Program Managers to ensure consistent estimating methodology including escalation indices and wage rates 
• Monitor and facilitate as necessary, the generation of technical and pricing content to ensure timely and accurate submittals
• Manage and facilitate the proposal process from start to finish, including bid/no-bid, strategy, kick-off, status meetings, and various levels of reviews. 
• Engage with the Management and Technical teams to define the overall bid Strategy that coincides with the overall business strategy, working closely with business development and technical leadership. 
• Establish performance metrics and tracks progress on all proposals, alert senior management at times of risk or lacking progress 
• Write clear and persuasive content in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment for competitive proposals • Read, review, and dissect complex requests for proposal (RFP), requests for quotation (RFQ's), invitations to bid (ITB) and request for information (RFI) to determine scope and requirements. 
• Research and combine information from multiple sources into a cohesive, easy-to-read, and accurate final product. 
• Conduct bi-weekly BD meeting
• Manage and maintain the company’s opportunity pipeline.
• Maintain corporate capabilities briefings and marketing materials.
• Manage opportunity research activities.
• Create proposal library to facilitate efficient and rapid responses to opportunity solicitations.

Basic Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, Business Administration, or related discipline or equivalent. education and experience required. 
• 5-10 years of related experience with demonstrated knowledge and experience of management. responsibilities in short- and long-term business strategies. 
• Knowledge of sales practices and RFP processes. 
• Experience with Shipley process for capturing and winning Federal contracts.
• Problem solving skills and ability to navigate a matrix organization.
• Ability to read, analyze, and interpret procedures and requests. 
• Ability to manage multiple and competing deadlines. 
• Advanced communication skills; both oral and written. 
• Customer focus and teamwork orientation. 
• Must be a US Citizen as defined by NIPSOM and be able to obtain and maintain at a minimum an Active SECRET clearance, previous access to TOP SECRET SCI and SAP programs is preferable. 
• Experience with proposal pricing strategies a plus.

Competencies/Skills/Experience: 

• Advanced Microsoft Office skills including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 
• Experience using a Customer Relation Module (CRM) such as OneTEAM, Vantage Point or SalesForce
• Strong organizational skills. 
• Strong technical aptitude. 
• Experience in forecasting and in generating metrics. 
• Excellent editing, proofreading and writing skills, with the ability to write persuasive proposal text. 
• Excellent verbal communication skills with the ability to lead cross-functional meetings. 
• High level of attention to detail is essential. 
• Ability to prioritize workload, have a strong team player attitude, ability to multi-task, work under pressure, and work extended hours during major proposal deadlines. 
• Analytical skills and an ability to filter and distill information to the appropriate audience. 
• Flexibility in working with others at all levels of the organization that participates in the bid and proposal process.