Proposal Specialist

Staples Canada; Mississauga; Hybrid; CAD 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading office supplies company in Mississauga is seeking a Proposal Specialist. This role involves managing the proposal process from initiation to submission, ensuring compliance and quality throughout. Candidates should possess a degree in a relevant field, alongside strong project management and communication skills. Experience in proposal writing is essential. The position offers benefits like health and dental, RRSP/DPSP, and performance bonuses in a hybrid work environment.

Benefits

Health and Dental benefits

RRSP/DPSP

Performance bonuses

Qualifications

• 2-4 years’ experience in proposal/bid writing, marketing, or communications role.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Familiarity with proposal processes and RFx requirements.

Responsibilities

• Manage the proposal process from kick-off to submission.
• Draft proposals that align with customer needs and company offerings.
• Lead post-submission exercises and compile customer feedback.

Skills

Advanced communication skills

Project management skills

Analytical skills

Bilingual in English and French

Education

University degree in communications, business, marketing, or journalism

Tools

MS Office Suite

Job description

Reporting to the proposal team manager, the proposal specialist owns the proposal process from the kick-off meeting through to submission. They serve as the project manager for complex, verbiage and compliance driven RFx opportunities for both prospective and existing customers of all sizes. The proposal specialist plays an integral role in driving revenue and increasing profitability through conversion, retention, and penetration

Specifically, You Will:

• Provides operational leadership for proposal development, charting project plans and bid schedules, spearheading kickoff calls, delegating tasks, communicating critical deadlines, conducting executive reviews, and holding stakeholders accountable throughout.
• Identifies legal and operational risks, provides risk mitigation strategies (Ex. reservation of rights language) and recommendations to stakeholders, engaging the risk management and legal teams as needed.
• Strategizes with the sales team to identify win themes, customer pain points, and key value drivers to create a unified bid strategy for revenue generation.
• Collaborates across all organizational functions and levels, building alignment between the proposal, pricing, sales, merchandising, transportation, operations, legal, risk management, and credit teams.
• Gathers, analyzes and organizes data from other departments, discerning key information and integrating it into the response.
• Drafts and creates proposals that capture Staples Professional’s value proposition and align our offering with customer needs. Edits and revises drafts based on customer addenda and stakeholder feedback.
• Creates national customer-facing content that captures Staples Professional market differentiation.
• Maintains the content library.
• Leads post-submission exercises such as presentations, clarifications, “best and final offers”, protests and debriefs. Compiles data and customer feedback to enhance future responses.
• Work wells in situations with many unknowns and knows how to solve challenges and guide others through ambiguity.

Some of what you need:

• A university degree with emphasis on communications, business, marketing, and/or journalism.
• Proposal Management Professional (APMP) is considered an asset.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) is considered an asset.
• Project management skills with demonstrated ability to keep projects on track through proactive communication, prioritization, problem solving, time/task management, ability to manage multiple projects, and organization.
• Advanced computer skills: Must have advanced skills in the entire MS Office Suite including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and Outlook, and an ability to learn new software quickly.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, to clearly explain concepts in professional documents using easy-to-understand English.
• Proposal process knowledge with an understanding of what to look for in an RFx, kickoff calls, content management, and on-time delivery of projects.
• Excellent and in-depth understanding of Staples’ product and service offering, translating this into a selling strategy unique to each customer’s RFP requirements.
• Ability to handle multiple priorities and effectively manage multiple projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills with an ability to foster positive working relationships across all business areas.
• Bilingual in English and French is an asset.
• Ability to work independently under pressure, especially under tight client deadlines with minimal supervision.
• Strong analytical skills and business acumen.
• 2-4 years’ experience in a proposal/bid writing, marketing, technical writing, copy writing, editing, or communications job role.

Some of what you will get:

• Health and Dental benefits
• RRSP/DPSP
• Performance bonuses
• And more...

#Bringyourpassion

#LI-Hybrid

About Us

Staples Canada is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion and we encourage applications from all qualified candidates, including those with disabilities.

About the Team

About the Team At Staples Canada we are dynamic, inspiring partners to our customers and the communities in which we live. As The Working and Learning Company, we inspire people to work smarter, learn more and grow every day. We’re looking for curious, approachable, and passionate individuals who love finding solutions. If that’s you, let’s work, learn, and grow together. We are building an inclusive and diverse team Staples Canada is continuously working towards creating an inclusive and diverse work environment. We welcome, value and thrive on perspectives and contributions from backgrounds that vary by race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, lifestyle, age, educational background, national origin, religion or physical ability. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

• Job Identification 58673