Proposal Specialist & Business Development

Commissionaires Nova Scotia; Bedford; Hybrid; CAD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Commissionaires Nova Scotia is seeking a Proposals & Business Development Specialist to support growth by pursuing new opportunities, developing compelling proposals, and coordinating responses to RFPs, RFQs, and RFIs. The role collaborates with technical experts, operations, and leadership to craft winning submissions and strategies.

The position requires strong writing, strategic thinking, relationship management, and project coordination to manage multiple pursuits with tight deadlines, while

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Communications, Public Administration, Engineering, Commerce, or related field.
• Ability to obtain a Secret security clearance and/or RCMP Enhanced Reliability security clearance.
• Valid Nova Scotia driver's license.
• Exceptional written communication and editing skills.
• Proposal writing and content development.
• Strategic thinking and analysis.
• Relationship management and networking.
• Project planning and coordination.
• Facilitation and meeting management.
• Presentation and communication skills.
• Time management and prioritization.
• Research and information gathering.
• Management of multiple concurrent projects with competing deadlines.
• Interpretation and analysis of complex procurement documents.
• Stakeholder influence without direct authority.
• Cross-functional collaboration across departments and organizational levels.
• Strategic thinking while managing detailed execution requirements.
• Production of high-quality work under tight deadlines.
• Sound judgment and decision-making.
• Adaptability to changing priorities and business needs.

Responsibilities

• Leads the end-to-end development of proposal responses.
• Analyzes solicitation requirements and develops compliance matrices.
• Coordinates proposal kick-off meetings and pursuit strategies.
• Develops proposal schedules, milestones, and production plans.
• Assigns writing responsibilities and manages contributor inputs.
• Writes, edits, and integrates proposal content from multiple stakeholders.
• Ensures all proposal submissions meet client requirements and organizational quality standards.
• Manages proposal reviews, red-team reviews, and executive approvals.
• Coordinates final formatting, production, and submission activities.
• Maintains proposal libraries, templates, boilerplate content, and best practices.

Skills

Written communication

Proposal writing

Strategic thinking

Relationship management

Project planning

Cross-functional collaboration

Presentation skills

Time management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration

Marketing

Communications

Public Administration

Engineering

Commerce

Secret security clearance (ability to obtain)

RCMP Enhanced Reliability security clearance

Tools

MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)

CRM systems

SharePoint

Job description

Major Responsibilities

The Proposals & Business Development Specialist plays an important role in supporting the organization’s growth and long-term success. As part of a team at the heart of the organization’s growth, this position supports the pursuit of new business and contributes to opportunities that shape the organization’s continued success. The role identifies, qualifies, and pursues opportunities aligned with strategic objectives, while leading the development of competitive proposals and responses to Requests for Proposals (RFPs), Requests for Quotations (RFQs), Requests for Information (RFIs), and other procurement opportunities.

Working collaboratively with technical subject matter experts, operational leaders, executives, and external partners, the incumbent brings together organizational expertise to develop compelling value propositions, competitive strategies, and high-quality submissions. Success in this position requires strong relationship management, strategic thinking, persuasive writing, project management, and the ability to coordinate multiple concurrent pursuits within demanding deadlines.

PROPOSAL MANAGEMENT & RFP RESPONSES

• Leads the end-to-end development of proposal responses.
• Analyzes solicitation requirements and develops compliance matrices.
• Coordinates proposal kick-off meetings and pursuit strategies.
• Develops proposal schedules, milestones, and production plans.
• Assigns writing responsibilities and manages contributor inputs.
• Writes, edits, and integrates proposal content from multiple stakeholders.
• Ensures all proposal submissions meet client requirements and organizational quality standards.
• Manages proposal reviews, red-team reviews, and executive approvals.
• Coordinates final formatting, production, and submission activities.
• Maintains proposal libraries, templates, boilerplate content, and best practices.
  

CONTENT DEVELOPMENT & TECHNICAL WRITING

• Develops compelling executive summaries, management approaches, corporate experience sections, and value propositions.
• Translates technical information into persuasive and customer-focused content.
• Ensures consistent branding, messaging, and positioning across all submissions.
• Continuously updates and improves reusable proposal content.

CAPTURE PLANNING & PURSUIT STRATEGY

• Develops win strategies and opportunity-specific capture plans.
• Analyzes customer needs, procurement drivers, and evaluation criteria.
• Identifies competitive differentiators and key win themes.
• Assists leadership in pricing and solution development discussions.
• Tracks pursuit progress and recommends actions to improve win probability.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & OPPORTUNITY IDENTIFICATION

• Identifies, researches, and qualifies potential business opportunities aligned with organizational strategic objectives.
• Monitors public and private procurement sources for upcoming opportunities.
• Develops and maintains a robust opportunity pipeline.
• Participates in go/no-go decision processes.

REPORTING, ANALYTICS & CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

• Maintains Customer Relationship Management (CRM) records, opportunity tracking systems, and proposal databases.
• Prepares reports on business development activities, pipeline status, proposal metrics, and win rates.
• Analyzes proposal outcomes and implements lessons learned.
• Recommends process improvements to increase efficiency and proposal quality.

Education and Knowledge

i. Education (Minimum Required): Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Communications, Public Administration, Engineering, Commerce, or a related field.

ii. Certifications:

• Ability to obtain a Secret security clearance and/or an RCMP Enhanced Reliability security clearance.
• Valid Nova Scotia driver's license.

iii. Skills and Abilities: (Minimum Required)

• Exceptional written communication and editing skills.
  
• Proposal writing and content development.
• Strategic thinking and analysis.
• Relationship management and networking.
• Project planning and coordination.
• Facilitation and meeting management.
• Presentation and communication skills.
• Time management and prioritization.
• Research and information gathering.
• Management of multiple concurrent projects with competing deadlines.
• Interpretation and analysis of complex procurement documents.
• Stakeholder influence without direct authority.
• Cross-functional collaboration across departments and organizational levels.
• Strategic thinking while managing detailed execution requirements.
• Production of high-quality work under tight deadlines.
• Sound judgment and decision-making.
• Adaptability to changing priorities and business needs.
  

iv. Professional/Technical Knowledge:

• Business development principles and growth strategies.
• Public and private sector procurement processes.
• Proposal development methodologies and best practices.
• Contracting and competitive bidding processes.
• Sales pipeline management.
• Market research techniques.
• Customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
• Strategic planning and opportunity assessment.
• Technical and persuasive writing principles.
• Project management practices.
• Sound understanding of government procurement processes / public administration.
• Advanced MS Office Suite skills, particularly with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and SharePoint.
• CRM platform proficiency

v. Past Experience:

• 5-8 years of progressive experience in business development, proposal management, capture management, sales support, marketing, or related functions.
• Demonstrated experience leading successful RFP, RFQ, and RFI submissions.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional teams and managing competing deadlines.
• Track record of contributing to revenue growth or successful contract awards.
• Experience in the security industry, CAF, or RCMP would be considered a strong asset.

vi. Work Conditions:

• Travel throughout Nova Scotia may be periodically required for client meetings, conferences, networking events, and presentations and when required is a condition of employment.
• This position is primarily office-based, however, remote work is permitted.
• Ability to work extended hours during critical proposal submission periods is required.
• Frequent interaction with senior leadership, technical teams, clients, and external partners.