Director of Plans & Proposals

Waggoner Engineering; United States; Remote; USD 125,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

WEI Incentive Program

Healthy Workplace Program

Employee Referral Bonus

Competitive Health Benefits

Career Development and Training

Flexible/Hybrid Schedule

Community Service Opportunities

Job summary

Waggoner Engineering seeks a Director of Plans & Proposals to lead the development and delivery of plans and proposals that win work. The role owns the enterprise proposal process end to end and steers a matrixed team across business units.

The position is remote in the USA, coordinating go/no-go decisions, capture plans, and compliant submissions while ensuring high-quality content and lessons learned for future pursuits.

Qualifications

• Eight+ years of progressive experience in proposal development or business development in related industries.
• Strong writing, editing and quality-control skills; ability to lead cross-functional teams.
• Experience leading complex RFQ/RFP responses and managing multiple pursuits.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end proposal processes for RFQs, RFPs, SOQs and other pursuits.
• Develop pursuit strategy, win themes and content with cross-functional teams.
• Coordinate kickoffs, schedules, compliance matrices and deadlines for submissions.

Skills

Leadership

Proposal management

Strategic thinking

Effective communication

Project management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Business

APMP certification

Tools

Deltek Vantagepoint

CRM

Microsoft Office

Adobe InDesign

Job description

Compensation: $125,000 - $135,000 / year

Department: Corporate/Administrative

Location: Remote- USA

Compensation: $125,000 - $135,000 / year

Description

The Director of Plans & Proposals leads the development, coordination and delivery of the plans and proposals through which Waggoner wins work: go/no-go decision records, capture plans, Client Account Plan production, and high-quality, compliant proposals and qualifications packages. The role owns the enterprise proposal process end to end, runs the single intake and priority list for enterprise growth support, maintains the proposal log and the reporting cadence that keeps business-unit leaders and the Chief Clients & Markets Officer informed, and keeps pursuit records in Deltek Vantagepoint current with the Trilon CRM stage standard. The Director is also responsible for the enterprise experience archive — employee proposal resumes, project descriptions, qualifications content and boilerplate — and for the standards, templates and content libraries that make every submission consistent. The role leads a matrixed team of proposal and marketing professionals seated in the business units, strengthens pursuit strategy and win rate across the enterprise, and operates the Win Work model as its primary user and steward.

Key Responsibilities

Plans — the artifacts

• Run the single enterprise intake for proposal and marketing support and maintain one priority list, reviewed weekly at the business-unit pursuit calls; log side-channel requests as exceptions.
• Facilitate the go/no-go decision record at Stage 2 (Opportunity) with the Client Account Manager and business-unit leader, using the multi-gate enterprise form; confirm a documented decision.
• Ensure every Staged pursuit above a set net fee carries a capture plan — full capture plan at one limit and above, short below — opened at separate stage, updated at shortlist and selection, and closed with cost-to-pursue; back-fill live pursuits.
• Support Client Account Managers on Client Account Plans: quarterly data refresh (financials, backlog, pipeline, contract basis), formatting to the enterprise template, and submission to leadership.
• Prepare tailored task-order capture plans for awarded on-call programs with the responsible CAM.

Proposals

• Lead and manage the end-to-end proposal process for RFQs, RFPs, SOQs, letter proposals and other competitive pursuits across the business units and Atakapa Services.
• Partner with Client Account Managers, capture leads, business-unit leaders and technical staff to develop pursuit strategy, positioning, win themes and proposal approach.
• Facilitate kickoffs, set schedules and compliance matrices, assign responsibilities, and manage deadlines through submission; route RFP contract terms for legal review before certification.
• Lead development of compliant, compelling, client-focused content; provide strategic editing and quality control for narratives, resumes, project sheets and cover letters.
• Oversee interview and presentation preparation for shortlisted pursuits, including content, messaging and rehearsal.
• Manage competing deadlines and allocate proposal resources across business units based on the priority list and business-unit needs.

Records, reporting and learning

• Maintain the enterprise proposal log; report proposal volume, workload, cycle time, hit rate by business unit and pursuit outcomes monthly to the Chief Clients & Markets Officer and business-unit leaders, and weekly during the controlled-operation period.
• Keep pursuit records in Deltek Vantagepoint current with the CRM stage standard — stage, probability, Client Account Manager, dates and fees — with the Deltek administrator, and flag records that fail the standing rules.
• Conduct win/loss debriefs on every decided pursuit and feed lessons into the content library and the next capture plan for that client.
• Represent Waggoner in the Trilon proposal community; adopt tools and shared resources where they shorten proposal cycle time.

Experience archive, resumes and qualifications

• Own the enterprise experience archive — people, credentials, projects, clients, roles and outcomes — built from the company database; keep it the single source for resumes, project sheets and SF-330 content.
• Coordinate periodic resume updates with employees and operational leaders; partner with Chief People’s Office to validate titles, tenure, education and licensure; keep priority-one resumes current within 90 days.
• Operate the departure gate: change resume status and check live proposals at separation so no departed key person is named in a submission.
• Maintain current SF-330 Part II data, project sheets, boilerplate and reusable qualifications material; tailor resumes and qualifications to specific pursuits.

Leadership and strategic responsibilities

• Serve as the primary leader for proposal operations and establish clear ownership, accountability and expectations across the pursuit process within the Company model.
• Lead, coach, develop and manage workload for the matrixed proposal and marketing team; set standards and professional-development plans in coordination with business-unit leaders.
• Identify process improvements, technology and automation opportunities that improve proposal efficiency and quality, introducing tools only where the process they support is proven.
• Support annual planning and resource forecasting for proposal and marketing needs; promote consistent brand standards and messaging across all proposals and qualifications material.

What you’ll need

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, English or a related field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
• Eight or more years of progressive experience in proposal development, marketing or business development in the architecture, engineering, construction or environmental industry; APMP certification preferred.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex RFQ/RFP responses, qualifications-based selection procurements and SF-330 submissions, and/or managing multiple concurrent pursuits.
• Experience leading and developing proposal or marketing professionals, including in a matrixed or multi-office structure.
• Strong writing, editing, proofreading and quality-control skills; strong project management, prioritization and deadline discipline.
• Working knowledge of CRM and proposal systems; Deltek Vantagepoint experience preferred. Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat; Adobe InDesign preferred.
• Ability to work effectively with executives, technical professionals, project managers, client account managers and business-unit leaders.

Knowledge, skills and abilities

• Strategic thinker able to translate technical information into clear, persuasive, client-focused messaging.
• Leadership and interpersonal skills that influence across business units without direct authority.
• Exceptional attention to detail while holding the overall pursuit strategy and business objectives in view.
• Ability to manage high-volume, deadline-driven work without sacrificing quality, and judgment about when to escape risks, resource constraints or compliance concerns.
• Ability to build repeatable processes and drive accountability across cross-functional teams.

Success measures

• On-time, compliant submissions; every submitted version archived and the fee reconciled in Vantagepoint.
• 100% of Stage pursuits above set targets carry a capture plan.
• Proposal log current weekly; hit rate, workload and cycle time reported by business unit monthly.
• Priority-one resumes current within 90 days; SF-330 data updated at least annually; zero departed key personnel named in a submission.
• Win/loss debrief completed on every decided pursuit at targets and above, with lessons recorded in the content library.
• Development and performance of the matrixed proposal team; user-readiness and adoption measures from the opperating model.

Physical requirements and work environment

This position operates primarily in a hybrid setting (office/remote). The role requires travel among Waggoner offices and occasional extended hours or schedule flexibility to meet proposal deadlines and submission requirements.

Other duties

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities or qualifications associated with the position. Responsibilities may be modified or assigned based on business needs.

Why Join Our Team

We know work isn't only about what you do, it's also about who you work for and with! Waggoner Engineering provides a fun, family-friendly, and multicultural work environment that supports a work life balance, including:

• WEI Incentive Program
• Healthy Workplace Program
• Employee Referral Bonus
• Competitive Health Benefits
• Career Development and Training
• Flexible/Hybrid Schedule
• Community Service Opportunities

Waggoner Engineering, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status.

Pay Transparency

The base salary range for this role is indicated in the posting. This range reflects the company’s good faith estimate of the compensation for this position at the time of posting. Final compensation will be determined based on factors such as experience, skills, qualifications, internal equity, and geographic location.