Director, Strategic Marketing & Client Pursuits

SSOE; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

SSOE seeks a Director of Strategic Marketing & Client Pursuits to lead the pursuit strategy, proposal leadership, and cross-functional marketing efforts across the US. You’ll unite strategic marketing, proposal development, and client positioning to align with growth goals in the AEC industry.

You will mentor a distributed team, optimize templates and content, manage budgets, and report on win metrics while driving brand and client-focused messaging across multiple sectors.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in B2B marketing, proposal management, or pursuit strategy in AEC or professional services
• 5+ years leading teams, including distributed or multi-site teams
• Experience with RFQ/RFP mechanics, SF330s, and pursuit deadlines
• Excellent writing/editing, able to craft client-focused narratives
• Comfortable challenging senior leadership on strategy and messaging
• Ability to run strategy/execution sessions in one day
• Bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, journalism, business, or related field

Responsibilities

• Direct the full SSOE proposal process from opportunity qualification to post-decision debrief
• Collaborate with C-suite, BU leadership, and pursuits teams to develop the business plan
• Coach pursuit teams on differentiated messaging and client value propositions
• Establish standards, templates, and reusable content to raise quality and speed
• Provide board or executive-level reports and presentations when needed
• Hire external consultants when necessary
• Collaborate with BUs to develop strategic marketing plans tied to sector growth
• Translate technical capability into client-facing positioning
• Oversee promotional materials, campaigns, and events
• Lead, mentor, and grow a collaborative pursuit and marketing team
• Allocate capacity across deadlines, time zones, and languages
• Recruit and retain marketing talent that reflects the business ambition
• Monitor win rate, hit rate, budget, and marketing tech stack

Job description

Director, Strategic Marketing & Client Pursuits

Job Locations

US-OR-Portand | US-AZ-Scottsdale | US-GA-Atlanta | US-TN-Nashville | US-TX-Austin

ID: 2026-3827

Category: Business Development

Type: Full Time

Overview

Every meaningful project starts with a moment of persuasion - a proposal that lands, a presentation that clicks, a client who decides these are the people we want in the room. This role enables the marketing team to help create these moments with the greater pursuit team.

You’ll lead a dynamic team focused on pursuit excellence across the AEC industry, bridging strategic marketing, proposal development, and client positioning to ensure everything we put in front of a client aligns with business development priorities and sector-specific growth goals.

AI and Innovation

At SSOE, we don't just talk about the future, we build it. As a leader in industry AI adoption, we empower our team to work smarter by providing responsible access to the industry leading AI Large Language Models, vibe-coding platforms, and securely integrating advanced tools into every role. From day one, you’ll receive the training and support needed to leverage AI as a core tool for enhancing productivity, sparking creativity, and streamlining complex workflows.

Responsibilities

Pursuit strategy & proposal leadership

• Direct the full SSOE proposal process, from opportunity qualification and go/no-go through submission, interview prep, and post-decision debrief
• Work with the C-suite, Business Unit leadership, and Business Developments part of the team to develop the SSOE business plan.
• Coach pursuit teams on differentiated messaging, client-centered value propositions, and interview preparation
• Establish and maintain standards, templates, and reusable content that raise quality while shortening turnaround
• Support / involvement / development / delivery of board or executive level report outs or presentations
• Willingness and ability to hire external consultants when necessary

Strategic marketing & SBU partnership

• Collaborate with SSOE's various Business Units to develop and execute strategic marketing plans tied to sector growth targets
• Translate technical capability into client-facing positioning and messaging that resonates with owners, developers, and program leaders
• Oversee a wide range of promotional activities that build awareness and shape SSOE's brand across marketing communication channels
• Direct the design and production of promotional materials - collateral, campaigns, digital content, conference and event presence

Team leadership

• Lead, mentor, and grow a collaborative and energetic team who make SSOE's pursuits happen-from the Strategic Pursuit Leaders shaping win strategy on the firm's biggest opportunities to the Operations Marketing team producing the volume of proposals that keeps the business moving across the U.S. and Mexico
• Build a culture where people develop real careers - clear expectations, honest feedback, meaningful stretch work
• Allocate team capacity intelligently across competing deadlines, time zones, and languages, making resource trade-off calls when the pursuit portfolio exceeds bandwidth.
• Recruit and retain marketing talent that reflects the ambition of the business

Measurement & operations

• Monitor, control, and report the metrics that matter: win rate, hit rate by sector, cost of pursuit, opportunity pipeline, brand reach
• Manage and develop the marketing budget
• Optimize the marketing tech stack (CRM, proposal automation, DAM, analytics) to minimize the time teammates spend away from critical pursuit work

Qualifications

• 10+ years in B2B marketing, proposal management, or pursuit strategy - with meaningful time in AEC, engineering, construction, or professional services
• Have 5+ years leading teams, including distributed or multi-site teams
• Know the rhythm of a major pursuit: RFQ/RFP mechanics, SF330s, shortlist interviews, and the pressure that comes with a hard deadline
• Write and edit exceptionally well, and can turn dense technical input into a compelling, client-focused narrative
• Comfortable respectfully pushing back on a senior leadership when the strategy and messaging isn't right
• Can hold strategy and execution sessions in the same day
• Bring a bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, journalism, business, or a related field

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