Federal and SLED Proposal Manager

PGLS; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Piedmont Global is seeking an experienced Proposal Manager to lead the full proposal development cycle across federal, state, local government, education, healthcare, and commercial opportunities. This is a shared services role supporting pursuits across business units.

The Proposal Manager is accountable for every stage of the proposal process — from RFP analysis and kick-off through final submission. This includes defining the proposal approach, developing win themes, building and managing the

Qualifications

• End-to-end proposal management experience across multiple verticals.
• Direct experience with FAR-based solicitations and multi-volume submissions.
• Experience with SLED procurements (state/local, education, healthcare optional).
• Ability to define proposal approach and win themes without industry SME.
• Strong formatting and content coordination across teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead the full proposal lifecycle from RFP receipt to submission.
• Develop proposal strategy, win themes, and compliance plan.
• Coordinate writers, SMEs, and partners; manage pricing inputs.
• Oversee multi-volume submissions and ensure timely delivery.
• Support post-submission debriefs and lessons learned.

Skills

Proposal management

Federal proposals

Pricing/Costing

Microsoft Word

Team coordination

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business/Communications/English

Tools

Microsoft Word

Pricing tools

Job description

Piedmont Global is a Strategic Globalization Organization (SGO) integrating cultural fluency, strategic insight, and custom technology to help clients scale with speed, navigate complexity, and operate seamlessly across cultures, markets, and systems. Headquartered in Washington D.C with team members spanning five continents, Piedmont Global equips organisations with the people, capabilities, and strategies to lead - globally, fluently, and confidently.

Job Summary:

Piedmont Global is seeking an experienced Proposal Manager to lead the full proposal development cycle across a mixed portfolio of federal, state and local government, education, healthcare, and commercial opportunities. This is a shared services role supporting pursuits across business units.

The Proposal Manager is accountable for every stage of the proposal process — from RFP analysis and kick-off through final submission. This includes defining the proposal approach, developing win themes, building and managing the proposal schedule and compliance matrix, coordinating all writers, SMEs and contributors, directing content, coordinating pricing, and delivering a compliant, submission-ready document. The role requires independent judgment on strategy and approach; the Proposal Manager solutions each pursuit and provides the direction the proposal team executes against.

Experience across multiple procurement verticals is required. The Proposal Manager does not need to be a subject matter expert in language services — the expectation is that they bring a strong understanding of federal evaluation standards and procurement expectations, and can apply that framework to existing content, past performance, and service capabilities. Piedmont Global provides the resources, internal expertise, and direct support needed to develop familiarity with our service offerings over time.

Responsibilities:

Proposal Management and Execution

• Manage the full proposal lifecycle for each assigned pursuit — primarily federal and SLED, but may also include healthcare and commercial — from RFP receipt through submission and post-award debrief.
• Analyze the RFP to identify all requirements, evaluation criteria, and compliance obligations.
• Develop the proposal schedule, compliance matrix, inform annotated outline, and manage section assignments at kick-off; hold all contributors — internal staff, subject matter experts, teaming partners, and corporate resources — to established deadlines.
• Lead kick-off meetings, mid-proposal check-ins, and color team reviews (Pink, Red, Gold); ensure reviewer feedback and all required forms and documents integrated into the proposal before final submission.
• Review proposal content throughout the timeline to verify compliance, responsiveness, and alignment with the defined approach; identify and resolve gaps before final review.
• Prepare submission-ready documents including final Word/PDF formatting and file assembly; submit through applicable platforms — SAM.gov, eBuy, state procurement portals, NASPO ValuePoint, and others — and confirm receipt.
• Manage multiple concurrent proposals at different stages of development without degradation in quality or compliance.
• Participate in post-submission debriefs; capture and apply lessons learned to future pursuits.

Strategy, Solutioning, and Pricing

• Provide go/no-bid analysis as requested, including an assessment of win probability, resource requirements, and strategic fit.
• Manage multi-volume federal and commercial submissions — technical, management, past performance, and price/cost volumes — ensuring each volume is complete, compliant, and internally consistent.
• Define the proposal approach and win themes for each pursuit by applying knowledge of federal evaluation standards, procurement expectations, and prior proposal outcomes to available content, past performance, and Piedmont Global's service capabilities.
• Develop solutions for complex federal staff augmentation requirements, including staffing plans, labor category definitions, and qualification narratives.
• Translate the proposal strategy into clear section-level direction and content guidance for proposal writers.
• Recommend pricing approach based on the client, competitive landscape, and prior award data; work with margin calculators and pricing tools to develop and validate rates and structures in coordination with operations, finance, and business development.
• Coordinate with teaming partners on joint submissions, including managing partner contributions, reviewing partner content for compliance, and aligning on pricing and staffing.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Communications, English, or a related field.
• 7–10 years of proposal management experience with demonstrated, end-to-end ownership of full proposal cycles across multiple verticals and service lines.
• Direct experience managing federal proposals, including FAR-based solicitations, multi-volume submissions, evaluation criteria, and federal submission platforms.
• Experience with SLED procurement, including state and local government, K–12, and higher education solicitations.
• Proven ability to define proposal approach and win themes by applying federal evaluation knowledge to existing content and capabilities, without requiring subject matter expertise in the client’s industry.
• Working knowledge of proposal pricing structures, margin considerations, and competitive positioning.Experience coordinating teaming partners and managing their contributions through submission.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including advanced Word formatting for proposal production.