Federal Proposals Lead — IT Capture & Compliance

essentialsoftwareinc; Rockville (MD); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 145,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health care

401(k)

Professional development

Job summary

Essential Software Inc. is seeking a Proposal Manager for Federal IT capture and proposals.

The role oversees end-to-end proposal development, ensuring compliance with FAR Section L/M, and guiding teams through structured color-team reviews to deliver winning submissions. The candidate will coordinate with capture leads, executives, and teaming partners, shaping Technical and Past Performance narratives and maintaining a library of reusable content for cloud, AI/ML, and FedRAMP experiences.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required in English, Communications, Business, or a technical field.
• 5+ years of federal proposals management experience with IT or professional services submissions.
• Experience building compliance matrices to FAR Section L/M and leading color-team review processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end management of federal IT proposals (OASIS+, IDIQ, GSA MAS, etc.).
• Develop and maintain compliance matrices to Section L and Section M factors.
• Create annotated outlines and manage Pink/Red/Gold team reviews.
• Coordinate proposal contributions from technical staff, capture, and teaming partners.
• Write and refine Technical, Management, and Past Performance narratives.
• Build reusable technical narratives around cloud, AI/ML, FedRAMP, and Agile Delivery.
• Support bid/no-bid decisions with risk, effort, and competitive analysis.

Skills

Federal proposals management

Proposal writing and editing

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Clear communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in English / Communications / Business / Technical field

Tools

Deltek GovWin IQ

Microsoft Office

Job description

Essential Software Inc. is seeking a Proposal Manager for Federal IT capture and proposals.

The role oversees end-to-end proposal development, ensuring compliance with FAR Section L/M, and guiding teams through structured color-team reviews to deliver winning submissions. The candidate will coordinate with capture leads, executives, and teaming partners, shaping Technical and Past Performance narratives and maintaining a library of reusable content for cloud, AI/ML, and FedRAMP experiences.