Principal, Pursuit Operations

HDR; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 154,056 - 220,080; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee ownership

Tuition reimbursement

Retirement plan with employer match

Job summary

HDR in Arlington, VA seeks a Principal, Pursuit Operations to lead a multidisciplinary team and optimize pursuit delivery across sectors. You will build capacity, enforce standards, and drive high-quality proposals, ensuring Go/No-Go decisions are timely and budgets are managed.

The role demands 15+ years experience in A/E/C and proven win strategies, travel up to 20%, and strong communication skills, with responsibility for training, mentoring, and cross-functional collaboration.

Qualifications

• 15+ years relevant industry experience.
• Self-starter with history of completing projects with limited oversight.
• Deep knowledge of A/E/C procurement of professional services.
• Ability to motivate and inspire others.
• Professional or engineering registration or related technical experience.
• Experience in sales and developing effective win strategies.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead, manage, and mentor a multidisciplinary team of pursuit managers, specialists, and designers across sectors.
• Supervise direct reports and oversee team performance, workload balancing, and professional development.
• Recruit, hire, onboard, and train new team members to strengthen capacity and capability.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive team culture that supports innovation, engagement, and growth.
• Establish, manage, and improve pursuit processes, tools, and standards for consistency and efficiency.
• Oversee pursuit resourcing, workload management, and capacity planning across sectors.
• Support go/no-go (GNG) processes and approvals, ensuring timely execution.
• Monitor and manage pursuit budgets and level of effort.
• Lead or support pursuit execution with strong messaging, content, and graphics.

Skills

Leadership

Team building

Strategy

Negotiation

Sales experience

Communication

Travel 20%

Tools

MS Office

Job description

Principal, Pursuit Operations

The Principal, Pursuit Operations leads the execution engine of AMS, driving consistent, high-quality pursuit delivery through strong team leadership, standardized processes, and operational rigor. This role is accountable for building and developing a high-performing team, optimizing workflows, and delivering pursuit excellence across all sectors. Success in this role requires a proven track record of leading high-performing teams, executing complex pursuits as a pursuit specialist, contributing to broader team success, and advancing efficiency in pursuit execution and workload management.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Management

• Lead, manage, and mentor a multidisciplinary team of pursuit managers, specialists, and designers across sectors.
• Supervise direct reports and oversee broader team performance, workload balancing, and professional development.
• Recruit, hire, onboard, and train new team members to strengthen capacity and capability.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive team culture that supports innovation, engagement, and growth.

Operational Excellence

• Establish, manage, and continuously improve pursuit processes, tools, and standards to ensure consistency and efficiency.
• Maintain and evolve the AMS Pursuit Manual, templates, and portal resources.
• Oversee pursuit resourcing, workload management, and capacity planning across all sectors.
• Support go/no-go (GNG) processes and approvals, ensuring timely and consistent execution.
• Monitor and manage pursuit budgets and level of effort.
• Facilitate debriefs to identify improvement opportunities and to measure overall competitiveness.

Pursuit Delivery

• Lead or support pursuit execution, ensuring excellence in messaging, content, and graphic presentation.
• Enforce brand standards and quality expectations across all deliverables.
• Guide teams on best practices, production workflows, and submission readiness.
• Ensure proper utilization of marketing content, tools, and communications resources.

Training & Enablement

• Develop and deliver training programs (e.g., webinars, onboarding, “Basics”) to strengthen team capabilities.
• Provide timely feedback to staff and partners.
• Promote knowledge sharing and continuous improvement across AMS.
• Serve as a resource for marketing and pursuit-related inquiries firmwide.

Operational Leadership & Collaboration

• Partner with leadership on department reporting, budgeting, staffing strategies, and operational initiatives.
• Support cross-functional collaboration with communications, graphic designers, and sector teams.
• Represent AMS in internal initiatives, technology adoption, and operational improvements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience in winning high-value contracts in the A/E/C industry.
• Ability to travel up to 20%.
• Work on pursuit deadlines for any sector up to 15%.
• Cover letter and focused resume to job description.

Required Qualifications

• A minimum of 15 years relevant industry experience.
• Demonstrated "self-starter" with a history of completing projects with limited oversight.
• Deep knowledge of the A/E/C industry's standard approach to procurement of professional services.
• Demonstrated ability to motivate and inspire others.
• Maintain a professional or engineering registration or certificate or have related technical experience.
• Experience in sales and developing effective win strategies.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Ability and desire to travel and engage with others in-person.
• Demonstrated experience in writing compelling content based on information from technical staff.
• Strong financial acumen and negotiation skills.

Locations

• United States-Nebraska-Omaha
• United States-California-Los Angeles
• United States-Virginia-Arlington
• United States-New Jersey-Pennington

Benefits and Compensation

We provide a comprehensive benefits package that promotes employee ownership, health, performance, and success, which includes medical, dental, vision, short- and long-term disability, life insurance, an employee assistance program, paid time away, parental leave, paid holidays, a retirement savings plan with employer match, employee referral bonus, and tuition reimbursement. Compensation ranges vary by location: Los Angeles, CA and Pennington, NJ: $147,637.00 – $210,910.00; Arlington, VA: $154,056.00 – $220,080.00. (Stated benefits are for full‑time regular positions. Temporary and part‑time roles are eligible for limited benefits.)

Employment Equity Statement

At HDR, we are committed to the principles of employment equity. We are an affirmatively action and equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants, regardless of criminal histories, arrest, and conviction records.