Proposal & Commercial Operations Manager

Globe Composite Solutions; Stoughton (MA); On-site; USD 115,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Globe Composite Solutions, based in Stoughton, MA, seeks an experienced Proposal & Commercial Operations Manager to lead a cross-functional team across Sales, Engineering, Operations, and Customer Service. You will own the proposal process from opportunities through submission and drive pricing coordination, templates, and compliant commercial documentation.

You will oversee order flow, transition awarded contracts to production planning, and ensure accurate customer communications.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required in Business, Engineering, or related field.
• 8+ years of experience in proposals, sales operations, commercial operations, or program support within defense, aerospace, or maritime industries.
• Experience managing complex RFQs/RFPs and technical proposals.
• Familiarity with government and defense contracting environments is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end development of customer proposals and RFP responses.
• Coordinate cross-functional inputs from Sales, Engineering, Quality, and Operations.
• Manage proposal schedules to ensure timely submissions.
• Ensure compliance with customer specifications and contractual requirements.
• Develop and maintain standardized proposal templates, compliance matrices, and response libraries.
• Manage internal quotation process for customer RFQs.
• Coordinate with Engineering and Operations to develop accurate cost estimates and pricing strategies.
• Ensure alignment within quotations and pricing tools.
• Oversee day-to-day commercial support activities including quotation management and order intake processes.
• Support transition of awarded contracts into order management and production planning.
• Maintain consistency in commercial documentation and customer communication.
• Supervise customer service and order entry personnel; ensure accurate entry and processing of POs; maintain backlog visibility.
• Serve as primary commercial interface between Sales, Engineering, and Operations.
• Support Sales and Business Development in preparing technical and commercial responses to inquiries.
• Improve efficiency and consistency of proposal and quoting processes.
• Implement tools/workflows for visibility into pipelines and status.
• Develop metrics and reporting for proposal activity, win rates, and turnaround times.
• Manage and develop proposal development processes.

Skills

Project management

Communication

Pricing coordination

Cross-functional leadership

Analytical thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business or Engineering

Tools

ERP systems

CRM software

Proposal management tools

Job description

Role Overview

The Proposal & Commercial Operations Manager is responsible for leading the company’s proposal development, quotation process, and commercial execution infrastructure supporting the defense and maritime markets. This role serves as the central coordination point between Sales, Engineering, Operations, and Customer Service to ensure timely, accurate, and competitive responses to customer inquiries, RFQs, and RFPs.

The Proposal & Commercial Operations Manager is responsible for leading the company’s proposal development, quotation process, and commercial execution infrastructure supporting the defense and maritime markets. This role serves as the central coordination point between Sales, Engineering, Operations, and Customer Service to ensure timely, accurate, and competitive responses to customer inquiries, RFQs, and RFPs. The position will manage the company’s proposal process from opportunity identification through submission, while also overseeing core commercial operations including pricing coordination, quotation management, and order flow support. This role plays a critical part in enabling growth across the company’s elastomer, composite, and syntactic foam product lines supporting naval and maritime applications.

Key Responsibilities

Proposal & RFP Management

• Lead the end-to-end development of customer proposals and RFP responses.
• Coordinate cross-functional inputs from Sales, Engineering, Quality, and Operations.
• Manage proposal schedules to ensure timely submissions.
• Ensure compliance with customer specifications and contractual requirements.
• Develop and maintain standardized proposal templates, compliance matrices, and response libraries.

Quotation & Pricing Coordination

• Manage the internal quotation process for customer RFQs.
• Coordinate with Engineering and Operations to develop accurate cost estimates and pricing strategies.
• Ensure technical and commercial alignment within quotations.
• Maintain pricing tools, quote tracking, and proposal documentation.

Commercial Operations Leadership

• Oversee day-to-day commercial support activities including quotation management and order intake processes.
• Support the transition of awarded contracts into order management and production planning.
• Ensure consistency and discipline in commercial documentation and customer communication.

Customer Service & Order Management Oversight

• Supervise customer service and order entry personnel supporting the business.
• Ensure accurate entry and processing of customer purchase orders.
• Maintain visibility into backlog and order status.
• Support communication with customers regarding order execution and delivery timelines.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Serve as the primary commercial interface between Sales, Engineering, and Operations.
• Support Sales and Business Development in preparing technical and commercial responses to customer inquiries.
• Work closely with program and project management to ensure alignment between proposals and execution.

Process Improvement

• Improve efficiency and consistency of proposal and quoting processes.
• Implement tools and workflows that enhance visibility into opportunity pipelines and proposal status.
• Develop metrics and reporting for proposal activity, win rates, and quote turnaround times.

Leadership Responsibilities

• Manage customer service and commercial support personnel.
• Establish clear processes for proposal development and commercial operations.

Provide guidance to sales and engineering teams on proposal structure and requirements

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, or related field required.

Qualifications

Experience

• 8+ years of experience in proposals, sales operations, commercial operations, or program support within manufacturing, defense, aerospace, or maritime industries.
• Experience managing complex RFQs/RFPs and technical proposals.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional teams in a technical manufacturing environment.
• Familiarity with government and defense contracting environments is strongly preferred.

Skills

• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Ability to manage multiple proposals and priorities simultaneously.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong analytical and pricing coordination capabilities.
• Proficiency with ERP, CRM, and proposal management tools.

Key Attributes

• Highly organized and detail-oriented.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, technical environment.
• Able to drive cross-functional collaboration across engineering, operations, and sales teams.

Strong sense of accountability and ownership for proposal outcomes.

Base Salary Range:

$115,000- $120,000

Work Authorization/ Security Clearance

• Due to the nature of the work we perform, U.S. Citizenship is required.
• U.S. Government Security Clearance at the appropriate level.

About Globe

Globe Composite Solutions designs, engineers and manufactures high performance composites for Defense, Marine, and Industrial applications.

Originally founded in 1890 as a rubber company in downtown Boston, Globe has evolved into a full-service, design-to-manufacturing company with a passion to meet demanding performance requirements for a wide variety of applications. The company possesses a broad set of design, prototyping, and manufacturing capabilities to address just about any product challenge. As a result, the company has built a solid reputation among its Fortune 1000 customer base as an innovative and reliable provider of cost-effective composite-based solutions.

Globe Composite Solutions is truly an "American-made" company, with virtually all design, tooling, prototyping, and production services supported in-house at our state-of-the art Design & Technology Center located in Stoughton, MA. Globe Composite is part of the Aerospace & Defense Group of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ESE).