Proposal Lead

Poseidon Aerospace; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Relocation bonus

Health insurance

401(k) matching

Unlimited PTO

Free lunches

Job summary

Poseidon Aerospace is seeking a Proposal Lead in Washington, DC to own proposal responses and build proposal infrastructure from scratch. The ideal candidate has experience leading proposal submissions and strong technical writing skills. You'll translate complex engineering into clear narratives and collaborate directly with engineering and flight operations teams. The role offers a competitive salary, equity, and benefits like health insurance and unlimited PTO.

Qualifications

• Experience leading proposal submissions across multiple government contracting efforts.
• Strong technical writing skills to translate complex engineering into clear narrative.
• Working knowledge of FAR/DFARS and proposal compliance requirements.
• Technical literacy in aerospace, autonomy, or aviation.

Responsibilities

• Craft proposals that drive Poseon's growth.
• Own proposal responses end-to-end as primary author.
• Build proposal infrastructure from scratch.

Skills

Technical writing

Proposal management

Government contracting knowledge

Technical literacy in aerospace

Job description

About Poseidon Aerospace: Poseidon Aerospace builds and operates unmanned planes for commercial logistics and defense missions. Our two full-size fixed-wing platforms - Heron, a seaplane, and Egret, a STOL aircraft - can carry two tons of payload over a thousand nautical miles. We are headquartered in San Francisco with satellite offices in Washington, DC and Maine.

Who we are

Poseidon Aerospace is a venture-backed company building unmanned cargo aircraft for commercial and military logistics. Our platforms—Heron, an unmanned seaplane, and Egret, an unmanned STOL aircraft—are both targeting flight test in summer 2026.

About the role

Proposals are how Poseidon wins contracts, and contracts are how Poseidon builds aircraft. We're looking for a Proposal Lead to own that function from first response to submission and build the infrastructure that scales with us. You'll work directly with our engineering and flight operations teams and be the person who turns what we're building into narrative that wins.

What you’ll do:

• This is a writing role first. You will spend the majority of your time crafting the proposals that drive Poseidon’s growth
• Own proposal responses end-to-end as primary author, project manager, and final set of eyes before submission
• Produce white papers, quad charts, and concept briefs that reach customers before a solicitation drops and shape how they think about the problem Poseidon solves
• Run color team reviews, manage schedules, and deliver compliant packages on time with a small team and no inherited process
• Build the proposal infrastructure from scratch: content libraries, writing schedules, reusable prose, and documentation standards, with no bureaucracy slowing you down
• Establish how Poseidon tells its story to Government customers and refine that story with every submission
• Work directly with our engineering team and flight operations team to pull technical content and translate it for Government audiences

Required

• Experience personally leading proposal submissions across multiple government contracting efforts, from RFP release through delivery
• Strong technical writing skills: you can translate complex engineering into clear, specific narrative without genericizing it
• Working knowledge of FAR/DFARS and proposal compliance requirements
• Experience developing compliance matrices, managing submission schedules, and owning document configuration
• Technical literacy in aerospace, autonomy, aviation, or adjacent engineering domains. You don’t need to be a SME, but you should know what you need to ask them to write a good proposal
• US citizenship and eligibility for TS/SCI

Ideally you have

• Experience with non-standard contracting vehicles such as OTA, SBIR, fixed-price, or anything outside routine cost-plus fixed fee
• 3–8 years in contracting or proposals, ideally at a fast-moving defense company or government contractor
• Written proposals where the contracting structure itself was part of the problem to solve, not just the narrative
• Worked in or alongside a fast-moving team under unusual time pressure
• Built proposal infrastructure from scratch rather than inheriting a mature process
• Active TS/SCI clearance

What we offer

• Competitive salary and meaningful early-stage equity
• Relocation bonus if applicable
• Health insurance and 401(k) matching
• Unlimited PTO
• Free lunches, snacks, and a stocked fridge at our San Francisco HQ and DC office
• Covered access to AI tools and subscriptions