Proposal Lead

Poseidonaero; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Equity (early-stage)

Relocation assistance

Health benefits

6% retirement matching

Flexible PTO

On-site offices

AI tools access

Job summary

Poseidon Aerospace in Washington, DC is seeking a Proposal Lead to own the government proposal process from RFP release through submission, translating advanced aerospace capabilities into persuasive narratives.

You will write, manage schedules, and build a scalable prose library while coordinating with engineering and flight operations to produce compliant, winning packages under tight timelines.

Qualifications

• Experience leading government proposal submissions from RFP release through delivery.
• Ability translate complex engineering into clear, specific narratives.
• Working knowledge of FAR/DFARS and proposal compliance requirements.
• Experience developing compliance matrices and managing submission schedules.
• Technical literacy in aerospace or adjacent engineering domains.
• US citizenship and eligibility for TS/SCI.

Responsibilities

• Lead proposals end-to-end as primary author and project manager.
• Craft white papers, quad charts, and concept briefs for customers.
• Coordinate color team reviews and ensure on-time compliant packages.
• Build and maintain proposal infrastructure: content libraries and schedules.
• Collaborate with engineering and flight operations to pull technical content.

Skills

Proposal leadership

Technical writing

FAR/DFARS knowledge

Compliance management

Aerospace domain knowledge

TS/SCI eligibility

Job description

About Poseidon Aerospace:

Poseidon Aerospace is reimagining how the world moves goods. We build and operate full-size autonomous cargo aircraft; Heron, a seaplane, and Egret, a STOL aircraft; each capable of carrying two tons of payload over a thousand nautical miles. From remote communities to contested logistics operations, our platforms unlock a new cost curve for air freight, making it faster, cheaper, and accessible anywhere it's needed. Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area with locations in Washington DC, Oregon, and Maine; we're building something consequential.

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 you get from us

• Competitive salary and meaningful early-stage equity

• Relocation support if applicable

• Employee Health Benefit Plans

• 6% Retirement matching

• Flexible PTO

• Free lunches, snacks, and a stocked fridge at our offices

• AI tools and subscriptions