Proposal Manager

Kearfott Corporation; Black Mountain (KY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401K plan

Tuition reimbursement

9/80 schedule

Job summary

Kearfott Corporation in Black Mountain, NC seeks a Proposal Manager to lead the development of customer proposals across GND and MSD divisions. You will collaborate with BD, capture leads, and subject-matter experts to turn requirements and strategies into persuasive submissions.

You will manage timelines, coordinate pricing and contracts, and ensure compliance and quality through the full proposal lifecycle, leveraging AI tools to improve efficiency while protecting information.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; MBA preferred.
• 3–5 years in proposal development or related customer-response work.
• Aerospace/defense or technical manufacturing experience preferred.
• Experience with proposal AI tools is preferred; Awarded.ai experience not required.
• U.S. citizen and able to obtain government security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead RFIs, RFQs, RFPs from kickoff through submission and follow-up.
• Develop compliance matrices, outlines, schedules; identify gaps and risks early.
• Collaborate with BD and capture leads to align win themes and proof points.
• Coordinate inputs from engineering, product, manufacturing, and other SMEs.
• Write, edit, and weave content into a cohesive, customer-focused story.
• Coordinate pricing and contractual inputs; ensure alignment with the solution.
• Prepare teams for reviews and ensure final compliance and timely delivery.
• Leverage AI tools for analysis, content retrieval, drafting, and quality checks.
• Capture feedback and lessons learned to improve future proposals.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Excellent writing & editing

Attention to detail

Ability to work under pressure

Advanced MS Office & Excel

AI tools familiarity

Education

Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, or communications

MBA or advanced degree preferred

Tools

Awarded.ai

Job description

Founded in 1918, Kearfott Corporation, a global Aerospace and Defense supplier for over 100 years, is a leader in the design and manufacture of precision motion control products and inertial navigation components.

Kearfott has a very long history of innovation and excellence and is the go-to brand for many of our global clients. Kearfott is trusted, respected and plays a vital role in the success of America's aerospace and defense industries. With over a century of expertise & experience, Kearfott is dedicated to providing quality, reliability, and cutting-edge technology to customers worldwide to meet their sea, land, air, and space navigation and guidance requirements.

Kearfott offers a comprehensive benefits package including a 401K, and Tuition Reimbursement. We offer a 9/80 schedule with every other Friday off.

We are looking for talented individuals who want to be part of a world-class work force. Join Kearfott and become part of a company that is recognized for technical expertise and respected world-wide as a 'full service' provider.

For more information, visit our website at www.kearfott.com

Position Description:

The Proposal Manager leads the development of assigned customer proposals and quotation responses across Kearfott's Guidance & Navigation (GND) and Motion Systems (MSD) divisions. Working with Business Development (BD), capture leads, and contributors across the company, this person turns customer requirements, pursuit strategy, win themes, and technical and commercial inputs into clear, compliant, persuasive submissions that strengthen Kearfott's probability of win.

The Proposal Manager reports to the Proposal Management Lead, who owns the organization-wide proposal process and review cadence. BD and capture leads own pursuit strategy and bid/no-bid decisions; the Proposal Manager owns the quality and execution of the assigned response. The role will actively use Awarded.ai and other company-approved AI capabilities to improve proposal work while verifying outputs and following company information-handling requirements.

Essential Functions:

• Lead assigned RFIs, RFQs, RFPs, and other customer responses from kickoff through submission and post-submission follow-up, managing multiple efforts and deadlines at once.
• Analyze customer requirements, instructions, and evaluation criteria; develop or maintain compliance matrices, annotated outlines, response plans, and schedules; identify gaps, risks, and clarification needs early.
• Partner with BD and capture leads to understand customer priorities, competitive context, win themes, discriminators, and proof points, and carry them consistently through the response.
• Obtain and integrate accurate, persuasive inputs from engineering, product management, manufacturing, operations, quality, finance, contracts, program management, and other subject-matter experts. Follow up on missing or unclear inputs and elevate risks promptly.
• Write, edit, and integrate proposal content into a cohesive customer-focused story. Ensure technical, management, past-performance, schedule, quality, and commercial content is clear, consistent, supported, and aligned with the response strategy.
• Coordinate pricing and contractual inputs with the responsible teams; maintain alignment between the proposed solution, technical volumes, schedule, assumptions, and commercial response.
• Prepare teams for reviews led through the established proposal process, incorporate review feedback, and complete compliance, accuracy, document-quality, and submission checks before delivery.
• Use Awarded.ai and other approved AI tools to support solicitation analysis, compliance mapping, approved-content retrieval, drafting, editing, and quality checks where appropriate. Validate AI-assisted work and protect company and customer information.
• Capture customer feedback, debrief findings, lessons learned, and reusable content to improve future proposals and support continuous improvement in proposal quality and probability of win.

Critical Competencies:

• Strong, proven ability to manage cross-functional teams to execute on time
• Excellent writing, editing, organization, and communication skills, including the ability to make complex technical information clear and relevant to a customer.
• Meticulous attention to detail with strong organization skills
• Proven ability to work across functions, earn timely input from busy contributors, manage competing deadlines, and maintain quality under pressure.
• Able to perform under pressure within tight deadlines
• Proficient in Excel, MS Office and AI Software
• Familiarity with CRM and databases

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in business, communications, engineering, or a related field required; MBA or other advanced degree preferred.
• 3-5 years of experience in proposal development, proposal management, technical writing, or closely related customer-response work, with demonstrated responsibility for developing complex submissions.
• Aerospace, defense, motion control, navigation, or other technical manufacturing experience preferred.
• Experience with proposal or generative AI tools is preferred; prior Awarded.ai experience is not required.
• Must be a US citizen and able to obtain government security clearance.

This position is located at our Black Mountain, NC facility.

Equal Opportunity Employer/including Disabled/Veterans