Proposal Manager

Cherry Bekaert Recruiting & Staffing Services; Orlando (FL); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Cherry Bekaert Recruiting & Staffing Services is seeking an experienced Proposal Manager to join a rapidly growing government contractor based in Orlando, FL. This hands-on role leads full lifecycle proposal development for government and commercial opportunities, with frequent collaboration across engineering, program, pricing, growth, and leadership teams.

The position offers remote flexibility on the East Coast with travel to Orlando and occasional travel up to 20%.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 4+ years of relevant experience in proposal management or business development.
• Experience managing the full proposal lifecycle in government contracting and/or commercial markets.
• Knowledge of Federal acquisition and pursuit environments, including contract vehicles, task orders, teaming, subcontracting, and solicitation processes.
• Strong proposal writing, editing, organizational, and project management skills.
• Experience developing compliance matrices, proposal outlines, schedules, and structured proposal artifacts.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and SharePoint.

Responsibilities

• Lead full lifecycle proposal development across government and commercial pursuits.
• Develop proposal schedules, outlines, compliance matrices, and review cycles.
• Coordinate inputs across technical, program, pricing, growth, and leadership teams.
• Write, edit, and refine compelling proposal content around win themes and customer priorities.
• Support capture planning, opportunity qualification, competitive analysis, and solution alignment.
• Develop win themes, value propositions, and positioning strategies.
• Produce white papers, RFI responses, capability narratives, executive briefings, and other BD materials.
• Translate complex technical solutions into clear, persuasive customer-facing messaging.
• Support customer engagements, presentations, and submissions.
• Maintain proposal/capture repositories and reusable content.
• Help improve proposal processes, templates, version control, and knowledge management.

Skills

Proposal management

Capture planning

Written communication

Project management

Stakeholder collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Microsoft Office

SharePoint

Job description

Location: Orlando, FL (prefernce) / or Remote Flexibility - East coast with travel to Orlando

Travel: Approximately 10%–20%

The Opportunity

We are partnering with a rapidly growing government contractor seeking an experienced Proposal Manager to join its team. The organization has experienced significant growth, secured several recent contract wins, and supports a strong Department of Defense customer base, including Navy and Air Force programs, while continuing to expand into commercial markets.

This is a highly visible, hands-on role offering direct exposure to senior leadership and the opportunity to help shape and strengthen proposal and capture processes as the company continues to scale.

The Proposal Manager will own full lifecycle proposal development across government and commercial opportunities while partnering closely with engineering, program, pricing, growth, and leadership teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead full lifecycle proposal development across government and commercial pursuits
• Develop proposal schedules, outlines, compliance matrices, and review cycles
• Coordinate inputs across technical, program, pricing, growth, and leadership teams
• Write, edit, and refine compelling proposal content around win themes and customer priorities
• Support capture planning, opportunity qualification, competitive analysis, and solution alignment
• Develop win themes, value propositions, and positioning strategies
• Produce white papers, RFI responses, capability narratives, executive briefings, and other business development materials
• Translate complex technical solutions into clear, persuasive customer-facing messaging
• Support customer engagements, presentations, and submissions
• Maintain proposal/capture repositories and reusable content
• Help improve proposal processes, templates, version control, and knowledge management

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 4+ years of relevant experience in proposal management, capture, business development, or a related discipline, or equivalent experience
• Experience managing the full proposal lifecycle within government contracting and/or commercial markets
• Knowledge of Federal acquisition and pursuit environments, including contract vehicles, task orders, teaming, subcontracting, and solicitation processes
• Strong proposal writing, editing, organizational, and project management skills
• Experience developing compliance matrices, proposal outlines, schedules, and structured proposal artifacts
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and SharePoint
• Ability to understand technical concepts and translate them into compelling customer-focused narratives
• Strong attention to detail and ability to work effectively with minimal supervision

Preferred Experience

• Department of Defense customers and acquisition processes
• Simulation, extended reality (XR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), aerospace, aviation, digital engineering, or training programs
• Rapid prototyping environments, including OTAs
• Supporting both capture and proposal activities within a growing organization
• Developing proposal repositories or business development infrastructure
• Military, aviation, or training-related operational experience

The company is based in Orlando, Florida, and local candidates are preferred. However, remote candidates will be considered with the ability to periodically travel to Orlando and support customer engagements.

This is currently an individual contributor role with meaningful growth potential as the organization continues to expand.

Additional Requirements

Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States and must possess or be able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Secret Clearance. Employment is subject to applicable background and screening requirements.