Proposal Manager

SAIC; Reston (VA); Hybrid; USD 120,001 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

SAIC in Reston, VA seeks an experienced Proposal Manager to lead federal government proposals within our Agile Response Team. The role entails coordinating BD, capture and operations to deliver winning, compliant proposals on time.

The ideal candidate has 10+ years in federal proposals, strong writing/editing skills, and proven leadership across multi-disciplinary teams; occasional travel may be required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree with demonstrated writing capabilities.
• 10+ years managing and writing winning Federal government proposals.
• Experience with IDIQ, GWAC, schedule and other Federal vehicles.
• Strong writing, editing, analytical, critical thinking, and attention to detail.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Ability to lead proposal lifecycle with minimal direction.
• Knowledge of the proposal development life cycle and Shipley practices.
• Competency in the use of proposal collaboration tools.
• Experience with Federal Government procurement in health/civilian agencies and/or information technology.

Responsibilities

• Manage proposals across all development stages, including planning, kickoff, color reviews, and production.
• Develop artifacts: kickoff materials, content plans, outlines, schedules, templates.
• Ensure compliance with solicitation requirements and alignment with themes.
• Collaborate with BD, capture, and operations to secure resources for timely submittals.
• Refine proposal sections with SMEs, solution architects, and writers for accuracy and consistency.
• Clarify and enforce proposal team roles and responsibilities.
• Assist in developing templates and standardized processes to streamline production.
• Provide updates via stand-up meetings and coordinate color reviews.

Skills

Writing skills

Analytical thinking

Communication

Attention to detail

Interpersonal skills

Independence

Proposal lifecycle knowledge

Collaboration tools

Federal proposals

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Master's Degree

PhD or JD

Tools

Shipley method

Job description

Job Information

Job ID: 2614993

Location: Reston, VA, US

Date Posted: 2026-07-27

Category: Business Development

Subcategory: Proposal

Schedule: Full-Time

Shift: Day Job

Travel: No

Minimum Clearance Required: None

Clearance Level Must Be Able to Obtain: None

Potential for Remote Work: ORA_HYBRID

Description

SAIC is seeking an experienced Proposal Manager to join our dynamic Agile Response Team efforts supporting the Civilian Business Group. Candidate may work remote as long as they have the ability to travel and/or work in the office as solutioning and proposal needs dictate. Responsible for managing proposal efforts, as well as working closely with business development, capture and operational personnel to develop and deliver winning, high-quality Federal Government proposals. Occasional travel may be possible.

• Manage proposals, including all aspects of proposal development such as pre-proposal planning activities, kick-off meeting, capture plan and value proposition conveyance, theme development, schedule management and adherence, action/issue tracking, proposal structure development, compliance oversight, content plans, writing instructions and team guidance, color review team coordination, and production oversight.
• Develop/maintain proposal management-related artifacts for each opportunity to include kickoff materials, content plans, master outline and compliance matrix, schedule, writing instructions and templates, daily stand-up agenda and notes, proposal team contact list, action items, and color team review briefings.
• Review/analyze proposal sections for consistency and clarity, compliance with solicitation requirements, and alignment with proposed solutions and themes and write, re-write, and/or edit proposal sections as necessary to deliver high-quality, winning proposal product.
• Collaborate with business development, capture staff, and operational leadership to obtain adequate resources for accomplishing a high-quality proposal submittal in a timely manner.
• Collaborate with the capture manager, subject matter experts, solution architects, and proposal writers to refine proposal sections to ensure accuracy, compliance, consistency, and reflection of win strategies.
• Clarify, communicate, and enforce roles and responsibilities of the proposal team members.
• Assist in the development and refinement of templates and standardized processes to streamline proposal development.
• Provide frequent updates regarding proposal progress to team via periodic stand-up meetings that discuss volume/section status, schedule, and action items.
• Prepare for and conduct color reviews of written proposal volumes to include in-briefing and de-briefing reviewers, consolidating and resolving minor comments, and working with the capture manager and solution architect to resolve major comments.
• Work with the contracts and pricing leads to remain current on all solicitation modifications and pricing milestones, communicate changes and updates to the team, and revise the schedule, outline, and compliance matrix as necessary throughout proposal life cycle.
• Ensure proposal compliance, checking submittal for compliance regularly throughout the proposal cycle.
• Perform white glove review, desktop publishing, and other proposal production activities on final proposal documents to include Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.
• Work in an agile environment, promoting flexibility and adaptability to customer timelines while leading and/or contributing to the development and documentation of proposal processes, plans, and templates to standardize and streamline the team's approach to developing proposal responses.

Qualifications

Required Education and Experience

• Bachelors and ten (10) years or more of related experience; Masters and eight (8) years or more experience; PhD or JD and five (5) years or more experience.
• Bachelor's Degree (with demonstrated writing capabilities).
• 7+ years of demonstrated experience managing and writing winning competitive Federal Government proposals in a defined proposal role or Master's Degree and 4 years of demonstrated experience.
• Knowledge of the proposal development life cycle and understanding of Shipley and other industry-wide proposal development processes and best practices.
• Demonstrated ability to efficiently manage multiple, concurrent proposal responses with competing timelines, rotating proposal development contributors, and changing priorities to produce accurate, high-quality content.
• Dynamic interpersonal skills to interact with the variety of proposal contributors, reviewers, and approvers, including executives, all levels of management, subject matter experts, operations team members, writers, graphic artists, and subcontractors/external partners.
• Ability to take initiative and act independently while leading and executing all phases of the proposal lifecycle without explicit direction or detailed task descriptions from leadership.
• Ability to internalize constructive feedback received, extrapolate, and apply it to similar scenarios in the future to continuously improve ability to act independently and make appropriate judgment calls without specific direction from leadership.
• Excellent writing and editing, analytical and critical thinking, and communication skills with superior attention to detail.
• Experience developing IDIQ, GWAC, schedule, and other Federal vehicle acquisition proposals, as well as responding to the subsequent quick-turn task orders issued on these vehicles.
• Understanding of the FAR, especially best-value evaluations.
• Experience with Federal Government procurement in health/civilian agencies and/or information technology field.
• Competency in the use of proposal collaboration tools and best practices.

Target salary range $120,001 - $160,000. The estimate displayed represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience and other factors.