Proposal Manager

Cagents; United States; On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

CAI is seeking a Proposal Manager in the United States to oversee the end-to-end proposal lifecycle. You will coordinate with practice leaders, business development, and operations to craft high-quality responses and ensure timely bid submissions.

The role requires strategic thinking, flexibility, and the ability to shift priorities while maintaining attention to detail and delivering superior proposals under tight deadlines.

Qualifications

• BA or BS in English, liberal arts, business, engineering, marketing, or equivalent experience required.
• Minimum 5 years of experience developing and producing proposals with a preference in the pharmaceutical industry preferred.
• Strong interpersonal skills and experience collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams.
• Ability to work flexible schedules and shift priorities while maintaining attention to detail and meeting deadlines.
• Ability to understand and organize large volumes of information.
• Effective proposal coordination skills, including planning, organization, communication, and resource management.
• Exceptional English written and verbal communication skills and professional demeanor.
• Must have strong Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint skills; CRM experience desired.
• Ability to work within Adobe and Microsoft program templates and comply with corporate standards.
• Team player willing to step in and assist team for a range of tasks.
• Initiates and maintains communications with supervisors and team members.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Practice Leaders, business development and operations to achieve proposal goals.
• Collect and manage the development of proposal responses, collaboratively with regional teams.
• Review and measure the quality of proposals written by others.
• Assist with continuous process improvements, including after-action reviews and lessons learned.
• Handle a variety of response types including detailed RFPs, RFIs, Cost Opinions, and SOQs.
• Lead the overall proposal development from creation to bid submission.
• Collect, analyze, and communicate metrics and KPIs for proposals and the Proposal Support Team.
• Potentially lead part of the Proposal team.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Time management

Attention to detail

Planning

Organization

Resource management

Clear communication

Education

BA/BS in English, liberal arts, business, engineering, marketing, or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft PowerPoint

CRM database

Adobe templates

Job description

Are You Ready?

CAI is a professional services company established in 1996 that has grown year over year to nearly 800 people worldwide. For mission-critical and regulated industries that need to deliver critical solutions in high-stakes environments, we provide accelerated operational readiness and unparalleled performance at the highest standard through our rigorous approach, field-tested processes, and elite expertise developed over 30 years.

Our approach is simple because our Purpose informs everything we do:

We exist to be the trusted solution for our clients as they strive to build a better working world and improve the human experience.

Our Foundational Principles:

• - We act with integrity
• - We serve each other
• - We serve society
• - We work for our future

At CAI, we believe in a relentless dedication to excellence, pushing boundaries and surpassing expectations. From the beginning, we’ve challenged ourselves to do what others wouldn’t. Not just setting industry standards, but redefining them entirely. We are bold in our thinking and creative in our approach. We operate at the intersection of wisdom and technology and thrive when they come together with humanity.

For us, operational readiness isn’t simply a goal—it’s a way of life. Tomorrow demands to be at the forefront of today. We get there through tireless effort, precision, efficiency, and an unwavering belief that there is always room for advancement. We’re not interested in how it used to be done. We’re obsessed with how it will be done.

The Proposal Manager assists with the management of all aspects of proposal development and bid submissions, and the dedicated team that supports our field operations and business development personnel in the generation of proposals.

This is a dynamic position that requires strategic thinking, flexibility, planned and proactive approaches, and the ability to shift priorities frequently while maintaining attention to detail and achieving high quality standards. The Proposal Specialist must be able to prioritize, multi-task, and manage time effectively under multiple deadlines and time constraints under the direction of the Director, Proposal Support.

Key Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with each of our Practice Leaders, business development and operations team members, as well as others to achieve the following:

• Collect and manage the development of proposal responses both collaboratively with regional

• Review and measure the quality of proposals written by others.

• Assist with continuous process improvement duties, including participating in the proposal after-action-review meetings, proposal process scoring, identification of lessons learned and improvements.

• Responsible for a variety of response types including detailed RFP responses in proposal form, Requests for Information, Cost Opinions, and Statements of Qualification.

• Lead the overall the proposal development from creation to bid submission.

• collect, analyze, andcommunicate metrics and Key Performance Indicators for proposals and for the performance of theProposal Support Team.

• Potentially lead part of the Proposal team.

Qualifications:

• BA or BS in English, liberal arts, business, engineering, marketing, or equivalent experience required.

• Minimum 5 years of experience developing and producing proposals with a preference in the pharmaceutical industry preferred.

• Strong interpersonal skills and experience collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams.

• Ability to work flexible schedules (e.g., extra hours to meet deadlines, etc.) and able to shift priorities frequently while maintaining attention to detail, meet deadlines, and achieve high quality standards.

• Ability to understand and organize large volumes of information

• Effective proposal coordination skills, including planning, organization, communication, and resource management skills.

• Exceptional English written and verbal communication skills and professional demeanor – speaks clearly and concisely, listens and asks for clarification.

• Must have strong Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint skills. Customer relationship management database experience is also desired.

• Ability to work within Adobe and Microsoft program templates and comply with our corporate standards to present a consistent appearance/style.

• Team player willing to step in an assist team for a range of tasks

• Initiates and maintains communications with supervisors and team members