Proposal Operations Manager (US Central Region)

Parsons; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 112,000 - 196,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

Paid time off

ESOP

401(k)

Life insurance

Flexible work schedules

Holidays

Job summary

Parsons is seeking a Proposal Operations Manager to lead a team delivering compliant, compelling AEC proposals for the Critical Infrastructure business in the U.S. Central region. You will guide talent, coach staff, and partner with capture, BD, and operations to shape strategies and deliver bold deliverables.

You’ll oversee staffing, budgets, and schedules, promote a people-first culture, and drive the Winning Process across major pursuits while mentoring talent and advancing career growth.

Qualifications

• Strong leadership, facilitation, and communication to elevate the team.
• Deep understanding of the AEC industry and complex pursuits.
• Organizational, planning, and time-management skills under pressure.
• Ability to build trusted relationships with capture, ops, and execs.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a proposal operations team delivering compliant, compelling bids.
• Manage resources, schedules, and budgets across pursuits and pipelines.
• Partner with capture, BD, and operations to shape strategies and win plans.
• Guide pursuit excellence and adoption of Parsons processes for better outcomes.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

AEC industry

Pursuits management

Education

Four-year degree

APMP/PMP/Shipley

Job description

In a world of possibilities, pursue one with endless opportunities. Imagine Next!

At Parsons, you can imagine a career where you thrive, work with exceptional people, and be yourself. Guided by our leadership vision of valuing people, embracing agility, and fostering growth, we cultivate an innovative culture that empowers you to achieve your full potential. Unleash your talent and redefine what’s possible.

Job Description:

At Parsons, great work starts with great people. We’re looking for an energetic, collaborative, and people-first Proposal Operations Manager to support our Critical Infrastructure business across the U.S. Central region.

This is a player-coach leadership role for someone who loves developing talent, building strong partnerships, and staying close to the work. You’ll lead, grow, and empower a team of proposal professionals while supporting strategic pursuits and helping teams create bold, compelling deliverables that set Parsons apart. You’ll collaborate with capture managers, business development professionals, operations leaders, technical subject matter experts, and creative teams. By bringing people together, building momentum, and strengthening what works, you’ll help teams envision—and deliver—what’s next.

If you’re energized by collaboration, eager to roll up your sleeves, and motivated to help teams raise the bar, you’ll fit right in.

What You'll Be Doing:

People Leadership

• Lead and inspire a team that creates compliant, responsive, and compelling AEC proposals and related deliverables.

• Set your team up for success with clear direction, thoughtful coaching, the right resources, and plenty of support.

• Build a people-first culture where communication, collaboration, innovation, accountability, and growth are part of the everyday experience.

• Create opportunities for team members to share knowledge, learn from one another, build new skills, and grow their careers.

• Mentor staff at all levels by supporting professional goal-setting and development, conducting performance reviews, and making appropriate recommendations regarding advancement, changes in status, or corrective action.

• Attract top talent to support the growth of the proposal operations team through thoughtful hiring, onboarding, and retention.

• Recognize great work, celebrate the wins, and keep the team connected, engaged, and motivated.

Partnership and Resourcing

• Build strong, trusted relationships with capture, business development, operations, and other internal partners.

• Get to know stakeholders’ priorities and help shape the strategies, solutions, and deliverables that give Parsons a competitive edge.

• Bring your perspective to business development, market, and regional meetings, including pipeline reviews, strategy sessions, and WinStrats.

• Assess pursuit needs, build thoughtful proposal budgets, and connect the right people and resources to the right opportunities.

• Allocate and assign team resources across proposal and business development efforts based on priorities, level of effort, complexity, schedule, and other requirements.

• Evaluate schedules and workloads to balance assignments, support a healthy work-life balance, and maintain accurate proposal assignment and forecasting logs.

• Strengthen collaboration across the business unit and regions and look for ways to share and scale what’s working.

• Bring a can-do mindset to every challenge—find common ground, move good ideas forward, and keep the work moving.

Pursuit Excellence

• Guide high-priority pursuits, from pre-positioning and strategy through proposals, presentations, and final deliverables.

• Champion the implementation of Parsons’ Winning Process and Business Acquisition Process across the business segment to strengthen pursuit strategies and improve win outcomes.

• Bring energy, insight, and fresh ideas to kickoffs, strategy sessions, storyboarding workshops, color reviews, and lessons-learned sessions.

• Serve as a trusted strategic advisor and proposal expert on major pursuits.

• Turn lessons learned into smarter processes, targeted training, repeatable best practices, and stronger future wins.

What Required Skills You'll Bring:

• Strong leadership, facilitation, and communication skills, with the ability to bring out the best in people and keep raising the bar.

• A solid understanding of the AEC industry and experience leading complex, high-visibility pursuits.

• Demonstrated organizational, planning, and time-management skills; you can juggle a lot at once, troubleshoot on the fly, calmly de-escalate tense moments, step in to lead when needed, and make solid decisions under pressure.

• A talent for building trusted relationships with capture leaders, operations, technical teams, and executives while keeping everyone aligned.

What Desired Skills You'll Bring:

• Four-year degree in a relevant field (or equivalent). We value what you know and how you apply it.

• Around 10 years of progressive proposal management experience, including 3–5 years leading people. You’ve grown your career by growing others.

• Professional credentials such as APMP (any level), PMP, or Shipley training/certification is a plus and shows you take your craft seriously and invest in it.

• A driver of change and builder of buy-in; big thinker with an ever-evolving vision for the future; process builder and follower, but knowns when to adapt, improve, and pivot.

Security Clearance Requirement:

None

This position is part of our Corporate team.

For over 80 years, Parsons Corporation, has shaped the future of the defense, intelligence, and critical infrastructure markets. Our employees work in a close-knit team environment to find new, innovative ways to deliver smart solutions that are used and valued by customers around the world. By combining unique technologies with deep domain expertise across cybersecurity, missile defense, space, connected infrastructure, transportation, smart cities, and more, we're providing tomorrow's solutions today.

Salary Range: $112,200.00 - $196,400.00

We value our employees and want our employees to take care of their overall wellbeing, which is why we offer best-in-class benefits.

Benefits

• medical
• dental
• vision
• paid time off
• Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
• 401(k)
• life insurance
• flexible work schedules
• holidays

This position will be posted for a minimum of 3 days and will continue to be posted for an average of 30 days until a qualified applicant is selected or the position has been cancelled.

Parsons is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other protected status.

Parsons is aware of fraudulent recruitment practices. To learn more about recruitment fraud and how to report it, please refer to https://www.parsons.com/fraudulent-recruitment/.

About Us

Parsons is a digitally enabled solutions provider focused on the defense, security, and infrastructure markets. With nearly 75 years of experience, Parsons is uniquely qualified to deliver cyber/converged security, technology-based intellectual property, and other innovative services to federal, regional, and local government agencies, as well as to private industrial customers worldwide.

Parsons is an equal opportunity, drug-free employer committed to diversity in the workplace. Minority/Female/Disabled/Protected Veteran/LGBTQ+.

For more about Parsons, visit parsons.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.