Proposal Operations Manager (US Central Region)

Parsons; United States; On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Parsons is seeking an energetic Proposal Operations Manager to lead a skilled team overseeing compliant, responsive AEC proposals across the U.S. Central region.

You will mentor staff, build partnerships with capture managers, business development, and operations, and drive high-impact deliverables that differentiate Parsons in competitive pursuits. You will guide strategy, budgets, and staffing, ensuring alignment with the Winning Process and maintaining strong pipelines.

Qualifications

• Leadership, facilitation, and communication skills to bring out the best in people and raise the bar.
• Strong understanding of the AEC industry and experience leading complex, high-visibility pursuits.
• Excellent organizational, planning, and time-management skills; balancing multiple priorities under pressure.
• Ability to build trusted relationships with capture leaders, operations, technical teams, and executives.

Responsibilities

• Lead and inspire a team that creates compliant, responsive, and compelling AEC proposals and related deliverables.
• Set team up for success with clear direction, coaching, resources, and support.
• Build a people-first culture emphasizing communication, collaboration, and growth.
• Mentor staff through goal-setting, reviews, and advancement recommendations.
• Attract top talent through thoughtful hiring, onboarding, and retention.
• Coordinate with capture, business development, and operations to align on strategies and deliverables.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

AEC industry knowledge

Organization & time management

Education

Bachelor's degree

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 y