Remote Director, State Government Growth & Partnerships

CAI; Jackson (MS); On-site; USD 180,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

CAI is seeking a Director of Business Development – State Government to lead growth strategy, capture, and proposal leadership across CAI’s State Government division. The role reports to the VP, Public Sector and focuses on pursuing state agency opportunities, higher education, and related public sector clients.

The position is full-time and remote (EST/CST preferred), with ~15–20% travel for client meetings and leadership conferences.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive experience in State Government professional services consulting, business development, capture management, and proposal leadership
• Strong working knowledge of state government procurement including cooperative contracting (e.g., NASPO, Sourcewell), RFx cycles, and contract negotiation
• Skilled at building and sustaining relationships with agency stakeholders across multi-year sales cycles
• Strong proposal writing, editing, and review skills; comfortable setting direction on narrative, structure, and win themes, and elevating others’ writing
• Experience orchestrating cross-functional teams (delivery, technical SMEs, marketing, pricing, legal) under bid deadlines
• Strong strategic, analytical, and problem-solving skills
• Proficiency with Salesforce or a similar CRM, Microsoft Office Suite, and procurement intelligence tools (GovWin, GovSpend, or equivalent)
• Bachelor’s degree in technology, business, finance, or a related field

Responsibilities

• Track state government buying trends, priorities, and federal funding
• Maintain current competitor profiles across State Government practice areas
• Coordinate FOIA requests and analyze responses to sharpen pursuit planning
• Develop and execute growth strategy across the State Government portfolio
• Identify and qualify new agency targets aligned to CAI’s capabilities
• Build and manage State Government pipeline data, tracking activity and progression
• Use existing contract vehicles and cooperative purchasing agreements to expand into new agencies
• Partner with CAI support organizations to vet plans, sharpen targeting, and execute on strategic geographic and vertical pursuits
• Lead conference planning for the division, selecting events, identifying speaking opportunities, and developing pre- and post-event engagement plans
• Partner with CAI Marketing on thought leadership campaigns, website content, and collateral that reflect CAI’s capabilities
• Develop capability 2-pagers and success stories that represent CAI in the market
• Represent CAI at industry events and executive briefings
• Build and maintain relationships with agency stakeholders, IT and procurement leadership, and other decision-makers across target accounts
• Lead client meetings, capability briefings, and discovery sessions; prepare materials and tailor messaging to each conversation
• Develop account maps and stakeholder engagement plans for priority pursuits
• Conduct capture planning ahead of expected solicitations — understanding client priorities, shaping CAI’s positioning, and deciding where to invest pre-bid effort
• Maintain a qualifications library and past performance narratives to use in active bids
• Develop reusable proposal templates and solution boilerplate
• Establish an engagement cadence with SMEs to keep qualifications fresh
• Plan and direct response structure, narrative, and win themes across RFPs, RFQs, RFIs, and task orders
• Oversee bid efforts end-to-end, partnering with CAI’s Proposal Development Center on cadence and process, mobilizing SMEs for solution input, and driving pricing strategy
• Refine draft proposal sections as a senior reviewer
• Drive handoff from capture to delivery on award
• Build working relationships with CAI’s capability and industry SMEs across State Government, including industry verticals and capabilities
• Connect with account teams to develop cross-sell opportunities within their territories

Skills

State Government

Business development

Capture management

Proposal leadership

Sales experience

CRM (Salesforce)

Education

Bachelor’s degree in technology, business, finance, or related field

Tools

Salesforce

Microsoft Office

GovWin

GovSpend

Job description

CAI is seeking a Director of Business Development – State Government to lead growth strategy, capture, and proposal leadership across CAI’s State Government division. The role reports to the VP, Public Sector and focuses on pursuing state agency opportunities, higher education, and related public sector clients.

The position is full-time and remote (EST/CST preferred), with ~15–20% travel for client meetings and leadership conferences.