Sr. Proposal Manager

ECS Corporate Services; Fairfax (VA); Remote; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

ECS is seeking a Senior Proposal Manager to drive complex federal proposals in a primarily remote role, with the flexibility to work onsite at our Fairfax, VA office as needed.

You will lead proposal teams, coordinate with capture, solution architects, and executives to craft compelling narratives, maintain schedules, and ensure compliance.

The role emphasizes AI-enabled content, knowledge management, and continuous improvement across the proposal lifecycle.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in English, Marketing, Communications, or similar field.
• 7+ years' experience in Federal Proposal Development.
• Demonstrated experience managing $100M+ proposal efforts.
• Experience coaching oral proposals incl. storyboard development and messaging alignment.
• Experience leading complex DoD, Federal Civilian, and/or Intelligence Community proposals.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines.
• Willingness to learn ECS' proposal automation tools.
• Strong leadership and time-management skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication.
• Ability to prioritize multiple tasks and proposals.
• Professionalism, ethical conduct, and collaborative work style.
• Strong interpersonal skills and executive communication.

Responsibilities

• Provide proposal leadership from RFP through submission for complex federal opportunities.
• Develop and manage schedules, milestones, and review cycles.
• Coordinate with Contracts, Subcontracts, and Pricing teams.
• Write, edit, and enhance proposal content and past performance citations.
• Ensure compliance with solicitation requirements and win themes.
• Collaborate with Capture, Account Executives, and Solution Architects.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Time management

Strategic thinking

Project management

Multitasking

Collaboration

AI in proposals

Education

Bachelor's degree in English/Marketing/Communications

Tools

Microsoft Word

Excel

PowerPoint

Outlook

Teams

SharePoint

Job description

ECS is seeking a Senior Proposal Manager to work in a primarily remote role with the flexibility to support proposal efforts on-site in our Fairfax, VA office as business needs require. The Sr. Proposal Manager is primarily responsible for managing complex, high-value proposals in support of ECS' growth goals, strategic initiatives, and service offerings. This position is a highly visible role that works closely with executive leadership, account executives, capture professionals, solution architects, and operations/delivery managers and support staff. Duties are performed within a team environment with a focus on storytelling, quality, efficiency, excellence, and timeliness. The Sr. Proposal Manager also serves as a strategic partner to capture and business development teams to help shape proposal strategies and increase probability of win through compelling, customer-focused messaging and effective proposal execution.

Responsibilities

• Proposal Leadership and Management: Manage proposal efforts from RFP release through submission for complex, high-value federal opportunities. Manage assigned proposal resources, including proposal analysts, graphic designers, technical contributors, and subcontractor inputs. Develop and manage proposal schedules, milestones, and review cycles to ensure timely and compliant submissions. Lead proposal kickoff meetings, daily stand-ups, and color team reviews while identifying and mitigating proposal risks. Coordinate proposal activities across geographically dispersed teams using collaboration tools such as SharePoint, Teams, and ECS proposal automation tools. Resolve issues and elevate risks to leadership as appropriate. Provide proposal status updates to leadership and stakeholders. Coordinate with Contracts, Subcontracts, and Pricing teams to ensure cost, contractual, and subcontracting volumes are aligned with proposal schedules. Establish effective communication among internal stakeholders, leadership, and teaming partners throughout the proposal lifecycle.
• Proposal Development and Content Quality: Write, edit, and enhance proposal content including management approaches, transition plans, past performance citations, resumes, and quality plans. Review and edit content developed by technical contributors to ensure clarity, consistency, compliance, and compelling messaging. Ensure compliance with solicitation requirements and evaluation criteria through development of compliance matrices and structured outlines. Develop writing guidance, annotated outlines, and proposal instructions to support content development. Ensure the proposal narrative aligns with win themes and customer priorities.
• Capture Integration and Win Strategy: Partner with Capture Managers, Account Executives, and Business Development leaders early in the pursuit lifecycle to translate capture strategies and discriminators into compelling proposal narratives and win themes. Participate in collaborative sessions to refine win strategies, competitive positioning, and customer hot buttons. Analyze solicitations to identify proposal risks, gaps, and clarification questions. Collaborate with Solution Architects and Subject Matter Experts to align technical solutions with customer requirements and evaluation criteria.
• Proposal Innovation and Knowledge Management: Leverage Generative AI and proposal automation technologies to support RFP analysis, compliance development, content generation, and proposal reviews while ensuring accuracy and security. Contribute to the development and maintenance of proposal knowledge repositories optimized for AI, including past performance libraries, reusable content, and corporate messaging assets. Collaborate with proposal leadership to improve proposal operations, tools, templates, and best practices.
• Post-Submission and Continuous Improvement: Conduct proposal closeout activities and support post-award or post-submission documentation. Lead win/loss debrief reviews and capture lessons learned to improve proposal processes and win probability. Analyze proposal outcomes and performance data to support continuous improvement of proposal strategies and processes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in English, Marketing, Communications, or similar field.
• 7+ years' experience in Federal Proposal Development.
• Demonstrated experience managing $100M+ proposal efforts.
• Demonstrated experience managing and coaching oral proposals, including storyboard development, messaging alignment, script development, and rehearsal facilitation.
• Experience leading and supporting complex proposals in DoD, Federal Civilian, and/or Intelligence Community sectors.
• Ability to work effectively under pressure and meet tight deadlines.
• Willingness and ability to learn ECS' custom proposal automation tools.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to manage diverse proposal teams.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to prioritize and manage a number of tasks or proposals simultaneously; able to be hands‑on as well as strategic.
• Demonstrated professionalism, ethical conduct, and collaborative work style.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively with executive leadership, proposal contributors, and teaming partners.
• Strategic thinker with the ability to make the complex simple.
• Exceptional proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams.
• Demonstrated experience applying generative AI to proposal development processes.
• Experience supporting capture strategy development, competitive positioning, and win theme creation.
• Ability to lead distributed proposal teams across multiple locations and time zones.