Senior Proposal Lead and Writer; Proposal Specialist IV

Senior Proposal Lead and Writer (Proposal Specialist IV)

Company Description

At AECOM, we’re delivering a better world. Whether improving your commute, keeping the lights on, providing access to clean water, or transforming skylines, our work helps people and communities thrive. We are the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, partnering with clients to solve the world’s most complex challenges and build legacies for future generations. With accelerating infrastructure investment worldwide, our services are in great demand.

We invite you to bring your bold ideas and big dreams and become part of a global team of over 50,000 planners, designers, engineers, scientists, digital innovators, program and construction managers and other professionals delivering projects that create a positive and tangible impact around the world.

AECOM is actively searching for an experienced Senior Proposal Lead and Writer to work within our DoD proposal team. In this role, you will lead key proposals and presentations, provide support and guidance from pre‑RFP positioning through to interview stage, and lead a team of proposal staff that support our Federal Civilian and DoD Proposal teams. Subject matter may include studies and planning, architecture and engineering design, construction, environmental, program management, and other professional services.

The ideal candidate will bring experience with US Federal proposal writing, strong leadership, a sharp compliance focus, and creative design ideas.

This will be a hybrid work schedule position including a combination of remote and in‑office sessions. The role can be based in, but is not limited to, Denver, CO.

• Collaborate with regional and Business Line teams on identified priority pursuits, including pre‑positioning, capture, RFQ and RFP responses, and shortlist interviews.
• Report to the Proposal Team Lead within our Governments Marketing group.
• Lead large, complex, must‑win pursuits from capture through interview stage, including multiple disciplines/geographies.
• Facilitate workshops/sessions to support capture management in developing win strategies.
• Analyze debriefs and apply lessons learned to enhance strategy and reviews.
• Create detailed annotated outlines and write first‑draft content, compliance lists, and capture and proposal schedules.
• Lead writing of proposal sections such as cover letters, executive summaries, past performance sections, management approaches, and resumes/staffing sections; provide guidance to technical authors.
• Participate in Go/No‑Go decisions, capture strategies, and greenlight analyses; drive compliance with delegation of authority guidelines.
• Facilitate color reviews for assigned pursuits and apply lessons learned to add value to proposals and win plans.
• Serve as reviewer on color reviews for priority pursuits led by others.
• Ensure quality and compliance of all deliverables.
• Support debriefs and gather client feedback to demonstrate continuous improvement.
• Maintain proposal and project filing on secure server and CRM.
• Participate in strategic planning, including evaluating marketing intelligence and developing win strategies.
• Contribute to development and implementation of internal training programs on core processes, tools, and practices.
• Lead special projects involving teams of BL staff, as directed by Government Marketing Lead.

Minimum Qualifications:

• BA/BS + 6 years of relevant proposal experience, ideally within the US Federal and/or DoD client sectors or a demonstrated equivalency of experience and/or education.

Preferred Qualifications:

• BA/BS, preferably in Journalism, English, Communications, Marketing or a related field (or an AA plus one year of related experience). 8+ years of related proposal management and writing experience within the US Federal Civilian and/or DoD client sectors.
• Federal environmental proposal experience with both US Federal Civilian and DoD client sectors.
• APMP/SMPS certification.
• Working knowledge of and interest in the AECOM industry, including Federal clients, projects, and competitors.
• Strong proposal writing and editing skills, including grammar and style.
• Evidence…