Senior Proposal Specialist

Senior Proposal Specialist

The Senior Proposal Specialist is a seasoned proposal leader who owns the largest, most complex, high-value pursuits (RFPs, RFIs, RFQs and similar solicitations) from assignment through submission and post-submission. As the "quarterback" of each pursuit, the role coordinates all resources across sales, technical, pricing, contracts, legal, program management, partners and vendors with a high degree of independence.

An expert persuasive writer and disciplined project manager, the Senior Proposal Specialist uses the content library and company-approved generative AI tools to produce compliant, win-focused responses efficiently. The role also serves as a coach, mentor and process leader for the department, with the goal of increasing win rates and revenue.

Opportunity Assessment & Planning

• Lead the largest, most complex and high-value pursuits, including multi-volume and high-dollar bids.
• Analyze requirements, evaluation criteria and risks; build compliance matrices mapping each to an owner.
• Research the customer, incumbent and competition, and inform sales-led bid/no-bid decisions.

Proposal Leadership & Project Management

• Run the kickoff, build the schedule backward from the due date, define roles and track risks and actions.
• Manage many concurrent proposals with little oversight; hold contributors accountable without authority.
• Serve as the escalation point for difficult pursuits and their schedule, resource and compliance issues.

Color Team Review Process

• Lead Kickoff, Pink, Red, Gold and White reviews; coordinate Green (pricing), owned by sales or technical leads.
• Drive reviewer comments to closure and serve as expert reviewer on other team members' pursuits.

Strategy, Win Themes & Writing

• Shape win strategy, themes, discriminators and value propositions with the opportunity team.
• Write executive summaries and advise sales leadership on win themes and proposal strength.
• Write persuasive, accurate, compliant content in one voice, aligned to evaluation criteria for easy scoring.

AI & Content Library

• Use approved generative AI tools to analyze solicitations, draft and refine content and speed up reviews.
• Verify AI output, protect confidential data, champion AI adoption and grow the content library.

Compliance, Production & Submission

• Ensure compliance with forms, certifications and page limits; manage final assembly, QC and on-time submission.

Post-Submission Support

• Lead debriefs and lessons-learned sessions and share findings with the team.
• Play a stronger supporting role in clarifications, Q&A, orals, BAFOs, protests, award transition and close-out.

Coaching, Mentoring & Team Development

• Coach and mentor Proposal Specialists and junior staff, modeling best practices as a go-to expert.
• Have new hires shadow live pursuits; shadow junior members and review and edit their work.
• Support onboarding and training for new team members.

Department Initiatives & Process Improvement

• Lead or contribute to initiatives improving processes, templates, checklists, standards and the content library.
• Develop and deliver training; attend industry days, pre-proposal conferences and professional development.
• Analyze lessons learned and win/loss trends, recommend improvements and share best practices.

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent relevant work experience.
• Five or more years of proposal writing or proposal management experience, including leading complex responses.
• Excellent writing, editing and verbal communication skills, including strengthening others' work.
• Proven project management skills; able to lead large cross-functional teams without direct authority.
• Ability to manage multiple complex, deadline-driven projects at once with little oversight.
• Strong attention to detail and a focus on compliance.
• Proficiency with generative AI tools and the ability to help others adopt them.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, SharePoint) and Adobe Acrobat.
• Sound judgment, composure under pressure and executive-level communication that influences senior leaders.
• Proven ability to coach and mentor others

• Public sector procurement expertise, including contracts, terms and conditions and purchasing requirements.
• General knowledge of IT products, services and solutions.
• Experience with proposal content/RFP response platforms and structured color team reviews (e.g., Shipley).
• APMP (Practitioner or Professional) or…