Proposal Manager

GFT is seeking a Proposal Manager (Water/Wastewater) to join our Business Development team! This role is a remote/hybrid position and may be performed from various locations across the United States, though candidates in Mechanicsburg, PA;
Asheville, NC;
Denver, CO;
Atlanta, GA;
Jacksonville, FL;
Houston, TX;
Dallas, TX;
Pittsburgh, PA;
Philadelphia, PA; or Virginia Beach, VA, are encouraged.

GFT’s Business Development team plays an essential role in advancing the firm’s strategic and growth goals. As an integral part of the Go-to-Market (GTM) team, Business Development drives growth by helping position the firm for new opportunities, strengthening client relationships, and aligning technical capabilities with client needs. We develop strategies and tactics to support client management, capture planning, and proposal development, all aimed at winning new work.

What you’ll be challenged to do:

The Proposal Manager position supports our Water/Wastewater Business Line and leads key business development support efforts, including strategic proposal management for proposals of any size; capture planning leadership in support of the business line’s capture managers; and client service team support for both Tier 1 and Tier 2  this capacity, the successful candidate will be responsible for the following:

Pre-Proposal/Capture Planning
-Provide capture plan support for short- to- medium length capture phase and relatively complex pursuits with limited oversight needed   Demonstrate a clear understanding of capture planning best practices, including opportunity qualification, identifying client priorities and hot buttons, developing and tracking client contact and action plans, analyzing the competition, and developing win themes and discriminators

Support capture planning activities in close coordination with Capture Managers and operational leaders, including facilitating Issue/Feature/Benefit/Proof (IFBP) workshops with internal clients; assisting with pre-RFQ and pre-RFP positioning tasks such as helping with client development plans and follow-up needs; performing gap analyses; summarizing key value propositions and sales/win themes; and performing targeted client/opportunity-specific research to expand GFT’s knowledge of targeted pursuits and potential competitors Liaise with respective Marketing and Communications (Mar Com) staff to coordinate early input, as required  Keep all CRM documentation updated  Proposal Management
-Lead high-priority proposals, including at least 2 concurrent complex proposals with other smaller proposals, as needed

Serve as the single responsible manager on each individual proposal effort assigned and, as such, supervise the work product of individual staff supporting the proposal

Oversee standard and agile-level pursuits, particularly those involving cross-team coordination with other BD units

Interpret solicitation requirements, develop/maintain compliance matrices, and verify compliance across all proposal elements before each major proposal milestone

Develop and implement win themes, differentiators, client benefits, and strategic messaging throughout the submission, including conceptualizing client-focused graphics, callouts, page concepts, and visual storytelling elements

Develop and maintain detailed, realistic proposal and interview preparation schedules

Lead kick-off and proposal milestone review meetings

Serve as lead author for executive summaries, nontechnical sections, outlines, and storyboards

Work with the Capture Manager and Client Service Leader to prepare for and participate in client pre-proposal meetings, post-selection debriefings, and internal post-proposal debriefings to inform future strategy and enhance proposal effectiveness

Lead interview…