Proposal Manager
$160,000–$190,000 year
On-site · Sunnyvale, California, United States
Job Summary
Drive world-class proposal execution across government and commercial opportunities, owning end-to-end strategy, milestones, and compliant responses. Coordinate cross-functional teams (BD, Sales, Programs, Engineering, Legal, Finance) to produce evaluator-focused narratives, win themes, and compelling proposals for RFPs, RFIs, SBIRs, BAAs, and commercial bids. Translate complex technical concepts into clear, persuasive language, manage templates, SOWs, compliance matrices, cost volumes, and past-performance summaries, and orchestrate reviews, approvals, and on-time submissions while leveraging pricing and lifecycle processes. Familiar with government procurement processes, FAR/DFARS, and proposal automation tools; APMP/PMP/Shipley credentials preferred.
Required Qualifications
- 8+ years in proposal management, program management, or government contracting within defense tech, space, dual-use, or equivalent professional experience
- Proven track record leading proposals from kickoff through submission for SBIRs, RFPs, BAAs, or similar government solicitations
- Strong technical communication skills: ability to distill engineering and product concepts into clear, evaluator-friendly narratives without over-simplifying
- Foundational understanding of engineering, product development, and systems architecture to support credible technical scoping and writing
- CRM and pipeline tool proficiency for deal tracking, reporting, and workflow management
- Familiarity with government procurement processes, FAR/DFARS compliance, and common submission portals and timelines
- Comfort with process building: ability to create and refine templates, scorecards, checklists, and workflows that scale and improve over time
- APMP, PMP, or Shipley certification (or equivalent proposal management credential)
- Experience in space, defense, Earth observation, or robotics sectors
- Deep SBIR/STTR expertise, including Phase I → Phase II positioning strategy and program structure
- Hands-on pricing experience including rate structures, LOE estimation, risk/reserve methodology, and budget narrative development
- Experience with proposal automation tools or proposal writing platforms (Deltek, Responsive, Proposal software ecosystems)
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