Proposal Lead

Proposal Lead

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Job Description

AECOM is actively searching for a an experienced proposal leader to work within our DoD proposal team as a Proposal Manager.

In this role, you will be responsible for leading key proposals and presentations, providing support and guidance from pre-RFP positioning through to interview stage, as required, and leading 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, strong pre-positioning and proposal writing skills, and creative design ideas.

This will be a hybrid work schedule position including a combination of both remote and in-office.

Responsibilities will include, but not be limited to:

General

• As a Proposal Manager and writer, collaborate with regional and BL teams on identified priority pursuits, including pre-positioning, capture, responses to requests for qualifications (RFQ) and requests for proposals (RFP), as well as shortlist interviews.
• Reports to the Marketing Team Lead within our Governments Marketing group.

Duties

Proposal Management and Development

• Responsible for leading large, complex, priority must-win pursuits from capture through to interview stage, as required, which may include multiple disciplines/geographies.
• May facilitate workshops/sessions to support the capture manager in development of the win strategy.
• Analyzes debriefs and applies lessons learned to add value to strategy and reviews.
• Creates detailed annotated outlines and first-draft content, compliance lists, and capture and proposal schedules, with the ability to pivot if requirements change.
• Leads and contributes to the writing of proposal sections such as cover letters, executive summaries, past performance sections, management approaches, and resumes/staffing sections.
• Participates actively in Go/No-Go, capture strategies and greenlight analyses and drives compliance with delegation of authority guidelines, capture planning and positioning activities, providing leadership and direction, where required.
• Facilitates color reviews (pink and red team) for assigned pursuits, and applies lessons learned to add value to proposal and win plan.
• Serves as a reviewer on color reviews for priority pursuits led by others, as needed, applying in-depth institutional knowledge.
• Responsible for quality and compliance of deliverables.
• Supports debriefs and gathering of client feedback on proposals to ensure and demonstrate continuous improvements.
• Responsible for proposal and project filing on the secure server and CRM. Knows where to go for all recent submittals and project descriptions. Is familiar with the top IDIQs and top IDIQ managers and project managers.
• May participate in strategic planning that includes evaluating marketing intelligence, identifying customer concerns and key issues, and developing win strategies to thread into strategic pursuits.
• May contribute to development and implementation of internal training program on topics related to core processes, tools, practices or other special topics.
• May lead special projects involving teams of BL staff, as directed by Governments Marketing Lead.

Qualifications

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.
• Working knowledge of and interest in the A/E industry, including AECOM's Federal clients, projects, people, credentials, and competitors.
• APMP/SMPS certification is a plus.
• Evidence of successful leadership of multi-disciplinary or multi-geography proposals valued >$20 million.
• A thorough understanding of effective proposal and presentation best practices and tools, including how to convey messages, themes, discriminators, and responses to evaluation criteria clearly and effectively.
• Demonstrated experience applying industry best practices and procedures to support positioning, client or business development processes.
• Strong proposal writing and editing skills, including grammar and style.
• A strong working knowledge of desktop publishing software (e.g., Adobe Creative Suite), graphics programs (e.g., InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Acrobat, Photoshop), word processing programs (e.g., Microsoft Word), spreadsheet management (Excel), and presentation software (e.g., PowerPoint).
• A working knowledge of collaborative tools such as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, etc.
• An understanding of CRM. Salesforce experience is a plus.
• Initiative, skill, and personal commitment to manage multiple projects and details concurrently, follow up, and bring tasks and projects to full completion.
• Professional demeanor and excellent interpersonal skills.
• Ability to exercise discretion with confidential/sensitive issues.
• Ability to work independently and with others.
• Diplomacy with peers and internal clients in handling challenging situations.
• Resourceful problem solver.