Manager, Capture & Proposals at Slingshot Aerospace

At Slingshot Aerospace, we're on a mission to make space safer and more secure for everyone. Our work directly impacts global security, disaster response, climate monitoring, and the critical infrastructure that connects our world. We're a team of builders, thinkers, and problem-solvers who believe that the next generation of space operations will be powered by better data and smarter software.

We move fast, we're not afraid to fail, and we believe the best ideas can come from anywhere—whether you're in engineering, sales, product, or operations. If you want to work on something that truly matters, with people who care deeply about the impact we're making and help shape the future of an industry that's just getting started, you're in the right place.

What You'll Be Launching

As Manager, Capture & Proposals, you will build and lead Slingshot's enterprise capture and proposal capability, ensuring qualified opportunities are transformed into compelling, compliant, and competitive submissions that maximize our probability of win.

This role answers one critical question for the Growth organization: How do we turn qualified opportunities into winning proposals? You will lead capture strategy after a pursue decision has been made, oversee proposal development through submission, and establish the processes, operating rhythms, and best practices that support consistent execution across the company.

Working closely with Revenue, Business Development & Strategic Alliances, Solutions Engineering, Product, Engineering, Programs, Finance, Legal, Contracts, and executive leadership, you will bring structure, accountability, and discipline to complex pursuits. We are looking for a leader who can think strategically, operate tactically, influence across teams, and build a scalable capture and proposal function.

We're building a team of sharp, creative people who love solving hard problems. We value curiosity over ego, initiative over waiting for permission, and people who genuinely care about doing great work. Bring your expertise, your fresh ideas, and your drive. We'll bring the rocket fuel.

Your Mission (Should You Choose to Accept It)

Capture Strategy & Execution

• Lead capture strategy and execution for strategic government, defense, intelligence, civil, commercial, and international pursuits after a pursue decision has been made.
• Develop and manage capture plans that align customer priorities, competitive positioning, teaming strategy, pricing considerations, solution development, and proposal readiness.
• Drive capture milestones, pursuit reviews, executive decision points, and corrective actions to improve probability of win.
• Partner with Revenue and Business Development to ensure qualified opportunities transition into formal capture with clear ownership, customer intelligence, and strategic direction.
• Conduct customer, competitor, market, and price-to-win analysis to strengthen pursuit positioning.

Proposal Leadership

• Lead the proposal organization responsible for developing compliant, compelling, and differentiated submissions.
• Oversee proposal strategy, kickoff, schedules, assignments, content development, reviews, production, and final submission.
• Ensure proposals clearly communicate Slingshot's value proposition, technical approach, management strategy, past performance, and customer outcomes.
• Write, edit, and shape high-value proposal content, including executive summaries, technical narratives, management approaches, and customer-specific messaging.
• Partner with Solutions Engineering and technical subject matter experts to ensure proposal content is accurate, executable, and differentiated.

Cross-functional Pursuit Leadership

• Coordinate inputs, decisions, and accountability across Product, Engineering, Programs, Finance, Legal, Contracts, Revenue, and executive stakeholders.
• Partner with external primes, subcontractors, teammates, and strategic partners to align proposal strategy, responsibilities, content, and deadlines.
• Support pricing strategy, financial analysis, deal structuring, compliance planning, and risk assessment in partnership with Finance, Legal, and Contracts.
• Provide executive leadership with clear updates on pursuit status, risks, decisions, resource needs, and recommended actions.

Capture Operations & Continuous Improvement

• Establish standardized capture and proposal methodologies, templates, review practices, content libraries, and operating rhythms.
• Build repeatable processes that improve proposal quality, increase efficiency, and reduce cycle time.
• Implement lessons learned, performance metrics, and post-submission reviews to strengthen future pursuits.
• Evaluate and adopt AI-enabled proposal tools, workflow automation, and knowledge management capabilities where appropriate.
• Maintain accurate capture artifacts, proposal records, pursuit status, and reporting in relevant business systems.

Building the Capture & Proposals Organization

• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing Capture & Proposals team focused on quality, accountability, collaboration, and results.
• Establish clear roles, priorities, performance expectations, and development plans across the team.
• Coach team members on capture planning, proposal strategy, writing, compliance, reviews, and stakeholder management.
• Represent Capture & Proposals as a leader within Slingshot's Growth organization.

Pre-flight Checklist

• 10+ years of experience in capture management, proposal management, business development, account strategy, or related growth roles within defense, aerospace, space, intelligence, or government technology.
• Demonstrated success leading capture strategies and proposal development for complex government or commercial pursuits.
• Experience managing capture professionals, proposal teams, or cross-functional pursuit teams.
• A strong understanding of federal acquisition processes, proposal compliance, competitive positioning, teaming, pricing inputs, and structured capture methodologies.
• Strong proposal writing and editing skills, with the ability to develop clear, persuasive, technically grounded, and compliant content.
• Proven ability to influence without direct authority and drive accountability across multiple teams.
• Experience coordinating with primes, subcontractors, partners, and external teaming organizations.
• Strong project leadership, organization, and decision-making skills, with the ability to manage multiple pursuits simultaneously.
• A Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Communications, or a related discipline, or equivalent experience.
• Ability to travel approximately 20 to 25%.
• Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance.

Bonus Cargo

• Active TS/SCI security clearance.
• APMP, Shipley, or similar capture and proposal certification.
• Experience supporting the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, U.S. Space Force, NASA, NOAA, or allied government customers.
• Experience in space domain awareness, space operations, AI, data platforms, mission software, sensor systems, or defense technology.
• Experience supporting international government, defense, or allied space pursuits.
• Experience with AI-assisted proposal development, automation platforms, and content management systems.
• Experience building or scaling a capture and proposal function within a high-growth technology company.
• Familiarity with HubSpot, Microsoft Office Suite, NetSuite, Confluence, or similar business systems.