Senior Proposal Manager

Woolpert is hiring a Senior Proposal Manager to join our dynamic Proposal Team. This position reports to the Director of Proposals and provides enterprise-level leadership for the firm’s most complex, high-risk, and highest value proposal pursuits. Serves as a strategic advisor to executive leadership, business development, and technical leaders on pursuit selection, capture strategy, and proposal execution. Oversees proposal portfolio performance, establishes best practices and standards, and leads the development and advancement of proposal management talent.

What You Will Do:

• Leads and oversees the firm’s most critical, high-profile, complex, and high-dollar proposal pursuits from early pursuit strategy through submission and debrief.
• Serves as a strategic advisor to executive leadership and senior business development teams on pursuit selection, go/no-go decisions, capture strategy, and risk mitigation.
• Partners with senior technical and operational leaders to shape enterprise-level win strategies, messaging frameworks, and differentiators.
• Establishes and oversees proposal governance, standards, and best practices across regions, markets, or business lines.
• Develops and approves comprehensive proposal strategies, schedules, compliance approaches, and review plans for major pursuits.
• Leads and facilitates executive-level proposal reviews, pink team/red team sessions, and post-submittal lessons learned.
• Provides final executive-level QA/QC approval for select major proposals to ensure quality, compliance, messaging, and strategic alignment.
• Supports preparation for high-stakes client interviews and presentations, in coordination with Marketing Manager.
• Provides leadership, mentorship, and professional development guidance to lower level staff; may contribute to performance feedback and succession planning.
• Monitors proposal performance metrics, win/loss trends, client feedback, and market insights to drive continuous improvement and strategic adjustments.
• Leads firmwide or market-level proposal process improvement initiatives, including tools, templates, content libraries, and technology solutions.
• Identifies and communicates proposal risks, capacity constraints, and opportunities to executive and senior leadership.
• Represents the proposal function in strategic planning, business development leadership forums, and cross-functional initiatives.

What You Will Bring:

• Bachelor’s or higher-level degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, English, or a related field preferred.
• 5 years of experience in proposal development, management, or business development support required.
• Experience leading large, complex, enterprise-level proposals and advising senior leadership required.
• Expert-level knowledge of proposal development, capture strategy, and RFP/RFQ/SOQ compliance required.
• Ability to lead high-risk, high-value pursuits with executive visibility required.
• Strong strategic, analytical, and decision-making capabilities required.
• Exceptional leadership, facilitation, and executive communication skills required.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and Adobe Creative Suite (particularly InDesign) required.
• Ability to influence senior leaders and cross-functional teams without direct authority required.
• Strong mentoring and talent development skills required.
• Ability to manage competing priorities at a portfolio level required.
• High attention to detail with a strategic focus on quality, outcomes, and win probability required.
• Ability to work overtime as needed to meet proposal deadlines required.

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE:

• Experience leading proposal strategy in a professional services environment (e.g., AEC, engineering, consulting)
• Experience advising executives on pursuit strategy and go/no-go decisions preferred.
• Experience leading proposal teams across multiple markets, regions, or service lines preferred.
• Experience contributing to long-term growth and market positioning strategies preferred.

PREFERRED CERTIFICATIONS, LICENSES, OR TRAINING:

• APMP Professional Certification strongly preferred.
• Advanced training in capture planning, strategic business development, and Adobe InDesign or proposal management systems preferred.

PREFERRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES:

• Deep understanding of CRM and proposal management systems preferred.
• Strong business acumen and commercial awareness preferred.