Manager, Public Sector Proposal Development

Appian Corporation•McLean, VA

1d•$100,000 - $200,000•Onsite

About The Position

Appian is seeking a Manager of the Public Sector Proposal Team to lead a high-performing team of proposal strategists. This role is pivotal in orchestrating winning, high-stakes narratives to secure global enterprise accounts and drive market share. The Appian Proposal Team is a global function dedicated to fueling corporate growth in the AI-Powered Process Automation market, acting as a bridge between technology and clients in competitive bidding scenarios. The Manager will build, mentor, and scale a world-class regional proposal team, acting as a strategic advisor to regional sales executives on multi-million dollar deals. This role offers the autonomy to drive operational process improvements, shape content strategy, and directly impact revenue generation.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree (degrees in writing-intensive fields such as English, Communications, or Business are preferred).
8+ years of direct proposal development experience in a fast-paced corporate environment.
5+ years of direct public sector proposal development experience
1–2 years of formal people-management or team leadership experience.
Possess a thorough understanding of the U.S. federal and state/local government procurement processes.
Demonstrated ability to motivate, lead, and develop high-performing teams while executing rigorous RFP/Proposal lifecycle best practices.
Exceptional skills in professional writing, editing, document formatting, and executive stakeholder communication.
High level of proficiency with the Microsoft Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel).

Nice To Haves

Experience with Google Suite, enterprise CRM systems, and dedicated Proposal Management Systems (e.g., Ombud, Loopio, Responsive/RFPIO).
Experience working complex deal captures.
Proven experience leading strategic change management, technology adoption, or process optimization within a sales operations ecosystem.
Experience with enterprise SaaS platforms or Federal Systems Integrators.

Responsibilities

Lead, coach, and mentor a regional team of proposal professionals through active performance management, career mapping, hiring, and continuous enablement.
Manage regional team workloads, staffing assignments, and resource allocation to ensure balanced utilization and flawless proposal execution across the region.
Collaborate closely with regional sales leadership and stakeholders to anticipate proposal-support needs and align on regional revenue targets.
Directly manage complex or high-value proposal efforts when workload capacity demands or deal complexity requires executive-level intervention.
Govern internal content- and knowledge-management repositories, ensuring the creation, maintenance, and strategic improvement of reusable proposal collateral and boilerplate materials.
Drive organizational planning, workforce development, and strategic initiatives related to proposal processes, compliance, and tool adoption.