Principal Capture Manager, Government

For People•Arlington, VA

3d•$130,000 - $185,000•Remote

About The Position

For People is a team of skilled technologists improving government digital services for disadvantaged and vulnerable populations. We embed directly in government agencies to modernize software, systems, and platforms so that they better serve people. Your Impact: A parent applies for Medicaid and waits to hear whether their child is covered. A state analyst tries to answer a basic question about a program serving millions of people and finds the data three years out of date. Behind each of those moments is a government system that either works or it doesn't, and the difference usually comes down to who was hired to build it. For People builds and modernizes those systems. You will be the single point of accountability for winning a specific opportunity, from the first conversation with a program office through submission. You will decide which pursuits we go after and which we walk away from, build relationships long before a solicitation is published, and own the strategy when the bid goes live. Every pursuit you win puts our engineers, designers, and researchers on a system that millions of people depend on.

Requirements

A humble and caring attitude aligning with For People's values: passion, fun, curiosity, sustainability, humility, and respect.
7+ years in federal capture or business development, including pursuits you personally owned from the first customer conversation through submission.
Direct capture experience at CMS. You know the program offices, how the agency's acquisitions actually run, and the vehicles it buys through.
A track record of leading a bid response process, including running the go/no-go decision, setting the win strategy, directing the technical and pricing approach, and driving color team reviews through submission.
Fluency across the full capture lifecycle, including opportunity qualification, customer and competitor intelligence, teaming and subcontractor strategy, past-performance mapping, and price-to-win analysis.
Strong writing and enough technical literacy to hold a conversation about software modernization and data platforms.
Demonstrated proficiency with AI tooling for market research, competitor analysis, and first-draft strategy work.
All work must be physically performed within the United States at all times.
Must be a United States citizen.
Must be able to pass a government-performed public trust background check.

Nice To Haves

An existing network inside CMS, HHS, or the broader federal health community.
Experience capturing work at agencies that address the social determinants of health, such as housing, nutrition, economic mobility, education, and social services.
Familiarity with the vehicles federal health work flows through, like GWACs, IDIQs, and agency BPAs, and a track record on small-business, 8(a), or full-and-open pursuits.

Responsibilities

Build and maintain a pipeline of federal health opportunities, primarily within CMS and the programs that serve Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP.
Track opportunities across SAM.gov, GovWin, agency forecasts, and your own network, and tell the difference between a real prospect and noise.
Build and work a call plan, meeting with program offices, contracting officers, and potential partners to understand mission, budget, incumbents, and pain points.
Gather customer and competitor intelligence and turn it into a win strategy, win themes, and discriminators that set us apart.
Engage the customer where it is appropriate and ethical, through RFIs, sources-sought responses, capability statements, and demos.
Identify and recruit teaming partners and subcontractors that fill capability or past-performance gaps.
Recommend a price-to-win position using competitive and budget intelligence, and work with leadership on pricing strategy.
Run capture and gate reviews so leadership has a clear picture of each pursuit's health and the investment it needs.
Stay involved through proposal development and color-team reviews to keep the response true to the strategy, and capture lessons learned after every decision, win or lose.