Proposal Lead

Poseidon Aerospace•Washington, DC

5d•Onsite

About The Position

Poseidon Aerospace is seeking a Proposal Lead to manage the proposal process from initial response to submission. This role is crucial for winning contracts that enable the company to build its autonomous cargo aircraft. The Lead will collaborate with engineering and flight operations teams to translate technical capabilities into compelling narratives for government customers. This is a hands-on writing role responsible for end-to-end proposal management, including producing various proposal documents, managing reviews, and establishing proposal infrastructure.

Requirements

Experience personally leading proposal submissions across multiple government contracting efforts, from RFP release through delivery.
Strong technical writing skills: ability to translate complex engineering into clear, specific narrative.
Working knowledge of FAR/DFARS and proposal compliance requirements.
Experience developing compliance matrices, managing submission schedules, and owning document configuration.
Technical literacy in aerospace, autonomy, aviation, or adjacent engineering domains.
US citizenship and eligibility for TS/SCI.

Nice To Haves

Experience with non-standard contracting vehicles such as OTA, SBIR, fixed-price, or anything outside routine cost-plus fixed fee.
3–8 years in contracting or proposals, ideally at a fast-moving defense company or government contractor.
Written proposals where the contracting structure itself was part of the problem to solve, not just the narrative.
Worked in or alongside a fast-moving team under unusual time pressure.
Built proposal infrastructure from scratch rather than inheriting a mature process.
Active TS/SCI clearance.

Responsibilities

Own proposal responses end-to-end as primary author, project manager, and final reviewer.
Produce white papers, quad charts, and concept briefs to influence customers before solicitations.
Run color team reviews, manage schedules, and deliver compliant packages on time.
Build proposal infrastructure from scratch, including content libraries, writing schedules, reusable prose, and documentation standards.
Establish and refine how Poseidon tells its story to Government customers.
Work directly with engineering and flight operations teams to gather technical content and translate it for Government audiences.