Proposal Manager

APTIM•Denver, CO

4d•$140,000 - $160,000

About The Position

APTIM is seeking an experienced Proposal Manager with a strong understanding of the federal proposal process and the ability to lead complex, deadline-driven pursuits. Relevant market experience may include nuclear decommissioning, emergency management, disaster recovery, environmental remediation, A/E, construction, and base operations support. This is a hands-on role responsible for shaping solution frameworks, developing persuasive proposal content, and guiding graphics concepts. Success in this position requires exceptional communication, collaboration, adaptability, sound judgement, and a high degree of ownership. The Proposal Manager must be able to lead cross-functional teams under deadline pressure, balance concurrent priorities, and keep contributors aligned, accountable, and focused. The role will primarily support federal pursuits but will also lead critical bids for our commercial and state and local government clients. The Proposal Manager will collaborate closely with capture managers, program and project managers, strategic business unit leaders, contract and pricing professionals, and technical subject matter experts to develop compliant, compelling responses to client Request for Proposals (RFP).

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in business, communications, marketing, English, journalism, or an engineering-related discipline
At least 8 years of overall progressive experience, culminating specifically to a proposal manager, in a fast-paced, deadline-driven, high-volume proposal environment.
Experience leading large, cross-functional, multi-partner, or multi-contractor proposal teams.
Proven ability to develop compelling, customer-focused proposal narratives and oral-presentation materials from source documents and subject matter expert interviews.
Strong facilitation, communication, collaboration, and stakeholder-management skills.
Exceptional writing, editing, grammar, punctuation, and proofreading skills.
Strong organizational, prioritization, and time-management skills, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent pursuits and deadlines.
Sound judgment and the ability to make timely decisions in complex or ambiguous situations.
Advanced proficiency with MS Office applications, particularly Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.
Demonstrated initiative, accountability, and meticulous attention to detail.
Ability to work occasional evenings or weekends and travel as required.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in business, communication, marketing, or an engineering-related discipline.
Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) certifications and/or continued education in proposal related subjects.
Proposal experience in one or more of the following markets: nuclear decommissioning, emergency management, disaster recovery, environmental remediation, A/E, construction, or base operations support.
Experience developing and coaching oral presentations for competitive federal procurements.
Experience using approved AI-enabled tools to support proposal planning, content development, editing, compliance, or quality assurance.

Responsibilities

Lead the full proposal lifecycle—from initial planning and kickoff through development, reviews, production, oral presentations, and final submission—with no oversight.
Partner with capture managers and solution leads to translate capture strategy and technical solutions into clear win themes, discriminators, and persuasive proposal content.
Develop and maintain the Proposal Execution Plan, including the schedule, outline, assignments, milestones, review cycles, action items, and production requirements.
Lead effective storyboarding, solutioning, kickoff, daily status, and color-team review meetings (i.e., Pink Team, Red Team, Gold Team, etc.).
Coordinate and manage contributions from subject matter experts, writers, graphic designers, schedulers, estimators, procurement professionals, contracts professionals, consultants, and other proposal-team members.
Develop original, customer-focused proposal content using source materials and interviews with technical personnel; adapt approved existing boilerplate when appropriate.
Conceptualize and develop strategic win themes, discriminators, executive summaries, and other high-impact messaging.
Create and maintain detailed compliance matrices and ensure all solicitation requirements are addressed.
Monitor solicitation amendments, questions, and answers, and other modifications, incorporating applicable changes into the proposal strategy, schedule, compliance matrix, and response documents.
Conduct quality reviews across all sections and volumes to ensure responsiveness, compliance, accuracy, consistency, readability, and effective visual presentation.
Own proposal compliance and quality through all stages of the proposal, including delivery.
Maintain and improve proposal libraries, reusable content, source documents, templates, and lessons learned.
Use approved internal AI tools to improve proposal-development efficiency while complying with company confidentiality, data-handling, and quality-control requirements.
Mentor new and junior proposal staff.
Support other proposal team priorities as business needs require.
Although not extensive, some travel and evening and weekend work is required during peak proposal periods to meet critical deadlines.