Proposal Manager

Avian • Lexington Park, MD

11d • Hybrid

About The Position

AVIAN (pronounced a-v-yin) is seeking a Proposal Manager to support our Corporate Team and lead the development of high-impact federal and DoD proposals. In this role, you will guide planning, solutioning, and narrative development while partnering with growth teams to transform capture insights, technical strengths, and win themes into persuasive, compliant proposal products.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required (English, Communications, Journalism, Business, or related field preferred).
• Minimum 5+ years leading and writing federal and DoD proposals; 10+ years’ experience preferred for complex pursuits.
• Demonstrated success winning competitive government proposals.
• Strong command of Shipley or other industry-standard proposal development methodologies.
• Proven experience collaborating with BD and capture teams to integrate customer intelligence and win strategy into proposal content.
• Exceptional writing and editing capability—able to create clear, compelling narratives from technical material.
• Strong understanding of DoD organizations, terminology, mission areas, and acquisition processes.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint for large-document management and narrative development.
• Significant experience with SharePoint.
• Ability to work under tight deadlines, manage competing priorities, and coordinate with cross-functional teams.
• Experience conducting color team reviews and incorporating feedback into revised submissions.
• Ability to lead solutioning sessions and extract meaningful content from SMEs.
• Experience working in a team environment and supporting the success of the team’s goals.
• Due to the sensitivity of customer-related requirements, U.S. Citizenship is required.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with GovDash or other AI platform with regard to proposal development.
• Experience performing as Volume Lead and/or Proposal Manager on major federal proposals.
• Familiarity with government source selection processes.
• Advanced degree in English, Communications, Journalism, Business, or related field.
• Shipley, Lohfeld, or APMP training/certification.
• Experience integrating price-to-win into technical/management volumes.

Responsibilities

• Lead the full proposal lifecycle (pre-RFP through submission) for federal and DoD opportunities, ensuring compliance, quality, and alignment with capture strategy.
• Conduct requirements analysis, solutioning discussions, and compliance mapping using industry-standard processes (Shipley used).
• Develop or oversee the development of proposal schedules, outlines, compliance matrices, storyboards, and content plans.
• Work closely with BD and capture teams to understand customer needs, competitor landscape, program drivers, and solution differentiators.
• Manage proposal kickoff meetings, daily standups, and solutioning sessions to align all contributors.
• Coordinate all aspects of color team reviews (Pink, Red, Gold), including preparing review materials, collecting feedback, and managing recovery activities.
• Develop compelling, compliant, cost-competitive proposal content including management approaches, technical narratives, win themes, discriminators, and executive summaries.
• Integrate capture intelligence, past performance, and technical differentiators into narrative content.
• Research, interview, and partner with SMEs to translate technical inputs into polished proposal language.
• Tailor or repurpose existing content to meet specific solicitation requirements without sacrificing clarity or customer focus.
• Ensure consistency in tone, voice, structure, and visual formatting across volumes.
• Write, assess, and refine proposal content throughout the proposal process.
• Facilitate information flow among BD, capture, SMEs, subcontractors, and leadership.
• Utilization of SharePoint for document management, version control, and collaborative authoring.
• Coordinate teammate data calls, resumes, past performance inputs, and contractual requirements.
• Ensure all proposal elements meet evaluation criteria outlined in the RFP, including technical, management, past performance, and price volumes (in collaboration with pricing).
• Develop and maintain compliance matrices that guide proposal section assignments and internal reviews.
• Contribute to or support Price-to-Win methodologies through cost estimating, scenario modeling, competitive analysis, and integration of pricing insights into technical volumes.
• Ensure delivery of polished, error-free proposal submissions on schedule, sometimes requiring night/weekend work during surge periods.
• Maintain version control, quality control, and adherence to AVIAN branding and messaging.
• Support continuous improvement by capturing lessons learned and refining proposal processes and tools.

Benefits

• Employee Ownership
• Real Growth
• Purpose-Driven Work
• Culture of Collaboration
• Comprehensive Benefits Package: Designed to support your health, financial security, and overall well-being, our health and wellness benefits include medical, dental, and vision coverage, along with telemedicine services and a TRICARE supplement for veterans.
• Flexible Leave Benefits: we prioritize a balanced, supportive environment that allows you to thrive both personally and professionally and offer flexible and paid time off, 11 paid holidays, paid sick leave, maternity and bonding leave, and military training leave.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 251-500 employees