Proposal Manager

Mitel

1d•Remote

About The Position

At Mitel, you will have the opportunity to help businesses connect, collaborate and provide better experiences for our customers. You will deliver valuable contributions in creating business success within our global organization utilizing your unique attributes, skills and experience. The Proposal Manager will be responsible for delivering quality writing that is compelling, on point with the win strategy, and meet compliance for best practices and RFPs. The position requires an ability to assimilate large volumes of information, understand technical/operational and environmental issues and standards, and complete work under pressure to meet deadlines. Proposal manager is responsible for managing the overall proposal effort, ensuring compliance with the requests for proposal and responsiveness to the client’s requirements Individual should have experience in all phases of proposal development including: preparation, revision, submission, gathering input from other departments, internal reviews, and coordination with upper management, contractors, etc. The ability to anticipate problems, develop solutions, and work with strong personalities is paramount. This is a Bid Manager position. The Global Bid Manager role supports the Mitel Global Sales teams in the U.S. and Canada as well as Mitel’s Authorized Partners to develop and deliver fully vetted, Mitel branded, highest quality, competitive RFx responses that align with commercial objectives. This role will implement processes that support continuous improvement and best practices from pre-proposal planning through proposal submission. This person will lead virtual and cross-functional teams to ensure timely delivery of RFP content, identify and support resolution of issues, and gain approvals from stakeholders as needed. The ideal candidate will bring a detail-driven approach, strong communication and leadership skills, and a solid understanding of bid management and working with global proposal teams. Responsible for and manages national and international proposal projects in the system and solution business, guiding them to a bid decision and proposal approval at the corporate management level. Projects of this type are typically characterized by: - Customer or proposal projects with very high requirements regarding the technical structure and/or customer structure (e.g., complex and multilayered corporate structures of the customer) - Projects with high to very high order volumes - Projects with high to very high risk. Mitel is a global market leader in business communications, powering more than two billion business connections with our cloud, enterprise and next-gen collaboration applications. With more than 70 million users in nearly 100 countries, Mitel is the only company that wakes up every day exclusively focused on helping customers take their communications from where they are today to where they expect them to be.

Requirements

8+ years in large proposal management, preferably within the HiTech / Cloud industry
Self-starter with superior project management skills; able to prioritize tasks, track projects and meet urgent deadlines
Highly organized, demonstrate initiative, and be able to extract key technical and services information from busy professionals
Demonstrated strength in analyzing and interpreting bid requirements
Excellent in drafting, writing, grammar including proofing and editing
Self-directed and motivated; can resolve practical problems
Manage multiple projects well despite stress and frequent interruptions
Customer Focused
Advanced knowledge of MS Office
Solid working knowledge of MS Project, and FrontPage
Attention to detail, high value for accuracy
Strong interpersonal, leadership and presentation skills for interacting with team members and clients
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, self-starter
Detail-driven approach
Strong communication and leadership skills
Solid understanding of bid management and working with global proposal teams

Responsibilities

Manage the activities associated with the Request for Proposal (RFP) process ensuring the highest quality of service is provided with emphasis on quality, consistency, accuracy, efficiency, customization, and presentation
Assisting internal departments in the development of RFP responses, providing follow-up assistance and expertise when needed to support the sales cycle
Reviews each RFP for confirmation of level of bid qualification, preparedness, and strategic issues that may require special consideration
Maintaining up-to-date knowledge of the Company’s technologies, clients, and business divisions in order to assist in the RFP process
Participating in the activities involved in the quality resolution of issues or concerns associated with the RFP process ensuring following through to resolution
Tracking all Win/Loss information to help evaluate the performance of our sales process
Coordinating assigned projects independently and with strict adherence to detailed customer specifications
Act as a consultant and provides guidance and direction in support of proposal efforts outside the proposal management group
Lead proposal coordinator in coordinating bid responses
Assist account teams and sales management to determine strategic direction and key messaging of responses
Review requests for proposals; develops proposal plans, outlines and schedules; and prepares questions for the potential client
Attend pre bid review meetings
Form proposals teams by involving various members across the different departments including Procurement, Marketing, Finance, Project Management, Operations, Services, Legal and R&D
Team lead virtual cross-functional proposal response teams
Assist in creating proposal milestones and responsibility matrix
Final Writing, editing and reviewing proposal content for message, logic, and impact
Obtain all needed executive approvals for non-standard commitments
Interface directly with Sales Directors, senior management if required to resolve issues that may arise during a proposal response
Maintain accurate records of each proposal for detailed reporting
Reviews proposal draft and final versions for responsiveness to RFP, thoroughness, accuracy, staffing, financial considerations, quality and effective design and layout
Ensure all proposals are produced and submitted on-time with high quality and in accordance with all Mitel’s standards
After each proposal submission, the proposal manager leads post-proposal efforts such as contract start up briefings and lesson learned staff meetings
Monitors and facilitates lessons learned and client debriefing to tailor and improve the proposal process
Supports the Mitel Global Sales teams in the U.S. and Canada as well as Mitel’s Authorized Partners to develop and deliver fully vetted, Mitel branded, highest quality, competitive RFx responses that align with commercial objectives
Implement processes that support continuous improvement and best practices from pre-proposal planning through proposal submission
Lead virtual and cross-functional teams to ensure timely delivery of RFP content, identify and support resolution of issues, and gain approvals from stakeholders as needed
Manages national and international proposal projects in the system and solution business, guiding them to a bid decision and proposal approval at the corporate management level
Analyze bids to identify key/mandatory requirements, risks, and opportunities
Influence bid/no bid decisions based on client requirements, risk, workload, win chances, and client relationship
Establish proposal kick-off call and facilitate ongoing status calls with internal Mitel teams and Mitel Partners
Manage the proposal effort by creating a bid plan and enforcing adherence to the plan
Act as liaison for consolidation of clarification questions and response inputs
Engage contract managers and senior management when necessary to assess risks and gain stakeholder reviews and approvals as needed
Produce final output to end customer when Mitel is prime
Act as liaison for Mitel content to Partner when Partner is prime
Ensure proposal compliance and responsiveness, win strategy and key messaging, and overall quality of all deliverables
Maintain full control of bid documentation, ensuring accuracy and version control throughout the lifecycle
Protect Mitel’s intellectual property and confidential information
Ensure strong and consistent branding and develop customized executive summaries
Conduct team content reviews
Review and address with stakeholders and the Contracts Management Team non-standard terms and conditions and obtain necessary executive level approvals
Ensure all pricing activities are completed according to the proposal schedule
Engage the Commercial Deals Desk to work with the sales/engineering teams to determine pricing strategy
Work with sales/engineering teams on completion of Deal Review Template and ensure proper pricing approvals are obtained before bid submittal
Create and manage proposal outlines, kick-off documentation, and proposal deliverables
Contact person for sales and business partners for bid related issues
Provide weekly updates / reports to manager on current bid opportunities
Track proposal status until you receive a win/loss notification
Management of the virtual bid team
Lead internal proposal debriefs for process improvements
Contribute any new bid content to the Knowledge Management Team for reusable knowledge databases