Proposal Writer - Defense

Applied Intuition•Arlington, VA

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

Applied Intuition is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion, the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems, and autonomy. Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers, as well as the United States military and its allies, trust the company’s solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in Washington, D.C.; San Diego; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; London; Stuttgart; Munich; Stockholm; Bangalore; Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at applied.co . We are an in-office company, and our expectation is that employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However, we also recognize the importance of flexibility and trust our employees to manage their schedules responsibly. This may include occasional remote work, starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office, or leaving earlier when needed to accommodate family commitments. About the role The Proposal Writer is the hands-on-keyboard person who translates capture strategy, technical inputs, and customer requirements into compliant, compelling written products. Reporting to the Head of Growth, you will be responsible for drafting direct-to-customer proposals, responses to RFPs, Statements of Work (SOWs), Basis of Estimates (BoEs), technical documentation, and other customer-facing materials that enable Applied Intuition to win and execute defense contracts. You are a writer first, someone who can take complex technical concepts from engineering teams and turn them into clear, scannable, customer-focused narratives that address evaluation criteria and win themes. You work cross-functionally with BD, engineering, delivery, and product teams to pull what you need, push back when inputs are unclear, and produce proposal sections that are compliant, compelling, and on time. We’re looking for someone with startup energy who can operate both within a team and independently.

Requirements

BA/BS in English, Communications, Technical Writing, Engineering, or a related field
3–8 years of proposal writing, technical writing, grant writing, or related experience
Demonstrated ability to write Statements of Work, technical specifications, or similar structured technical documents and compelling, customer-focused proposals under tight deadlines and while managing multiple efforts simultaneously
Comfortable working directly with BD, and the technical fluency to translate complex technical concepts from delivery, engineering, and product teams
Bias toward action and self-starting mentality and a rigorous attention to detail and compliance

Nice To Haves

Government contracting fluency. Familiarity with RFP structures, evaluation criteria, FAR/DFARS, and DoD procurement processes without being dogmatic about “how it’s always been done”
Experience writing proposals or technical documentation for defense, aerospace, or similarly regulated industries
Hybrid background spanning both traditional defense primes and startup/scale-up environments
U.S. citizenship and eligibility to obtain a Secret or Top Secret security clearance

Responsibilities

Draft and edit proposals from first draft through final submission, including executive summaries, technical volumes, management volumes, past performance narratives, staffing plans, resumes, and other required sections
Collaborate with Engineering, Product, Delivery, and Solutions teams and translate technical capabilities and engineering inputs into clear, customer-facing language that addresses evaluation criteria and speaks to government customer pain points
Ensure proposals are compliant with solicitation instructions, evaluation factors, page limits, formatting requirements, required attachments, and submission rules
Draft Statements of Work with clear deliverables, milestones, and acceptance criteria that align with technical approaches and pricing structures
Develop Rough Order of Magnitudes (ROMs) and pricing proposals, milestone-based pricing structures, and Basis of Estimates narratives in collaboration with contracts and engineering teams