Quote & Proposal Manager

Allocor Tech•Crozet, VA

2d•$90,000 - $120,000•Onsite

About The Position

Allocor.tech designs and manufactures mission-critical power electronics and avionics including motor controllers, battery management systems, power distribution, flight control, and flight termination systems for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAS/UAM) and unmanned maritime platforms. Our customers are leaders in advanced air mobility, uncrewed aircraft, and electric watercraft. The team brings deep experience from organizations including Northrop Grumman, L3Harris, Sierra Space, and Aurora Flight Sciences. We are a team of approximately 35 people generating roughly $10M in annual revenue. We recently closed a $6.0M Series A and are projecting 100–200% revenue growth over the next year as we scale production, expand our customer base, and professionalize the business beyond its engineering-led roots. This is a pivotal moment: we are building the technical depth and process rigor required to support rapid, disciplined growth while protecting the speed and agility that got us here. The Quote & Proposal Manager will own the end-to-end management of all active quotes, ROMs, and formal proposals at Allocor.tech. This is a high-impact role for a commercially sharp, technically fluent professional who thrives in a fast-moving aerospace environment and wants real ownership of the quote-to-order pipeline. You will act as the critical bridge between engineering, operations, supply chain, and customers—translating complex technical capabilities into accurate, competitive, and profitable proposals while protecting margin, schedule, and customer trust. Success in this role directly enables Allocor.tech’s rapid growth trajectory.

Requirements

5+ years of direct experience managing complex technical quotes, proposals, or estimates in a manufacturing, aerospace, electronics, or defense environment.
Proven ability to operate effectively in a high-velocity, resource-constrained, start-up or small-company setting with shifting priorities.
Demonstrated success coordinating cross-functional teams (engineering, operations, supply chain, finance) without direct authority.
Strong analytical skills with the ability to build and defend cost models, identify cost drivers, and communicate commercial implications clearly.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills—able to distill technical complexity into customer-ready language and internal action plans.
High attention to detail and comfort managing multiple concurrent deadlines under pressure.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience quoting or proposing power electronics, motor controllers, avionics, embedded systems, or similar complex electromechanical products.
Familiarity with aerospace/defense contracting practices, FAR/DFARS considerations, ITAR, or export compliance as they affect quoting and pricing.
Experience with ERP/MRP systems, CRM tools, or quote management platforms.
Understanding of New Product Introduction (NPI) cost structures, NRE estimation, and staged design milestones.
Prior work in a small or mid-sized growth company where process ownership and pragmatism matter more than large-team bureaucracy.
PMP or formal proposal/estimating training a plus.

Responsibilities

Own the complete active quote pipeline: intake, prioritization, tracking, status visibility, aging management, and forecast reporting of all RFQs, ROMs, and formal proposals.
Lead development of accurate cost estimates and pricing packages by coordinating technical inputs from hardware, firmware, systems, and manufacturing engineering.
Partner with engineering, business development, and program leads to gather technical specifications, define scope of work, and build level-of-effort and staffing estimates.
Translate customer requirements (drawings, specifications, performance needs, and contractual language) into clear statements of work, assumptions, exclusions, and risk registers.
Drive cross-functional quote reviews to validate technical feasibility, lead times, NRE, material risk, and cost drivers before submission.
Translate complex software and systems capabilities into clear, compelling proposal language for both technical evaluators and non-technical stakeholders across government, defense, and commercial customers.
Manage proposal schedules end-to-end kickoff, color-team reviews, compliance checks, coordinating inputs from multiple contributors to ensure on-time, compliant submission.
Maintain a library of reusable proposal content, boilerplate technical narratives, past-performance write-ups, and templates.
Track win/loss outcomes and debrief feedback, feeding lessons learned back into future proposals and templates.
Ensure proposals meet customer and regulatory requirements, including DoD/FAR-DFARS solicitation instructions, FAA considerations, and ITAR/EAR export control handling of technical data.
Develop and maintain pricing models that balance competitiveness with target margins; recommend strategic pricing based on opportunity value, competitive landscape, capacity, and risk.
Build cost estimates, pricing models, and bills of materials/labor in coordination with finance and engineering & program management, aligned to the appropriate contract type (FFP, T&M, CPFF).
Identify and mitigate commercial and technical risks early; document assumptions and constraints so awarded work transitions cleanly into program execution.
Provide clear pipeline metrics and forecast visibility to leadership (quote volume, win/loss, aging, projected book value, and margin outlook).
Serve as the primary point of contact for customers on quote-related questions, clarifications, revisions, and status updates building trust and reducing friction.
Partner daily with engineering, program management, operations, supply chain, and finance to ensure quotes are technically sound, commercially viable, and executable.
Support clean handoff of won quotes into order entry, program kickoff, and production planning.
Continuously improve quoting processes, templates, tools, data hygiene, and cycle time as the company scales production and customer volume.
Support program managers with scheduling, milestone tracking, and status reporting across active drone software programs.
Coordinate cross-functional meetings across engineering, QA, customers, and subcontractors; maintain action-item logs and drive items to closure.
Assist in preparing and maintaining program documentation: statements of work, deliverable trackers, risk registers, and change orders.
Monitor program budgets and hours versus plan, and flag schedule or cost variances to program leadership early.
Serve as the connective tissue between business development, engineering, and program management, ensuring a clean handoff from proposal and contract award into program execution.
Support customer-facing communications, including status updates, meeting minutes, and follow-up on open action items.