Senior Proposal Manager

Appian•McLean, VA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Proposal Manager leads a regional team of proposal professionals and supports Appian’s enterprise sales growth by overseeing proposal strategy and execution. The role combines people leadership, resource planning, strategic partnership with regional sales executives, and direct management of complex or high-value proposals. It also drives improvements to proposal processes, content strategy, compliance, and technology adoption. The Appian Proposal Team is a global function supporting growth in the AI-Powered Process Automation market. It partners with Sales, Legal, and Technical teams to communicate Appian’s technology and value proposition in competitive enterprise and public-sector bids. The position is based onsite in McLean, Virginia.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree; degrees in writing-intensive fields such as English, Communications, or Business are preferred.
At least 8 years of direct proposal development experience in a fast-paced corporate environment.
At least 5 years of direct public-sector proposal development experience.
Thorough understanding of U.S. federal and state/local government procurement processes.
Demonstrated ability to motivate, lead, and develop high-performing teams while applying rigorous RFP and proposal lifecycle best practices.
Exceptional professional writing, editing, document formatting, and executive stakeholder communication skills.
High proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Google Suite, enterprise CRM systems, and dedicated proposal management systems such as Ombud, Loopio, or Responsive/RFPIO.
Experience working complex deal captures.
Proven experience leading strategic change management, technology adoption, or process optimization within a sales operations ecosystem.
Experience with enterprise SaaS platforms or Federal Systems Integrators.

Responsibilities

Lead, coach, and mentor a regional team of proposal professionals, including performance management, career mapping, hiring, and continuous enablement.
Manage regional workloads, staffing assignments, and resource allocation to support balanced utilization and high-quality proposal execution.
Partner with regional sales leadership and stakeholders to anticipate proposal-support needs and align efforts with regional revenue targets.
Directly manage complex or high-value proposal efforts when workload or deal complexity requires senior-level intervention.
Oversee content- and knowledge-management repositories and improve reusable proposal collateral and boilerplate materials.
Lead organizational planning, workforce development, and strategic initiatives involving proposal processes, compliance, and tool adoption.