Senior Proposal Writer

Peraton•Herndon, VA

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Join Peraton's Proposal Content Development team and help shape the future of mission-critical government proposals. We are adding to our team of high-performing strategic thinkers who thrive in fast-paced, high-stakes environments and are passionate about winning. This role offers experienced proposal professionals the opportunity to work at a strategic level—collaborating with senior leaders and technical experts to craft winning content strategies before a single word is written. If you love the challenge of translating complex solutions into compelling, evaluator-focused narratives that drive competitive advantage, we want to hear from you. Position Overview The Senior Proposal Writer plays a key role in producing high‑quality, compliant, and compelling content for federal proposal responses. This position works across technical, management, staffing, resumes, past performance, and executive summary volumes. They also support volume leads, partners with SMEs and solution architects to develop proposal narratives, and mentor writers across the team as needed. The Senior Writer does not manage direct reports but guides content development standards in coordination and at the direction of the Director of Proposal Content Development. They are also responsible for ensuring consistent messaging across deliverables.

Requirements

Minimum of 8 years of experience in proposal development and/or professional content development/writing with a BS/BA (or 12 years of equivalent experience in lieu of degree).
5+ years experience supporting federal proposals, including technical and management volumes (or equivalent professional writing experience).
Deep understanding of the proposal development lifecycle
Strong ability to synthesize SME input into clear, compelling narrative.
Demonstrated understanding of federal RFP structures and compliance requirements.
Exceptional writing, editing, and critical-thinking skills.
Ability to handle multiple sections or volumes under tight deadlines.
Experience collaborating within a matrixed proposal environment.
Experience with AI writing tools and content automation.
TS/SCI clearance.
Local to Northern Virginia area and willing to work in the Herndon or Chantilly office 4 days a week (and as needed) for proposal support.
Experience working with solution architects, SMEs, and capture teams.
Familiarity with Shipley or similar proposal methodologies.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting large, complex proposals (>$100M+).
Ability to mentor other writers and provide constructive feedback.
Experience with content planning and storyboarding.
Strong interpersonal and collaboration skills; ability to work effectively with technical SMEs and senior leaders

Responsibilities

Develop proposal sections that are clear, consistent, aligned with win themes, and written to score well.
Ensure content adheres to RFP requirements and proposal standards.
Identify gaps, inconsistencies, and risks, and coordinate resolution with SMEs and volume leads.
Serve as a quality checkpoint for narrative sections across volumes.
Develop compliant and compelling proposal narratives for assigned sections.
Translate complex technical and management concepts into readable, customer‑focused narrative.
Support the creation of compelling value propositions and discriminators.
Integrate graphics concepts into the narrative and collaborate with graphics teams on development.
Partner with SMEs and solution architects to gather information and transform it into evaluator-friendly, strength-driving narratives.
Review and validate content plans to confirm they include all elements writers need: discriminators, themes, win themes, proof points, metrics, and compliance requirements.
Facilitate content sessions, interviews, and reviews to extract key messages, processes, and metrics.
Support volume leads by providing high‑quality drafts and guidance on content expectations.
Help drive consistency across contributions from multiple stakeholders.
Support the development and maintenance of standard content repositories, including reusable language, past performance summaries, and boilerplate sections.
Contribute to content libraries, templates, and style guides.
Identify opportunities to improve process efficiency and increase team-wide content maturity.
Mentor writers on structure, clarity, and persuasive writing.
Help improve proposal writing processes and best practices.
Support surge responses and large-scale proposals as needed.