Business Development & Proposal Manager

Business Development & Proposal Manager

GFT is seeking a Business Development & Proposal Manager to provide leadership across Florida and Georgia within our Transportation, Construction Services, and Buildings & Places markets. This high-impact role is designed for a strategic AEC business development leader who drives the full lifecycle of growth — from client service team engagement and pipeline development to capture planning, proposal leadership, and interview execution. With deep expertise in FDOT, GDOT, and Florida and Georgia municipal procurement environments, you will serve as a trusted BD Partner to client service teams, partner in capture strategy for key pursuits, oversee complex multi-disciplinary proposals, and guide interviews and presentations.

This position also includes direct management of BD staff, with responsibility for setting performance expectations, managing resources across offices, and building a high-performing team aligned with regional growth objectives. We are looking for a proven AEC BD leader with demonstrated success managing Florida- and Georgia-based teams, aligning markets and practices across geographies, and translating client intelligence into compelling win strategies that consistently deliver results. This position can be located at either our Orlando, Tampa or Fort Lauderdale offices!

At GFT, we're not just pursuing projects—we're strategically capturing opportunities that shape our communities. The Strategic Growth Office is the engine behind GFT's enterprise-wide growth. It fuels our most significant pursuits by aligning talent, insights, and strategy to win complex, high-impact projects. From vision through delivery, we partner across all Business Groups to develop compelling, competitive proposals that reflect our core values and technical excellence.

What you'll be challenged to do:

• Provide direct business development support to clients, markets, and practices, including collaboration with Market and Practice Leaders.
• Responsible for writing, updating, and maintaining BD collateral to ensure consistency and relevance.
• Contributes to internal BD meetings and represents the firm at relevant conferences and industry events.
• Coordinate with the MarCom team ensures integrated messaging across campaigns and initiatives.

• Possesses deep knowledge of the full business development lifecycle—including capture planning, proposal management, and interviews—and may be responsible for training others in these areas.
• Lead working groups focused on continuous improvement
• Accountable for maintaining accurate business data for their assigned area (client, market, business group, or practice).
• Refine BD processes ensures consistent quality and operational efficiency across the team.
• Use approved AI tools (such as ChatGPT) to support writing, research, and proposal efficiency, and collaborate with others to explore and implement new use cases for AI that enhance business development performance.

• Serve as BD Partner for multiple Tier I clients
• Actively participate in Client Service Team (CST) meetings and help manage client pipelines in partnership with operations teams. This support may extend to Tier II CSTs at the market, practice, or BG level, and includes participation in client meetings and external sales efforts.
• Conduct in-depth research on client histories, CIPs, budgeting documents, and public communications to inform CST strategy.
• Lead the development of client-specific marketing campaigns—coordinating with the MarCom team to ensure alignment with broader strategic initiatives—and assist in the creation of materials for client meetings and capability briefings.

• Serve as a strategic leader in pre-proposal and capture planning efforts, guiding top business group (BG) priority pursuits—including those involving alternative delivery methods.
• Serve as Proposal Manager during the proposal phase and is a key member of capture teams across all capture plans within their practice or region.
• Provide mentorship to Proposal Managers on standard-level capture strategies, helping to elevate pursuit quality across the team.
• Collaborate closely with Capture Managers and assess pursuit complexity and determine appropriate level of effort and anticipated hours for team members.
• Facilitate kick-off and update meetings
• Identify and validate win themes and strategic messaging that align with client priorities.
• Support teaming efforts by coordinating internal and external partnerships to strengthen the firm's competitive position.

• Oversee major, standard, and agile-level pursuits.
• Lead Top Corporate Pursuits (TCPs), major and priority pursuits, and alternative delivery efforts.
• Verify and document RFP compliance
• Manage complex, multi-category proposals that involve collaboration across BD teams.
• Conduct peer compliance reviews across all pursuit levels—including those led by other teams.
• Participate in client-held pre-proposal meetings and debriefs to inform future strategy and enhance proposal effectiveness.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive proposal plans, review assigned BD staff work, and provide feedback to support continuous improvement.
• Review and advise on proposal budgets to ensure appropriate resource allocation.
• Assist with teaming outreach and relationship development to support long-term partnerships.

• Develop and articulate key win themes and strategic messages that underpin proposal narratives.
• Lead author for executive summaries and non-technical sections across TCPs, top BG priorities, and major and standard pursuits.
• Integrate capture planning insights and proposal strategy into client-centric messaging.
• Critique technical sections to ensure alignment with win strategies and provide thoughtful feedback to enhance clarity, consistency, and impact.

• Lead interview development for TCPs, BG priority pursuits, and major-level interviews.
• Provide strategic guidance to Senior Proposal Specialists and Proposal Managers on standard and major-level pursuits, helping teams craft clear, consistent messaging.
• Work closely with the interview team to develop presentation content, coach presenters, and ensure win themes are effectively communicated throughout.
• In collaboration with graphic designers, they help visually translate messages into compelling graphics and visuals that support the team's narrative.

• Foster strong working relationships across stakeholder groups—including Capture Managers, BD colleagues, Client Service Leaders (CSLs), BG leadership, and market executives
• Manage relationships with external partners such as teaming firms and marketing collaborators.
• Lead cross-functional proposal teams on pursuits ranging from agile to the most complex, priority-level projects.
• Provide strategic oversight, resolve project-related conflicts, and ensure team alignment with organizational goals.
• Guide Proposal Managers and Senior Proposal Managers on leadership development and proposal strategy as a coach and mentor.

• May be responsible for setting and promoting people management best practices, collaborating with BD&M leadership to define team development strategies.
• Manage workload through resource planning tools
• Ensure quality and balance across teams.
• Develop training programs, performance management, and professional growth support for direct reports—which may include Proposal Specialists at various levels and senior team members.

What you will bring to our firm:

• Normally, a 4-year degree in English, Marketing, Journalism, Communications, or applicable field - or comparable experience - is required.
• Normally 10+ years of total combined experience in the full lifecycle of business development (marketing, communications, client, capture, and proposal phases)
• Minimum of 3 years of demonstrated experience supporting, facilitating, and participating in capture planning support
• Demonstrated success in taking opportunities successfully from capture support though and including successfully performing all phases of proposal management responsibilities.
• Demonstrated experience and detailed understanding of the business development lifecycle phases; marketing, client accounts, capture, proposals and interviews
• Normally would have completed some continuing education/professional association training relevant to business development in the AEC industry

Compensation: The salary range for this role is $110,000 - $135,000. Salary is dependent upon experience and geographic location.

Featured Benefits: • Hybrid (in-person and remote) work environment.• Comprehensive benefits package including wellness programs, parental leave, and pet insurance, in addition to medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance.• Tax-deferred 401(k) savings plan.• Competitive paid-time-off (PTO) accrual.• Tuition reimbursement for continued education.• Commitment to professional development, access to internal and external training programs, and support of active participation in professional organizations• Incentive compensation for eligible positions.

Location: Orlando; Tampa; Fort Lauderdale Core Business Hours: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Employment Status: Full-Time