Proposal Manager

McLean, VA, US

Who is Saliense?

Saliense is a growing Management and Technology Consulting Solutions provider based out of Mclean, VA. We work to solve our client’s toughest challenges within the Defense, Civilian, Financial, and Healthcare industries. Our diverse employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. For more information, visit

Why Saliense?

In addition to providing a fun, energetic environment that promotes innovation and personal growth, we offer excellent compensation packages with plenty of opportunities for advancement. We pay 100% of the premiums for employee Healthcare, including medical, dental, and vision. We offer a 401K match, and all company contributions are 100% vested immediately. Since we believe in work-life balance so much, we offer 20 days of paid leave per year. Use it as you need it or use it all at once and go travel for a month! We are proud to offer parental leave.

Job Summary:

The Proposal Manager will lead and manage the full life cycle proposal process from Pre-Proposal Phase through Post Proposal Phase, including but not limited to, producing a compliance matrix and proposal schedule, assigning deliverables, and managing the technical writing team and graphic designer, creating proposal response outlines, ensuring technical solution sessions, drafting non-technical sections, compiling and editing supplied content, and scheduling and leading the kickoff meeting, stand-up meetings, and color reviews.

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Analyze solicitations, identify all requirements, and develop items including, but not limited to proposal schedule, response outline, compliance matrix, kick-off coordination, and others.

• Develop writer’s matrix and allocate work assignments to technical and graphics teams.

• Assist in organizing and conducting solution meetings to establish win strategy, technical solution, win themes, discriminators, compliance, and clear understanding of the requirements that are well-articulated and consistent throughout final proposal documents.

• Draft non-technical sections, compile and edit supplied content, and schedule and lead stand-up meetings and color reviews.

• Participate in capture planning and strategy development and work closely with the Capture Manager, Operations, Contracts, Pricing, and external teammates and/or subcontractors to produce the final response document and follow up on customer requests under strict deadlines.

• Manage proposal schedule for internal deliverables to meet overall proposal deadline.

• Coordinate with internal and external points of contact to procure data and deliverables to incorporate into proposal responses. 

• Coordinate with external teaming partners on pricing, resumes, technical, management, or other related content.

• Ensure that all received proposal content is incorporated into a cohesive and persuasive format.

• Proofread, edit, and format narratives, resumes, and project descriptions.

• Respond promptly to RFP amendments and implement required changes to the proposal.

• Ensure win strategy, technical solution, win themes, discriminators, compliance, and clear understanding of the requirements are well-articulated and consistent throughout final proposal documents.

• Conduct proposal reviews for overall quality and adherence to internal best practices and federal procurement guidelines and regulations.  

• Coordinate and participate in proposal color reviews and manage overall proposal volumes.

• Maintain compliance with the company brand standards. 

• Ensures best practices and techniques are used in the development of the proposal.

• Manage multiple proposals and related tasks with sometimes rapid turnaround deadlines, balancing milestones, and due dates - document, publish, and follow-up on action items from proposal meetings.

• Keep current on government regulations and commercial trends including adhering to compliance with Federal regulations, as required.

• As needed, develop targeted questions and interview technical and program management staff to extract critical information necessary to develop technical and managerial solutions.

• Monitor and remain current on all amendments and modifications to the solicitation, and/or additional information necessary to obtain and provide updates to bid team.

• Support other Proposal Operations activities (e.g., content databases, SharePoint library management) as needed, and manage collaborative workspace (SharePoint) to maintain document control.

• Collect and provide feedback and lessons learned to help improve the quality of proposal responses, boilerplate content, tools, and processes as part of proposal closeout.

Required Skills/Abilities:

• Bachelor’s Degree in English or related field.

• At least 5+ years of Federal government proposal management, volume lead, support, and/or writing experience.

• Excellent writing, organizational, and communication skills are a must .

• Experience leading and supporting proposals with a wide variety of solicitation size , complexity, and submission window.

• Understanding of, and experience with, the Federal procurement process and regulations.

• Experience with IDIQ and or task order proposals.

• Evidence of a successful track record of high quality, high scoring proposals

• Ability to work to meet deadlines (nights, weekends, and holidays at times)

• Ability to develop and/or assist technical and capture personnel in developing compelling themes, discriminators, and messaging.

• Ability to work well both in a team and independently.

• Up-to-date knowledge of marketing, editing, graphic design, and other relevant proposal best practices.

• Experience leading/managing color team reviews.

• Excellent proposal and project management skills with the ability to manage diverse proposal teams of various sizes and interface with executive management.

• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.

• Fluency with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), SharePoint, and Teams.

***Saliense Consulting LLC provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.