Proposal Writer (Remote)

Job Description

Job Description

Company Description

At Lakeshore, we create innovative learning materials and world-class guest experiences for teachers, parents and children. Since 1954, we’ve grown into a global community—with a thriving e-commerce business, multiple catalogs, over 50 stores, a peerless national sales force, plus international offices that support our preeminent supply chain division. But today we’re working better, smarter and faster than ever—and setting our sights even higher. We’re building an infrastructure designed for scalability, embracing data-driven decision-making and using technology to improve efficiency and ensure the best tools for the best work. Most importantly, we continue to invest in a diverse team of inquisitive top talent who fuel each other’s passions and curiosity, take risks, try new things and believe that every new day brings opportunities for growth.

Job Description

We are seeking a Proposal Writer to join our Bid team, where every bid we win puts Lakeshore materials into more classrooms. In this role, you will develop and rewrite persuasive content across complex bid responses, tailoring voice and depth of detail to reach the multiple audiences that secure new business. You will build and maintain the proposal templates and content library the rest of the Bid team works from—leveraging AI to develop it into new subject areas as Lakeshore opens into new business. You will drive new template formats and visual standards with our design team, identify opportunities to strengthen the proposal approach and implement those changes. And you will lead assigned bid responses end to end, from kickoff through final submission. 

A day on the job looks like this:

• Developing and rewriting persuasive content across complex bid responses—creating net-new narrative from technical and programmatic source material, and tailoring voice, tone and level of detail so the same information lands with bid evaluators, district decision-makers and senior leadership 
• Building and maintaining the proposal templates and content library the rest of the Bid team works from, creating new reusable content, keeping existing content accurate and current, and developing the library into new subject areas as Lakeshore opens into new business and new categories of work 
• Driving the development of new template formats and visual standards with our design team—leading the working sessions that set format and visual direction, and ensuring new templates are consistent, on-brand and effective across the team 
• Identifying opportunities to improve how proposals are built and implementing those changes with creative and the Bid team, analyzing where the current approach slows the team down or weakens responses, then building and rolling out the fix rather than waiting for it to be assigned 
• Leading assigned bid responses end to end, from kickoff through final submission, and managing the schedule across concurrent bids 
• Analyzing bid requirements and resolving input from sales, subject matter experts and creative to develop compliant proposal responses 
• Ensuring final responses are accurate and consistent in grammar, style, formatting and voice 

Qualifications

Got the skills and experience? Here’s what we’re looking for: 

Required: 

• 4+ years of experience in proposal writing, capture management or a similar role 
• 4+ years leading or coordinating projects with multiple stakeholders from start to finish 
• Bachelor’s degree in English, Communications, Journalism, Marketing, Business or a related field 
• Experience with RFP/RFQ response and proposal development processes end to end, including building and maintaining reusable content libraries and proposal templates 
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams—plus Adobe Acrobat Pro, TechSmith Snagit and AI writing and content tools 
• Availability to flex your schedule to meet submission deadlines, including occasional off-hours work 

Preferred

• 6+ years in proposal writing, capture management or a similar role 
• 6+ years leading projects with multiple stakeholders; experience in B2B sales support or RFP/RFQ response 
• Master’s degree, or a background in education, manufacturing, distribution or a related sector 
• Strong research skills, including effective use of digital research tools 

What sets you apart

• You exercise sound judgment independently when a situation is unfamiliar or there’s no established precedent to follow 
• You work across Sales, Creative and Leadership to bring differing input into a single aligned response 
• You identify what’s missing or could work better in the proposal approach and act on it, rather than waiting to be asked 

Additional Information

And here’s our end of the bargain!

For this position, new employees joining Lakeshore who live outside of Los Angeles and Orange Counties are typically brought into the organization at an hourly rate between $34.13-$47.84 depending on relevant experience & skillset.

This range is indicative of projected hiring range. The annual base compensation will take into account each candidate's relevant experience, location, and skillset.

• Bonus eligible
• Paid leave for new parents to support work/life balance and family bonding
• Excellent medical/dental and vision coverage—EPO, PPO and HSA
• 401(k) retirement plan with company contribution (because you will retire someday)
• Flexible benefits—choose what you like, ignore the rest
• On-site preschool for our employees’ children
• On-site employee gym for all levels/fitness needs
• Generous employee discount
• Casual dress…and we really mean it

At Lakeshore, we know our diversity makes us stronger, and when everyone feels included and valued, we all win. We strive to embrace our differences and create an intentionally diverse and inclusive community that is representative of the teachers, families and children we serve.

We know we couldn’t do the extraordinary things we’re doing without the people on our team. Thanks to the passion and enthusiasm of this spectacular group, Lakeshore is more than a great place to work—it’s a great experience to be part of. Day in and day out, we give everything we’ve got to create products that instill a sense of wonder and foster a true love of learning. To help maintain this high bar for success, we’re constantly on the lookout for people to join us. So if you’re a down-to-earth professional who shares our desire for making a difference, we’d love to hear from you. 

To learn more about Lakeshore, visit

Equal Employment Opportunity Policy
People are selected to become members of the Lakeshore family based on skill, merit and mind-boggling talent—not based on race, color, creed, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, marital status, domestic partnership status, military status, religion, age, national origin, ancestry, alienage, AIDS or AIDS-related complex status, genetic information, predisposition or carrier status, status as a victim of domestic violence, physical or mental disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. If things aren’t equal, we all lose.

To learn about how we collect and use Applicant information, please visit our Employee/Applicant Privacy Policy.

Lakeshore is an E-Verify employer. We use E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees.

Please see the E-Verify Participation Poster and Know Your Rights Poster in English and Spanish for more information. INDRLL1