Senior Proposal Manager, SoCal Commercial GC (Employee Owned Company + Cosential)

Overview What if you could stop being siloed into one market sector and actually run full pursuits again, at an employee-owned commercial GC that's building its next chapter rather than protecting the last one? This is a newly created Senior Proposal Manager seat at a 100% employee-owned Southern California general contractor scaling toward $1B+ in annual revenue. Pave Talent is hiring on behalf of our client, a 100% employee-owned (ESOP) commercial general contractor with multiple offices across Southern California. They build across K-14 and higher education, healthcare, civic and public works, sports and entertainment, and hospitality, on projects ranging from $5M to $500M. Decades in business, industry-leading retention through the pandemic, and a leadership team executing a clear roadmap from today\'s mid-market base toward $1B+ in revenue. This is not a maintain-the-machine role. The proposal team is getting bombarded with pursuits as civic, public works, and education pipelines expand, and the company is intentionally rebuilding marketing and pursuits to support a $1B+ book of business. You\'ll come in with 1 to 2 direct reports to start, with real room to grow the function as hiring continues. The hiring team described the ideal profile in their own words as "another [our 14-plus year veteran Proposal Marketing Manager]," the internal gold standard. You\'ll report to the Director of Marketing, who has 14+ years in the industry and is known internally for mentorship and professional development. You\'ll partner directly with the VP of Civic and Public Works on large public sector pursuits, and collaborate with the CRO and VP of Estimating and Pre-Construction on interview strategy. The CEO personally weighs in on strategic hires like this one, which tells you how visible the seat is. Be honest with yourself. You\'re good at what you do. You might be at a top-tier GC where you\'ve built a reputation for winning hard pursuits, but your firm restructured and boxed you into a single market sector. Or you\'re at a shop where the proposal operation is already locked in and there is no blank-slate work left to shape. Here\'s the alternative: lead pursuits across education, healthcare, civic, entertainment, and special projects at a firm that is actively building its proposal organization, and do it at an ESOP where the equity you earn compounds with the growth you help drive. You\'ll join a tight-knit marketing team of 4 to 5 people based out of the greater Los Angeles area HQ (San Fernando Valley), with flexibility to rotate between the company\'s SoCal offices including LA, Orange County / Irvine, Ontario, and San Diego. First 2 months are fully on-site for onboarding with the existing proposal team. After that, hybrid flexibility of 2 to 3 remote days per week is available for proven performers. The company is also exploring a second office in the Glendale / Burbank / Pasadena corridor within the next 1 to 2 years, which may materially shorten commutes for candidates based on the east side of LA. Responsibilities Own the full pursuit lifecycle for assigned proposals, from go / no-go and capture planning through kickoff, win theme development, content creation, color reviews (pink, red, gold), compliance, production, and final hand-delivered submission Mentor and develop 1 to 2 junior coordinators, with the function expected to grow as the company scales toward $1B+ Partner with VP-level leaders across Public Works / Civic, Education, Healthcare, and Special Projects to shape pursuit strategy on $5M to $500M projects (typical civic group pursuits run $30M to $70M) Bring real creative craft to every submission. Templates are a starting point, not the ceiling. A recent high school pursuit was designed as a yearbook; the bar is that kind of original thinking Prepare interview teams for client presentations, including deck design, speaker coaching, and tailoring content to the specific selection committee Maintain Cosential (Unanet) as the source of truth for pursuit tracking, win/loss analysis, and institutional knowledge Qualifications 7+ years leading the full proposal lifecycle at a commercial general contractor or AEC firm. Not coordinating pieces; owning go / no-go through final delivery. This is the non-negotiable from the Director of Marketing. Daily proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop). You treat proposals as visual deliverables, not Word documents. Cosential (Unanet) experience strongly preferred. Other AEC proposal CRMs considered, but Cosential is what you\'ll use day one. Demonstrated team leadership. You\'ve mentored or directly managed coordinators and can hit the ground running with 1 to 2 reports. Portfolio of proposals you\'re proud to walk through. Expect to share examples during the interview. Experience at a top-tier commercial GC with a sophisticated, dedicated proposal department Background at an AE firm where pursuit process (RFQs, SOQs, color reviews, interview coaching) transfers directly Public works and civic project portfolio, especially in the $30M to $100M range Experience preparing interview teams, not only writing proposals Compensation and Location Base Salary: $105,000 to $150,000 depending on experience. The hiring team has already flexed to the top of the band for candidates they truly want. Bonus: Up to 6% of base annually, performance-based against 5 measurable goals you set with your manager. In practice, the majority of employees exceed expectations and receive full payout. Location: Primary office in the San Fernando Valley. Additional SoCal offices available for rotation (LA, OC / Irvine, Ontario, San Diego). Second office in Glendale / Burbank / Pasadena corridor under active consideration within the next 1 to 2 years. How to apply This is a confidential search. Your application is fully private and will only be shared with the client after a conversation with Pave Talent and your explicit approval. We will never surface your profile to shared contacts, and we will never represent you anywhere without your go-ahead. Apply via LinkedIn and we\'ll reach out to schedule a conversation. If this sounds close but not quite right, apply anyway; we\'re working on multiple AEC marketing and pursuits roles across Southern California and may have a better fit in our queue. #J-18808-Ljbffr Pave Talent