Business Development Proposal Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Job Title: Proposal Manager Location: Remote (occasional travel as needed) Position Type: Full-Time Salary: $105,000 - $135,000 (commensurate with experience and qualifications)

Overview

Paragon is seeking a Proposal Manager to lead the development of high-quality, compliant, and visually polished task order responses across Polaris, OASIS+, MAS and similar vehicles. This role is responsible for driving proposal production from kickoff through submission, ensuring every response meets strict formatting, page count, and compliance requirements while maintaining a compelling, evaluator-friendly presentation.

The ideal candidate is a true Microsoft Word expert who can produce "white glove" deliverables under tight timelines. This individual is highly detail-oriented, thrives in fast-paced environments, and brings hands-on experience building and scaling AI-powered proposal workflows — including designing prompt libraries, configuring AI tools, and developing reusable content frameworks that accelerate development and improve quality. They must also be capable of independently producing rapid-turn responses such as MRAS and RFIs using existing corporate content and tools.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end proposal development, including kickoff, scheduling, content integration, reviews, and final submission.
• Own document production quality, ensuring proposals are visually consistent, professionally formatted, and fully compliant with solicitation requirements.
• Serve as the team's Microsoft Word authority, managing styles, templates, section breaks, headers/footers, TOCs, cross-references, and complex formatting issues.
• Enforce page limits, formatting rules, and submission requirements with precision.
• Develop and manage compliance matrices and ensure all RFP/RFQ instructions are addressed.
• Coordinate color team reviews (Pink, Red, Gold) and drive incorporation of feedback into final deliverables.
• Work closely with Capture Managers and Solution Architects to assemble complete, cohesive responses.
• Manage proposal schedules and ensure on-time delivery across multiple concurrent efforts.
• Create and refine reusable templates, boilerplate content, and standardized response structures.
• Design, build, and maintain AI-powered proposal workflows , including prompt libraries, content generation pipelines, compliance check automations, and reuse frameworks.
• Develop and curate a structured content library optimized for AI-assisted drafting, ensuring past performance narratives, solution descriptions, and boilerplate are tagged, versioned, and ready for AI retrieval and synthesis.
• Establish and document AI-augmented standard operating procedures for proposal drafting, editing, and review cycles, enabling repeatable efficiency gains across the team.
• Support light graphics integration, ensuring visuals align cleanly within the document.
• Maintain organized proposal files, version control, and document repositories.
• Manage proposal content within SharePoint, including document libraries, version control, permissions, and real-time collaboration across distributed teams.
• Establish and enforce SharePoint-based proposal workflows for draft control, review cycles, and final production.
• Independently develop MRAS and RFI responses by leveraging existing proposal artifacts, corporate templates, and internal tools, requiring minimal oversight.
• Rapidly synthesize prior content, past performance, and standard solution narratives into tailored, submission-ready responses.
• Identify content gaps and proactively coordinate with internal stakeholders to complete responses on accelerated timelines.

Key Qualifications and Experience

• 5+ years of experience managing federal proposals, preferably in a task order, GWAC, or IDIQ environment.
• Advanced Microsoft Word expertise required. Must be able to build and troubleshoot complex, submission-ready documents without external support.
• Proven ability to deliver high-quality proposals under tight deadlines with minimal errors.
• Strong understanding of federal solicitation structures and compliance requirements.
• Experience managing full proposal lifecycle, including schedules and review cycles.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple proposals simultaneously.
• Proven ability to independently produce MRAS, RFI, or sources sought responses using existing corporate materials and templates.
• Strong skill in content reuse, adaptation, and synthesis, turning fragmented inputs into cohesive responses.
• Demonstrated ability to operate with limited direction in fast-turn environments.
• Hands-on experience using SharePoint for proposal management, including document libraries, version control, permissions, and collaborative workflows.
• Experience working with AI tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, or similar platforms for proposal-specific or content-development use cases.
• Familiarity with structured content libraries and prompt frameworks that support consistent, high-quality AI-assisted drafting.

AI and Process Expectations

• Take an active role in building and improving AI-powered proposal systems — configuring tools, developing prompts, and refining workflows based on real proposal experience.
• Develop prompt engineering frameworks tailored to federal proposal requirements, including section-specific prompts, compliance checks, and content reuse logic.
• Build and maintain a living content library structured for AI retrieval, including past performance, corporate capabilities, standard methodologies, and differentiators.
• Establish measurable AI adoption benchmarks and track efficiency gains in draft turnaround time, content reuse rates, and compliance accuracy.
• Continuous improvement mindset toward proposal efficiency, quality, and turnaround time.

Preferred Qualifications

• APMP certification (Foundation or higher).
• Experience supporting Polaris, OASIS+, MAS, SEWP, or similar vehicles.
• Familiarity with CMMI Level 3 and ISO-aligned quality processes.
• Basic PowerPoint or Visio skills for integrating simple graphics.
• Familiarity with AI platforms relevant to proposal development (e.g., Claude, Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, or similar).
• Experience structuring knowledge bases or content repositories for AI-assisted retrieval and generation.

What Success Looks Like

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Metric

Target

Proposal quality

Submission-ready with minimal rework

Formatting accuracy

Near-zero errors

On-time delivery

100% compliance with deadlines

Page count compliance

100% adherence

Turnaround time

Consistently meets compressed schedules

MRAS/RFI turnaround

Independent, high-quality responses

Content reuse efficiency

High reuse with minimal rework

AI workflow buildout

Functional prompt library and content framework within 90 days

AI adoption

Measurable reduction in drafting time and rework