Project Manager - Proposals

The Project Manager, Proposals leads assigned proposals from opportunity kickoff through final submission and closeout. This role coordinates multiple concurrent proposals across sites and functions, establishes schedules and responsibilities, and drives timely completion of compliant, high-quality submissions. Serving as the central point of coordination, the Project Manager, Proposals maintains visibility of progress, facilitates reviews and approvals, and escalates risks early. 

Responsibilities:

• Manage proposal development across sites and business units, balancing priorities, contributor availability, and customer deadlines. Review solicitation requirements, deliverables, evaluation criteria, and submission instructions; develop compliance matrices and proposal plans as appropriate.
• Lead kickoff meetings to align scope, responsibilities, strategy, bid/no-bid considerations, and submission plans. Coordinate cross-functional contributions to resolve gaps and align content with customer requirements and win strategy; escalate and document no-bid recommendations through established approval processes.
• Maintain schedules with clear owners, dependencies, and deadlines for technical and cost inputs, pricing, reviews, approvals, and submission. Monitor and document progress daily, identify missing inputs and schedule risks, coordinate recovery plans, and escalate unresolved issues.
• Coordinate gate and proposal reviews, including materials, scheduling, and required reviewer and approver attendance. Document decisions, consolidate feedback, and confirm revisions, approval conditions, and submission, branding, style, and quality requirements are satisfied before release.
• Coordinate authorized final submission and retain confirmation. Maintain SharePoint folders, version control, review records, final submissions, and approval documentation, keeping proposal records aligned with Salesforce and other applicable systems.
• Complete proposal closeout, capture lessons learned, and contribute approved reusable content and workflow improvements. Use approved AI-assisted proposal tools, verify generated output against source material, and obtain appropriate subject-matter review before use.

Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Communications, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Five or more years of experience managing proposals, preferably in aerospace and defense, manufacturing, or another technical product environment.
• Strong knowledge of the proposal lifecycle, including solicitation analysis, compliance, cross-functional reviews, gate approvals, and final submission.  Demonstrated ability to manage concurrent proposals, establish realistic schedules, coordinate contributors across functions or sites, and escalate risks effectively.
• Excellent project management, organizational, communication, and meeting facilitation skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and tight deadlines.  Familiarity with coordinating technical inputs, cost estimates, pricing reviews, and management approvals.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. Experience with Salesforce, SharePoint, and proposal or task management systems preferred.
• Experience with AI-assisted proposal tools, reusable content libraries, or workflow improvements is a plus.
• Familiarity with APMP proposal management methodologies preferred; APMP certification is a plus but is not required.