Job Title: Proposal Manager – IT Services (US Federal & SLED)
Location: Gurugram (Remote)
Employment Type: Full-Time
Position Overview:
We are seeking an experienced Proposal Manager to lead and manage the development of winning proposals for U.S. Federal Government and State, Local, and Education (SLED) opportunities. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience managing complex proposals for Information Technology Services, including responses to Federal, State, County, Municipal, Higher Education, K-12, and Public Sector solicitations.
The Proposal Manager will partner with Business Development, Capture Managers, Solution Architects, Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), Contracts, Pricing, and Executive Leadership to develop compliant, compelling, and competitive proposals that align with customer requirements and strategic growth objectives.
Key Responsibilities:
Proposal Management
- Lead the full proposal lifecycle from opportunity qualification through proposal submission and post-submission activities.
- Manage responses to RFPs, RFQs, RFIs, Sources Sought Notices, Task Orders, Invitations to Bid (ITBs), and cooperative purchasing opportunities.
- Develop proposal schedules, compliance matrices, outlines, storyboards, review plans, and submission strategies.
- Coordinate proposal kickoff meetings, status reviews, color team reviews, and executive briefings.
- Manage multiple concurrent proposals while ensuring adherence to deadlines, compliance requirements, and quality standards.
Federal & SLED Proposal Development
Analyze solicitation requirements and evaluation criteria to ensure fully compliant responses.
- Interpret Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), agency procurement policies, state procurement regulations, and public-sector contracting requirements.
- Coordinate development of technical, management, staffing, transition, implementation, past performance, and pricing volumes.
- Ensure proposal responses address customer challenges, objectives, and evaluation factors.
- Support proposal efforts across Federal agencies as well as State, County, Municipal, Transit, Higher Education, K-12, and Public Utility organizations.
Content Development & Collaboration
- Collaborate with Capture Managers, Technical SMEs, Solution Architects, Program Managers, and Executive Leadership to develop winning proposal strategies.
- Develop and edit executive summaries, management plans, technical approaches, staffing plans, implementation strategies, and transition plans.
- Review proposal content for responsiveness, compliance, clarity, consistency, and quality.
- Coordinate proposal graphics, resumes, organizational charts, and supporting documentation.
Compliance & Quality Management
- Develop and maintain compliance matrices and requirement traceability tools.
- Lead Pink Team, Red Team, Gold Team, and Executive Review processes.
- Ensure all proposal volumes comply with solicitation instructions, evaluation criteria, page limitations, and submission requirements.
- Conduct final quality assurance reviews before submission.
Proposal Operations & Knowledge Management
- Maintain proposal repositories, content libraries, past performance databases, resumes, templates, and reusable content.
- Track proposal milestones, risks, action items, dependencies, and deliverables.
- Support continuous improvement initiatives to enhance proposal quality, efficiency, and win rates.
- Prepare proposal status reports and executive dashboards for leadership.
Submission Management
- Manage electronic proposal submissions through Federal, State, and local procurement portals.
- Coordinate final production, packaging, and delivery of proposal responses.
- Ensure timely submission of all required documents, certifications, forms, and attachments.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Communications, Information Technology, Marketing, English, Public Administration, or a related field.
- Minimum 8 years of proposal management experience supporting Government contracting organizations.
- Minimum 5 years supporting Information Technology Services proposals.
- Proven experience managing proposals for both US Federal Government and SLED opportunities.
- Demonstrated success managing proposals ranging from $1M to $100M+ in contract value.
- Strong understanding of Federal and public-sector procurement processes.
- Experience managing multiple concurrent proposal efforts in fast-paced environments.
- Exceptional writing, editing, communication, leadership, and organizational skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- APMP Foundation, Practitioner, or Professional Certification.
- PMP (Project Management Professional) Certification.
- Experience supporting proposals under Federal contract vehicles including:
- GSA MAS
- OASIS+
- CIO-SP4
- SEWP
- Polaris
- Alliant
- Various IDIQ, BPA, and GWAC vehicles
- Experience supporting State Master Agreements, Cooperative Purchasing Programs, NASPO ValuePoint, OMNIA Partners, Sourcewell, TIPS, DIR, CMAS, and other SLED procurement vehicles.
Required Skills
Proposal & Collaboration Tools
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Teams
- SharePoint
- Adobe Acrobat Pro
Proposal Management Platforms
- GovWin IQ
- SAM.gov
- Deltek Costpoint
- Deltek CRM
- Salesforce
- Loopio
- RFPIO
- Public Purchase
- Bonfire
- Jaggaer
- IonWave
- DemandStar
- BidNet Direct
Core Competencies
- Proposal Management
- Federal Contracting
- SLED Contracting
- Compliance Management
- Capture Support
- Proposal Scheduling
- Risk Management
- Executive Communications
- Strategic Messaging
- Technical Proposal Development
- Cross-Functional Leadership
- Quality Assurance
- Knowledge Management
- Government Procurement
Preferred Industry Experience
Experience supporting proposals for:
- Cloud Services
- Cybersecurity
- Application Development
- Data Analytics
- AI/ML Solutions
- Infrastructure Modernization
- Managed Services
- Help Desk & End User Support
- Enterprise IT Operations
- Digital Transformation Programs