Senior Proposal Manager

About this role

SENIOR PROPOSAL MANAGER

Business Development & Corporate Growth

Position Detail

Information

Reports To

Chief Growth Officer (CGO)

Location

Remote with occasional in-person meetings; Southern Maryland or Washington, D.C. metropolitan area preferred

Employment Type

Full-Time, Exempt

Security Clearance

Eligible for U.S. Security Clearance; Secret or higher preferred

Base Salary

$155,000–$175,000

Incentive

Performance-based annual bonus

About ShadowObjects

ShadowObjects, LLC is a 20-year federal contractor with continuous delivery since 2006, delivering mission-focused technology, enterprise data solutions, and domain expertise across the Department of Defense, U.S. Navy, and civilian agencies.

Our Core Capabilities Include:

• Enterprise Architecture & Portfolio Management

• Data Engineering, Visualization & Enterprise Migration

• Digital Transformation, Automation & Low-Code Integration

• Enterprise Business Systems, ERP (Navy ERP) & Systems Integration

• IT Service Management (ITSM), Cloud Operations & Program Management

Position Overview

ShadowObjects is seeking a results-driven Senior Proposal Manager to lead and scale our federal proposal development lifecycle. Reporting directly to the Chief Growth Officer, you will serve as the primary leader across full-lifecycle proposal operations—translating capture strategies, technical solutions, and customer insights into compliant, compelling, and winning proposals.

This is a high-impact Player-Coach role. You will independently manage complex prime and subcontract proposals ranging from approximately $5M to $100M+ in value while building and modernizing our corporate proposal engine with automated workflows, reusable content repositories, and AI-enabled tools.

Key Responsibilities

1. Full-Lifecycle Proposal Leadership

• Lead end-to-end proposal operations from solicitation release (RFP/RFQ/RFI) through final submission, post-submission responses, and BAFO/FPR.

• Establish and manage proposal schedules, compliance matrices, detailed outlines, resource assignments, and final production plans.

• Facilitate structured kickoff meetings, proposal standups, and rigorous Pink, Red, Gold, and Executive review milestones.

• Resolve schedule, compliance, staffing, pricing, and content risks early and decisively.

2. Strategy, Solutioning & Content Development

• Partner with the CGO, Capture Managers, and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to translate capture strategies into discriminators, win themes, and customer-centric messaging.

• Author and edit major proposal sections, including Executive Summaries, Technical Approaches, Management Approaches, Staffing & Key Personnel Plans, Quality Assurance, Transition Plans, and Past Performance.

• Develop detailed Section L & M requirements traceability matrices and ensure compliance with solicitation instructions, evaluation criteria, and formatting rules.

3. Knowledge Management & Proposal Infrastructure

• Build, organize, and maintain a centralized, scalable corporate proposal repository.

• Integrate appropriate generative AI and workflow-automation tools to accelerate drafting cycles and improve content consistency.

• Conduct post-submission lessons learned reviews to continuously improve proposal efficiency and increase win rates.

Performance Milestones & Expectations

First 90 Days

• Master ShadowObjects’ contract vehicles, capabilities, past performance, and corporate differentiators.

• Establish standardized proposal operating procedures, compliance templates, and review checklists.

• Deploy an updated, centralized proposal content repository and begin active proposal leadership on current pipeline opportunities.

First 12 Months

• Independently manage multiple concurrent prime and subcontractor pursuits across Navy/DoD and federal civilian customers.

• Establish a scalable, repeatable proposal engine that increases qualified bid throughput while maintaining high-quality submissions and strong win performance.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Communications, English, Information Technology, or a related discipline, or equivalent experience.

• 8+ years of dedicated federal proposal management experience; 10+ years strongly preferred.

• Demonstrated experience leading complex federal prime bids.

• Expertise parsing and interpreting federal RFP Sections L & M, developing compliance matrices, and managing color-team reviews.

• Exceptional ability to write and edit clear, persuasive, technically credible proposal narrative across multiple volumes.

• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), SharePoint, Adobe Acrobat, and collaborative proposal tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct Navy / DoD proposal experience, particularly NAVAIR, NAVWAR, Navy ERP, DASN(P), AIR 6.8, or related defense organizations.

• Experience managing task orders and prime pursuits on vehicles such as 8(a) STARS III, OASIS+, GSA MAS, SEWP, CIO-SP3, or SeaPort-NxG.

• APMP Foundation, Practitioner, or Shipley certification.

• Familiarity with federal IT services, digital transformation, cloud migrations, and Deltek Costpoint environments.

Compensation & Benefits

Component

Offering

Base Salary

$155,000–$175,000

Annual Incentive

Performance-based annual bonus tied to proposal execution, knowledge management, and qualified contract awards

Sign-On

Sign-on incentives may be available for top candidates

401(k)

Comprehensive 401(k) retirement plan with competitive corporate matching

Paid Time Off

15 days of annual PTO plus 11 paid holidays

Health & Wellness

Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage with significant employer contributions

Insurance

Company-paid Life, Short-Term Disability (STD), and Long-Term Disability (LTD)

Work Environment

Flexible Hybrid/Remote working arrangements with modern collaboration tools

Equal Opportunity Employer

ShadowObjects, LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All…