MANAGER, SALES SUPPORT (PROPOSAL MANAGER)

Overview

The Proposal Manager will lead the development and coordination of client-facing responses, including RFPs, RFIs, client questionnaires, and related projects. This role is responsible for managing proposal timelines, organizing requirements, identifying content gaps, coordinating input from SMEs, and producing clear, client-focused content.

This position requires a proposal professional who can manage active pursuits with limited direction but with the support of a team. The ideal candidate can think strategically about client needs, ask effective follow-up questions, recognize weak or incomplete content, and escalate issues to internal SMEs. Strong writing judgment, project ownership, collaborative confidence, and the ability to translate complex business information into polished proposal content are essential.

In addition to active proposal support, the Proposal Manager will support content governance initiatives. This includes maintaining reusable content in Responsive, supporting post-submission audits, improving library accuracy, reducing outdated or duplicative/trivial (ROT) records, strengthening AI-assisted proposal workflows, and creating reusable sales assets that improve future response quality and speed.
Responsibilities
Key Responsibilities

- Manage assigned RFPs, RFIs, client questionnaires, and related proposal projects from intake through submission.

- Review client requirements, instructions, scoring criteria, attachments, portals, and deadlines to create a clear work plan.

- Build proposal schedules, track action items, manage deadlines, and follow up with internal contributors.

- Develop first-draft proposal responses using approved content, prior submissions, the proposal library, and other approved sources.

- Write, revise, and tailor proposal content for clarity, compliance, client relevance,

tone, and strategic positioning.

- Identify gaps in proposal responses and determine what information is needed from SMEs.

- Coordinate SME input: prepare clear requests, follow up, and help translate SME feedback into client-ready content.

- Partner with Sales and Account Management to align proposal content with solution strategy, client needs, value proposition, and pursuit priorities.

- Support proposal compliance by checking that responses address client questions directly and follow required formats.

- Manage attachments, exhibits, certifications, supplemental documents, and other supporting materials required for proposals with the support of the broader team.

- Use proposal automation and AI tools responsibly to accelerate drafting, improve consistency, and standardize content while validating accuracy against approved sources.

- Support post-submission audits to identify new, updated, or improved content that should be captured for future reuse.

- Maintain and improve the proposal content library, including standard answers, boilerplate content, case examples, location information, solution descriptions, and reusable proposal language.

- Help reduce redundant, outdated, and trivial (ROT) content through identification and removal or re-writes.

- Support tagging, categorization, and content lifecycle processes in the proposal library.

- Coordinate SME review cycles for high-use, high-risk, or frequently changing content.

- Support broader organizational initiatives when proposal content, sales messaging, or internal knowledge assets are needed.

- Maintain strong working relationships with Sales, Account Management, SMEs, Compliance, Marketing, Operations, and leadership.

- Track proposal status, open items, risks, and blockers, escalating when deadlines, missing content, or quality concerns require leadership attention.

- Contribute to process improvements that improve proposal quality, reduce rework, increase content reuse, and improve responsiveness.

Qualifications
Skills and Qualifications

- 5+ years of experience managing RFPs, RFIs, client questionnaires, sales pr