Principal, Pursuit Operations
About the role
The Principal, Pursuit Operations leads the execution engine of AMS, driving consistent, high-quality pursuit delivery through strong team leadership, standardized processes, and operational rigor. This role is accountable for building and developing a high-performing team, optimizing workflows, and delivering pursuit excellence across all sectors.
Key Responsibilities
- Team Leadership & Management
- Lead, manage, and mentor a multidisciplinary team of pursuit managers, specialists, and designers across sectors.
- Supervise direct reports and oversee broader team performance, workload balancing, and professional development.
- Recruit, hire, onboard, and train new team members to strengthen capacity and capability.
- Foster a collaborative, inclusive team culture that supports innovation, engagement, and growth.
- Operational Excellence
- Establish, manage, and continuously improve pursuit processes, tools, and standards to ensure consistency and efficiency.
- Maintain and evolve the AMS Pursuit Manual, templates, and portal resources.
- Oversee pursuit resourcing, workload management, and capacity planning across all sectors.
- Support go/no-go (GNG) processes and approvals, ensuring timely and consistent execution.
- Monitor and manage pursuit budgets and level of effort.
- Facilitate debriefs to identify improvement opportunities and to measure overall competitiveness.
- Pursuit Delivery
- Lead or support pursuit execution, ensuring excellence in messaging, content, and graphic presentation.
- Enforce brand standards and quality expectations across all deliverables.
- Guide teams on best practices, production workflows, and submission readiness.
- Ensure proper utilization of marketing content, tools, and communications resources.
- Training & Enablement
- Develop and deliver training programs (e.g., webinars, onboarding, “Basics”) to strengthen team capabilities.
- Provide timely feedback to staff and partners.
- Promote knowledge sharing and continuous improvement across AMS.
- Serve as a resource for marketing and pursuit-related inquiries firmwide.
- Operational Leadership & Collaboration
- Partner with leadership on department reporting, budgeting, staffing strategies, and operational initiatives.
- Support cross-functional collaboration with communications, graphic designers, and sector teams.
- Represent AMS in internal initiatives, technology adoption, and operational improvements.
Preferred Qualifications
- Demonstrated experience in winning high-value contracts in the A/E/C industry.
- Ability to travel up to 20%.
- Work on pursuit deadlines for any sector up to 15%.
Required Qualifications
- A minimum of 15 years relevant industry experience.
- Deep knowledge of the A/E/C industry's standard approach to procurement of professional services.
- Experience in sales and developing effective win strategies.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
- Ability and desire to travel and engage with others in-person.
- Strong financial acumen and negotiation skills.
What We Believe
HDR is our company. Together, we build on each other's life experiences and perspectives to make great things possible every day. This shapes our collaborative culture, encourages organizational trust and connects us closer to the clients and communities we serve.
Our Commitment
As employee owners, we all have a role in creating an inclusive environment where each of us is welcomed, valued, respected and empowered to bring our authentic selves to work every day. Our eight Employee Network Groups (Asian Pacific, Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), LGBTQ+, People with Disabilities, Veterans, Women, Young Professionals) help create a sense of belonging and foster a supportive environment where everyone is empowered to engage and contribute.
Benefits
We provide a comprehensive benefits package that promotes employee ownership, employee health, performance, and success, which includes medical, dental, vision, short and long-term disability, life insurance, an employee assistance program, paid time away, parental leave, paid holidays, a retirement savings plan with employer match, employee referral bonus and tuition reimbursement.
Pay
The expected compensation range for this position depends upon skills, experience, education and geographical location. (Stated benefits are for full-time regular positions. Temporary and part-time roles eligible for limited benefits.)
Schedule
Full-time
Employee Status
Regular
Business Class
Marketing and Admin
Job Posting
Jun 29, 2026
Equal Opportunity Employer
We are an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer (https://www.hdrinc.com/equal-employment-opportunity-employer). We consider all qualified applicants, regardless of criminal histories, arrest and conviction records.