Proposal Director

ASRC Industrial (AIS) is a people-oriented organization providing construction services, industrial contracting for heavy civil and commercial private and state/government projects, and environmental solutions. We support a diverse set of companies and are unified by a purpose to deliver safe, reliable solutions to unique challenges while providing superior service.

About the Role

The Proposal Director is a strategic leadership role responsible for managing enterprise-level proposal development efforts, advancing proposal excellence, and strengthening organizational competitiveness on priority pursuits. This position operates at both tactical and strategic levels, leading complex opportunities while contributing to the overall effectiveness, scalability, and continuous improvement of the proposal function. The ideal candidate has a proven track record of managing proposal teams and leading winning federal proposals, ideally in the environmental, construction, nuclear, or industrial markets.

Reporting to the Vice President of Proposal Operations, you will partner with business development, capture, operations, program management, contracts, pricing, and executive leadership to write compelling, compliant, and winning proposals that support organizational growth objectives. This corporate position offers advancement opportunities and is based on-site at one of our corporate offices, preferably in Oak Ridge, TN; Tempe, AZ; or Albuquerque, NM. Other locations may be considered for highly qualified candidates.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Proposal Leadership
  • Lead strategic, high-value proposal efforts from pre-RFP through submission and post-award lessons learned.
  • Facilitate the development of win strategies, key discriminators, themes, and messaging that align with capture activities, customer requirements, and organizational capabilities.
  • Provide guidance and expertise to capture teams during pursuit shaping and proposal planning activities.
  • Advise stakeholders on proposal best practices, compliance considerations, and competitive positioning.
  • Contribute to strategic initiatives that improve proposal effectiveness, efficiency, and overall business performance.
• Proposal Management and Execution
  • Manage all phases of the proposal development lifecycle, including planning, scheduling, content development, reviews, production, and delivery.
  • Lead cross-functional proposal teams consisting of technical subject matter experts, program personnel, pricing staff, and executive leadership.
  • Ensure proposals comply with solicitation instructions and evaluation criteria.
  • Facilitate proposal reviews, including Pink Team, Red Team, Gold Team, and executive reviews.
  • Monitor schedules, identify risks, and implement mitigation strategies to ensure successful proposal outcomes.
  • Maintain high standards for proposal quality, consistency, and responsiveness.
• Team Leadership and Development
  • Mentor and develop proposal managers, coordinators, writers, and contributors.
  • Foster a collaborative, high-performance proposal culture focused on accountability and continuous improvement.
  • Support resource planning and workload balancing across multiple concurrent pursuits.
• Operational Excellence
  • Identify and recommend opportunities to improve proposal processes, workflows, tools, templates, and knowledge management practices.
  • Promote the adoption of automation, collaboration technologies, and emerging tools that enhance proposal effectiveness.
  • Support organizational process improvement initiatives and quality management objectives.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Partner closely with business development, capture, contracts, finance, pricing, security, and operations teams.
  • Support strategic planning activities related to pipeline development and business growth.
  • Build strong relationships with leaders and stakeholders across the organization.
• Compliance and Risk Management
  • Ensure compliance with solicitation requirements, organizational policies, and applicable regulations.
  • Support adherence to CUI handling requirements, security processes, and customer-specific mandates.
  • Maintain accurate proposal documentation and records.

Core Competencies

• Demonstrated success managing and winning large, complex federal proposals.
• Strong strategic thinking skills with the ability to understand, interpret, and communicate technical requirements.
• Ability to build relationships and collaborate effectively with executive leaders, capture managers, subject matter experts, proposal teams, and teaming partners.
• Strong writing and research skills to support federal business development and sales efforts.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including proficiency in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
• Ability to work under pressure in a deadline-driven environment.
• Detail-oriented, organized, and a problem solver.
• Ownership mentality and accountability for compliance and quality.
• Skilled in managing multiple assignments with varying degrees of complexity and competing deadlines.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment and respond to specific customer and stakeholder requests and deadlines.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Communications, English, Marketing, Engineering, or a related field.
• Minimum of 18 years of proposal management with leadership experience supporting federal government procurements.
• APMP certification and/or Shipley training is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated success leading large, complex, and strategically important proposal efforts.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams in fast-paced, deadline-driven environments.
• Strong understanding of proposal management methodologies and best practices.
• Exceptional written, verbal, organizational, and presentation skills.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft 365 applications, Adobe Acrobat, and proposal collaboration tools.
• Willingness to work outside normal business hours and sometimes on short notice.
• Must be willing and able to travel.