Senior Proposal Specialist

About the role

We are seeking a Senior Proposal Specialist to support high-priority, high-complexity pursuits across federal, state, and local government clients. This role plays a critical part in Ceres’ growth strategy by leading proposal development efforts that translate technical, operational, and executive input into compelling, compliant, and competitive submissions.

Responsibilities

• Develop complex, high-value proposals for federal, state, and local government solicitations.
• Translate capture strategy and technical solutions into clear, persuasive proposal content.
• Analyze solicitations to identify key requirements and evaluation criteria.
• Ensure proposals are compliant, compelling, and aligned with customer priorities and evaluation criteria.
• Develop compliance matrices to ensure full coverage of RFP requirements.
• Draft and refine executive summaries, capability statements, past performance narratives and work plans.
• Interact with subject matter experts to gather relevant information for proposals.
• Collaborate with graphic designers to create tailored visuals and infographics that support key messaging.
• Review and edit proposal content for quality, compliance, and messaging consistency.
• Incorporate feedback from internal review cycles.
• Mentor junior proposal writers and specialists, providing guidance on best practices and standards.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of proposal tools, templates, processes, and storytelling approaches.
• Manage multiple concurrent proposals with competing priorities and tight deadlines.
• Perform thorough compliance, formatting, and quality checks to ensure submission readiness.
• Maintain Ceres’ brand voice, tone, and quality standards across all submissions.
• Support post-submission debriefs and lessons learned to improve future performance.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Communications, English, Marketing, Business, or a related field.
• 7+ years of experience in proposal development, technical writing, or business communications, preferably supporting government contracts.
• Demonstrated success leading complex, multi-discipline proposals from kickoff through submission.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and storytelling skills with strong attention to detail and compliance.
• Ability to operate independently, exercise judgment, and influence across senior stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in English, Creative Writing, Marketing, or related field.
• Experience supporting construction, environmental services, disaster response, or infrastructure programs.
• Experience mentoring proposal staff or serving as lead writer on high-value pursuits.
• Proficiency with SharePoint and proposal collaboration tools.