Freelance writing Jobs in San Mateo, CA

Proposal Strategist

WindBorne Systems is supercharging weather forecasts with a unique proprietary data source: a global constellation of next-generation smart weather balloons targeting the most critical atmospheric data. We design, manufacture, and operate our own balloons, using the data they collect to generate otherwise unattainable weather intelligence.

Our mission is to eliminate weather uncertainty, and in the process help humanity adapt to climate change, be that predicting hurricanes or speeding the adoption of renewables. We are building a future in which the planet is instrumented by thousands of our microballoons, eliminating gaps in our understanding of the planet and giving people and businesses the information they need to make critical decisions. The founding team of Stanford engineers was named Forbes 2019 30 under 30 and is backed by top-tier investors, including Khosla Ventures and Footwork VC.

WindBorne has won federal contract awards every year since our founding, and our written deliverablesproposals, white papers, and technical documentationare core to that growth across federal, international, and commercial markets. We're hiring a Proposal Strategist to join our proposals team and help carry that work forward. Reporting to the Proposal Manager, you'll be a writer first, a project manager second, and a curious researcher throughout. The ideal candidate is an exceptional early-career writer ready to take on real ownership fastwithin your first six months, you should be ready to own a proposal end-to-end.

We want to talk if you're excited about translating technical depth into compelling prose for customers ranging from federal defense and civilian agencies to international weather services to commercial energy traders. You don't need a background in atmospheric science, meteorology, or aerospace, but you do need a real appetite to learn the material. Our best writing comes from people who got curious enough to ask the next question! To apply, please submit through our application portal and also send a short email with a brief description of a piece of writing you're proud of and why. We read every one.

Responsibilities

• Compose bespoke narrative for federal, international, and commercial proposals, interweaving technical reference materials and original prose to produce compelling, compliant deliverables.
• Own proposal timelines, track milestones, and keep cross-functional contributors on pace through submission.
• Partner with engineering, product, and growth teams to extract technical content, manage review cycles, and incorporate feedback efficiently.
• Investigate agencies, solicitations, competitors, and regulatory landscapes to inform proposal strategy and messaging.
• Perform proofreading, content checks, and formatting compliance on your own work and on team deliverables.
• Help build out and maintain WindBorne's reusable content librarypast performance, capabilities language, technical descriptions, boilerplateso our writing scales smarter, not harder.

Skills and Qualifications

• 1-3 years of professional experience, with a strong portfolio of professional writingpublished, professional, or otherwise demonstrably polished.
• Project management or coordination experience that proves you can hit deadlines without dropping balls.
• A sharp, adaptable writer who can shift register across audiences. Federal, international, and commercial customers each have their own conventions, and you should be eager to learn them.
• Skilled at navigating feedback from technical reviewers while keeping the final prose clear and compelling.
• Insatiable curiosity. Our work touches atmospheric science, AI, hardware, defense, and climate. You won't be expected to be an expert in any of these on day one, but you should be the kind of person who actually wants to learn.
• A strong collaborator who thrives on building things with and for other people. Much of this role is about making the proposals teamand WindBorne's written content as a wholemore organized, more reusable, and more impactful over time.
• Comfort using AI writing tools thoughtfully as part of your drafting and research workflow.

Benefits

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Vision insurance
• Unlimited PTO
• Stock Option Plan
• Office food and beverages

Salary $70,000 - $105,000 We are considering a range of backgrounds and experience levels for this position and adjust our offers accordingly to be competitive with market rates.

Location

Remote-friendly. If you'd rather be in person, we're at 1600 Bridge Parkway, Redwood City, CA.