Director, Proposal Operations

Director, Proposal Operations

NexTech Solutions (NTS) is a team of experts and engineers who understand the challenges that organizations face in finding and implementing the best technologies and IT solutions to meet mission requirements. We work with our government customers in defense and civilian agencies to identify new technologies.

The Opportunity

The Director, Proposal Operations will lead the full lifecycle of high-value contract proposals for a wide array of Department of Defense (DoD), Federal, and commercial / B2B customers, including not only competitive government-contracting (GOVCON) but also product-based proposals. This role combines leadership, compliance expertise, technical writing / solutioning, leading pricing SMEs for pricing and Price to Win (PtW) activities, and process innovation to deliver compelling, high-scoring, and compliant / on-time proposals that align with business objectives and drive growth. Position also oversees, leads, and manages the day-to-day activities of the growth operations team, including lead identification and generation thru market analysis and market intelligence; includes CRM oversight, Knowledge Management (KM), SharePoint and virtual proposal site development and management, and KPI monitoring / reporting and tracking.

Key Responsibilities

• Advise CGO on all proposal activities, risks, and opportunities; serve as one of the critical growth leaders within a non-toxic culture focused on passionately scaling NTS through innovative solutions & intentional deal shaping "left of RFP"
• Work daily (and closely) with the VP of BD / Sales to help qualify / capture / shape high pWIN proposals "left of RFP"; work daily (and closely) with Solution Architects to build key features / customer benefits / proof points (and strength statements) that will lead to compelling and high scoring proposals that win; work daily (closely) with TRAACK - consultant support team who provide Marketing, tradeshow / conference, social media, and growth operations support.
• Lead and manage the development of STRENGTH-BASED high scoring contract proposals across all business units, ensuring compliance with Department of Defense (DoD), Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), and customer requirements.
• Lead, manage, organize, communicate and coordinate proposal efforts at all levels of leadership with both internal and external stakeholders, including BD / Sales, solution architects, capture managers, technical teams / Program SMEs, contracts, finance, Pricing / Price to Win (PtW), and color reviewers.
• Ensure proposal submittals are STRENGTH-BASED, compliant, accurate, compelling with features / benefits / proof points, and submitted on time, meeting all legal, regulatory, and solicitation requirements.
• Lead, manage, organize and direct the organization and leadership of cross-functional proposal teams, guiding technical and administrative staff in developing high-quality, STRENGTH-BASED compelling / compliant proposals.
• Develop and implement proposal processes, workflows, templates, and standards to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and maintain consistency across submissions. This includes the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabling tools and Knowledge Management (KM) best practices.
• Monitor, analyze, and report on proposal metrics, resourcing requirements, and pipeline activity, providing insights to leadership and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Plan, forecast and obtain proposal resources in accordance with projected proposal workload (for new work proposals and / or MUST-WIN Recompetes).
• Once assigned, effectively and efficiently allocate proposal center resources to balance workload and optimize performance; manage escalations as needed.
• Review, edit, and assemble proposal inputs into cohesive, professional documents that meet technical and compliance requirements. Provide technical writing and content development personally as required.
• Mentor and train proposal staff and other employees to increase proposal development capability across the organization; serve as an orals coach when required. Train NTS color reviewers to build a deep bench of STRENGTH-BASED reviewers who increase pWIN of proposal thru effectiveness.
• Evaluate and implement tools, automation, and integrated system solutions to enhance proposal development and tracking. Must be fully coordinated and synchronized with NTS CRM and Generative AI tools, and must personally lead by example on personal proficiency of these tools.
• Develop operational goals for the proposal function and track performance against established targets. Have these goals and targets tracked in KPIs and report KPIs visually as required (minimum once a month to the CGO).
• Partner with VP of BD / Sales, Solution Architects, and SMEs to develop win strategies and ensure proposals align with corporate objectives while achieving competitive, profitable cost estimates.
• Oversee and manage pricing SME(s) and technical / Corporate team to conduct initial pricing strategy, price volume estimates, and Price to Win (PtW).
• Lead MUST-WIN Recompete proposals starting at Draft RFP timeframe (or sooner) in direct coordination with VP of Programs / PMs / direct support technical team. Work with CGO in support of MUST-WIN Recompete mid-course reviews (box 1) in support of VP of Programs / PMs / direct labor technical team.
• Oversee all Growth Operations duties and assigned personnel, including : lead identification & generation for pipeline development; market analysis and business intelligence in support of pipeline and / or specific deal qualification; conduct of long-range growth planning, cross-team / cross-company coordination, support and tracking / visualization; develop and sustain Growth KPI tracking and visualization via "Dashboard"; support growth weekly and monthly meetings including data collection, reporting, action item judication / tracking, and reporting of key Growth data to C-Suite; support to CGO on quarterly and annual activities including Board of Directors (BoD), strategic planning, resource and annual operation planning (AOP).

Supervisory Responsibilities