Director of Proposal Management

Make a Difference for Climate and Equity Join Slipstream as Director of Proposal Management

Are you a strategic leader with a passion for driving transformative change Do you thrive in fast-paced environments where innovation meets impact At Slipstream you can help shape a cleaner more equitable energy future.

We are seeking aDirector of Proposal Managementto lead and elevate our proposal development this pivotal role you will accelerate our ability to secure funding and partnerships that advance integrated community-centered approaches to climate solutions. Your leadership will directly support our mission to build an equitable clean energy society where everyone benefits from energy innovation.

About Slipstream

Slipstream is a national mission-driven nonprofit that accelerates climate solutions. For everyone.

We inspire bold ideas to tackle big energy challenges. Our work spans energy efficiency energy planning with municipalities and Native Nations equitable building decarbonization emerging technologies and green financing. We collaborate with governments utilities and community-based organizations to discover test and scale solutions that work for real people in real communities.

We are optimistic inclusive and ambitious about our impactand were looking for someone who shares our drive.

Director of Proposal Management Slipstream

At Slipstream we believe climate solutions must be bold inclusive and actionable. Were seeking a visionaryDirector of Proposal Managementto lead our organization-wide strategy for securing transformative funding that drives systemic change in climate and equity.

In this high-impact leadership role you will shape and execute a dynamic proposal development strategy that fuels Slipstreams mission and amplifies our national presence as an influencer in equitable clean energy innovation. Youll lead a talented team of proposal professionals setting a clear strategic direction optimizing processes and ensuring the delivery of compelling competitive proposals that showcase Slipstreams unique value and vision.

What Youll Do

• Drive Strategic Growth: Lead the development of high-quality proposals that align with Slipstreams mission and strategic priorities securing funding from government agencies foundations and other partners.

• Lead with Vision: Set priorities coach your team and foster a culture of excellence collaboration and continuous improvement.

• Elevate Our Impact: Design and refine proposal systems that increase efficiency boost win rates and ensure alignment with organizational goals.

• Collaborate Across the Organization: Partner with subject matter experts program leaders and the Advancement team to identify opportunities shape narratives and position Slipstream as a leader in equitable climate solutions.

• Tell Our Story: Strengthen Slipstreams brand and reputation through strategic storytelling persuasive writing and partnership development.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Leadership -- understanding partner needs identifying Slipstreams value proposition and key differentiators in proposed scopes of work and crafting compelling narrative messages that align with the organizations strategic goals.
   • Aligns proposals with mission goals strategic plan and programming.
     • Ensures that all funding proposals support the nonprofits long-term objectives and strategic plan.
     • Possesses a strong understanding of Slipstreams core work areas including electrification and decarbonization energy and resilience planning utility program administration contractor training and education workforce development and loan program administration.
     • Responsible for budgeting and forecasting to ensure appropriate resources for the proposal process; oversee efforts to ensure that each proposal includes a reasonable cost estimate is consistent with schedule and scope and has pricing approved in coordination with financial policies.
     • Develop and manage a feedback process that informs Slipstream about proposal strengths and weaknesses fosters continuous improvement and helps leadership set priorities for business development; solicit input from stakeholders to evaluate and manage risk associated with schedule scope cost and contractual issues.
     • Manage proposal process including process training for subject-matter experts and proposal team proposal project management evaluating success reporting and recommending changes based on results.
   • Identifies and assesses funding opportunities.
     • Proactively researches and targets grants and partnerships that align with the organizations priorities.
     • Provides support and direction in working with foundations government entities and funding subscription platforms.
     • Monitors portals and opportunities email in-box for new opportunities.
   • Influences program development.
     • Collaborates with internal teams to shape initiatives that are fundable and impactful.
     • Collaborates with internal teams to identify impact metrics.
2. Operational Excellence and Efficient Project Management
   • Manages complex timelines.
     • Oversees multiple concurrent proposals ensuring deadlines are met without compromising quality.
   • Coordinates cross-functional teams.
     • Brings together program staff finance communications and leadership to contribute to compelling proposals.
   • Develops and maintains a proactive RFP management system that allows Slipstream to influence prepare for and anticipate RFPs from target clients and markets.
   • Implements systems and tools.
     • Uses appropriate tools (e.g. pipeline reports dashboards) and software (e.g. Salesforce Sage Asana) to standardize processes and streamline workflow to improve consistency.
     • Work with the Principal Director of Advancement and internal teams to establish a Development Library including a Metrics Library.
     • Supervises the Development Operations Manager on customizing Salesforce functionality to include:
       • Qualifications Library
       • Development Library
       • Metrics Library
       • Pipeline tracking
       • New business revenue tracking
     • Fluent in leveraging Artificial Intelligence to refine communications and content.
3. Quality and Compliance Assurance
   • Ensures proposal excellence.
     • Crafts persuasive data-driven narratives that clearly articulate need impact and alignment with funder priorities.
     • Understands and participates in budget-building process including components such as direct and indirect costs fringe benefits cost-share and the drafting of a budget narrative that aligns budget items with proposal objectives. Familiarity with labor rates is also important.
   • Maintains compliance.
     • Ensures all submissions meet funder guidelines and organizational policies reducing risk of disqualification.
     • Works closely with the legal team to ensure regulatory compliance in proposal submissions.
   • Tracks performance.
     • Monitors success rates and uses data to refine strategies and improve future submissions and win rates.
     • Coordinates with the CFO on establishing process to track progress on meeting FY new revenue goals.
4. Capacity Building
   • Mentors Proposal Team and other staff.
     • Trains and supports team members and staff in proposal writing and grants management.
     • Supervisory responsibilities include setting goals for performance and deadlines in ways that comply with companys plans and vision organizing workflow ensuring that employees understand their duties or delegated tasks monitoring employee productivity and providing constructive feedback and coaching actively participating in recruiting hiring performance remediation training and issue resolution.
   • Improves organizational readiness.
     • Helps build internal capacity to respond quickly and effectively to funding opportunities.
5. Actively participate as a member of assigned workgroups.
6. These responsibilities are not all-inclusive and other duties may be assigned from time to time.

• Required: Bachelors degree in a relevant field such as English Communications Journalism Public Administration Nonprofit Management Urban Planning Urban Sustainability
• Masters or Doctorate degree in a related field preferred.
• In lieu of education 7 to 10 years of experience in:
  • Grant writing and proposal development
  • Fundraising or development roles
  • Project or program management in a nonprofit or mission-driven setting
  • 3 to 5 years in a leadership or supervisory role managing teams or cross-functional projects

Competencies

• Ability to interpret strategic direction & formulate initiatives
• Demonstrated leadership supervision mentoring & team building experience with the ability to build cross-functional teams
• Ability to exhibit analytical skills track progress interpret data & prepare recommendations
• Ability to thrive and maintain focus in a quick-paced environment with many competing priorities
• Expertise in business & management principles involved in strategic planning resource allocation leadership technique problem solving and coordination of people and resources
• Demonstrated experience in responding to government solicitations and navigating foundation opportunities
• Self-motivated and able to work independently; able to organize and prioritize
• Demonstrated experience in effective resource management of multiple processes and projects including management of budgets and schedules to reach program or project goals
• Demonstrates skill in oral and written communication; public speaking skills & ability to be persuasive
• Skilled in conflict resolution and large group facilitation
• Deep knowledge of budgeting and forecasting
• Effective delegation and follow-up skills
• Skilled at quickly developing positive communicative and collaborative relationships with partners sub-contractors and Slipstream personnel at all levels of the organization

Mental Requirements

• Learning new tasks
• Remembering processes and deadlines
• Completing tasks in coordination with multiple teams and independently
• Making timely decisions
• Able to learn new concepts relevant to funding opportunities

Physical Requirements

• Primarily a sedentary role with tasks typically performed while sitting or occasionally standing.
• Ability to operate a computer and standard office equipment.
• Tasks demand visual focus for reading and working on screens.
• This position frequently communicates via phone and video conferencing with in-person interactions as applicable.

Work Environment

• Fully remote position with the ability to work from home or another suitable location with reliable internet access.
• Must have the ability to work independently while staying engaged with the team through virtual communication tools such as email chat and video conferencing.
• Requires a quiet and professional workspace for virtual meetings and collaboration.
• Hybrid work available if located in Madison WI or Chicago IL. If in-office expect a moderate noise level.
• Typical schedule of 95 in Central Time zone or any U.S. time zone.
• Flex hours may be available depending on role and team requirements.
• Travel up to 25% required for in-person meetings conferences client visits etc.

Slipstream is an equal-opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all individuals feel valued respected and supported. We center community in everything we do and strongly encourage people of all backgrounds to apply and join us in our mission. We welcome applicants regardless of race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity or expression national origin age disability genetic information marital status veteran status or any other protected status or characteristic under federal state or local laws.

Slipstream will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities to enable them to perform the essential functions of their position unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on Slipstream or if it would pose a direct threat to the health or safety of the individual or others that cannot be mitigated. Questions or accommodation requests should be directed to Human Resources.

Please note that Slipstream will only contact candidates via the Paycom portal. We will never ask a candidate for payment of any kind as part of the hiring or onboarding process or send payment to any candidate prior to completing the hiring and onboarding process.