Proposal Manager

M&C Saatchi World Services is a full-service marketing company renowned for using commercial advertising to solve the worlds toughest challenges. World Services is a specialty branch of M&C Saatchi Group and we provide strategic communications behavior change and marketing support to Public Sector clients with special emphasis on the US Federal Government and State Local Tribal & Territorial leaders.

The US Office of M&C Saatchi World Services (WSUS) is seeking a Proposal Manager to lead and support the development of high-quality U.S. federal government proposals with a growing emphasis on defense and national security opportunities. You will manage proposal efforts from solicitation review through final submission working closely with capture technical pricing contracts and partner teams to deliver compliant compelling responses.

This is a hybrid role; however the ideal candidate will live in the greater District of Columbia Maryland and Virginia (DMV) region.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

In this role youll combine hands-on proposal execution with the opportunity to strengthen WSUSs proposal discipline and defense-market readiness. You will be responsible for creating structure momentum and clarity across pursuits helping teams translate technical and mission-focused inputs into well-organized persuasive proposals. As WSUS expands its presence in federal and defense markets you will play a key role in building consistent processes improving proposal quality and supporting capture strategy from early pursuit through submission.

What youll do:

• Lead end-to-end proposal development for federal opportunities including RFPs RFQs RFTOPs IDIQs OTA solicitations and task orders.

• Analyze solicitations and develop proposal calendars compliance matrices outlines assignments review plans and submission checklists.

• Manage cross-functional proposal teams across technical cost pricing contracts business development and partner functions.

• Work with subject matter experts and technical teams to turn inputs into clear compliant and compelling proposal content.

• Ensure proposal responses comply with solicitation instructions evaluation criteria Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requirements Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) requirements and agency-specific guidance.

• Coordinate color team reviews and adjudication processes including Pink Red Gold and final production reviews as appropriate.

• Partner with capture managers to shape early-stage pursuits including win themes discriminators solution framing and price-to-win inputs.

• Support go/no-go decisions by helping assess customer priorities mission needs competitive positioning contract vehicles and procurement trends.

• Coordinate with teaming partners subcontractors and external contributors to gather inputs manage deadlines and ensure alignment across the response.

• Strengthen internal proposal tools templates playbooks and processes including approaches for compliance version control knowledge management and proposal readiness.

• Contribute to internal training and best-practice sharing to build proposal development capacity across WSUS.

• Handle sensitive procurement and proposal materials with appropriate discretion including Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and classified-environment requirements where applicable.

ABOUT YOU

We believe that people are capable of great things when given a chance. The most important qualifications for this role are integrity emotional intelligence a passion for learning and a genuine interest in M&C Saatchi World Services mission. Therefore we encourage candidates to apply even if they do not feel they meet all the requirements. The successful candidate will be organized collaborative and comfortable operating under tight deadlines. They will bring strong writing and editing judgment a clear understanding of federal proposal requirements and the confidence to guide busy stakeholders through a structured proposal process. They will be detail-oriented without losing sight of the bigger picture: helping WSUS present differentiated mission-relevant solutions to government clients.

Youll bring:

• U.S. citizenship is required and the successful candidate must be able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance.

• Bachelors degree in business marketing communications public policy international relations or a related field or equivalent work experience.

• Extensive years of direct experience with U.S. federal government proposal management business development and/or capture support.

• Experience supporting federal proposals with experience or exposure to DoD opportunities strongly preferred.

• Familiarity with federal acquisition and procurement processes including FAR DFARS and common solicitation types such as RFPs RFQs RFTOPs IDIQs OTAs and task orders.

• Experience with and knowledge of federal procurement.

• Experience managing proposal schedules compliance matrices annotated outlines review cycles and final production or submission processes.

• Excellent written communication editing proofreading and organizational skills.

• Ability to manage multiple contributors competing priorities and complex deadlines while maintaining high attention to detail and quality.

• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to collaborate with technical teams business development leaders executives contracts pricing and external partners.

• Sound judgment discretion and the ability to handle sensitive proposal and procurement information appropriately.

Bonus points if you have:

• Experience supporting DoD Intelligence Community national security or other mission-driven federal clients.

• Experience using a known proposal or capture framework such as APMP or Shipley & Associates.

• Experience with proposal automation CRM knowledge management or capture/proposal management tools.

• Experience developing reusable proposal content templates playbooks or training materials.

• An understanding of strategic communications behavior change marketing or public-sector communications programs.

WHAT YOU GET

We offer a competitive salary ($90000-$120000) and a benefits package designed to support your health family life financial wellbeing and growth.

Family & parental support

• 12 weeks full pay for Primary Carers and 6 weeks for Secondary Carers (after one year of service; return requirements apply for subsequent leave)

• Applies to birth adoption and surrogacy

• Up to 10 days paid fertility leave per year (5 per cycle)

• 2 days paid leave for new grandparents

• $2500 annual interest-free parental loan

• $6000 interest-free fertility treatment loan

Healthcare & wellbeing

• Three medical plans (HSA at $0 cost; EPO 75% employer funded; PPO 65% employer funded)

• $0 employee-cost dental and vision

• 10 days health leave per year (mental and physical)

• 24/7 mental health support through Self Space

• Wellhub subscription

Financial & practical support

• 401(k) match (3% after 3 months; 4% after 1 year)

• Pre-tax commuter benefits

• 10 days paid military leave

• Full pay for jury duty (state/city payments declined)

• Uber/taxi home after 9:30pm

Time off & flexibility

• 23 days PTO (with 3 discretionary carryover days; CA/CO policies follow state mandate)

• 10 federal holidays plus the day after Thanksgiving

• Option to swap 2 federal holidays (excluding Thanksgiving and the day after)

• Office closed between Christmas and New Year

• 10 days special emergency leave (including bereavement)

• 10 days volunteering leave (5 paid 5 unpaid)

• Half-day for blood donation

• Work from anywhere for up to 2 weeks per year (subject to approval)

Culture & development

• $300 annual cultural stimulation allowance (accrued monthly; available after 90 days)

• Weekly Thursday happy hour

• Mentorship and Buddy programmes

ABOUT MC SAATCHI WORLD SERVICES

M&C Saatchi World Services is a specialist division of MC Saatchi Group the worlds largest independent communications network. Our specialists work in office hubs across six continents grounding our global expertise in local nuance.

We offer award-winning commercial communications capabilities which are utilized by global organizations to address the worlds most complex problems across defence development diplomacy homeland and national security law and order health education and the environment.

We work with clients that want to help the hardest-to-reach hardest-to-influence audiences. This includes a range of Western Government departments such as DOS and USAID; partner governments including the U.K. and Australia; and prominent IGOs/NGOs such as the U.N.

We are a comms agency that works on behaviour change projects typically focused on issues related to Security Defence and Stabilization. Whether its producing critically acclaimed feature films in Africa to TV shows in the Middle East to pop music videos in Asia we have a record of leveraging creativity to access communities anywhere in the world.