Sr. Proposal Manager

Requirements

• Provide direct management of the Cost & Price / Estimating team (pricing analysts, estimators, cost modelers), including hiring, coaching, performance management, and succession planning.
• Establish clear roles, responsibilities, and workload priorities to support multiple concurrent proposals with varying complexity and urgency.
• Develop and maintain a competency matrix, training plans, and standard work to improve estimate quality, cycle time, and audit outcomes.
• Own the end-to-end cost & price function for Government and DoD proposals, from kickoff through submission, negotiation support, and contract award.
• Set the pricing approach and cost modeling strategy (bottom-up, parametric, learning curve, volume pricing) appropriate to proposal scope and risk.
• Ensure consistent, accurate roll-up of labor, materials, overheads, NRE, test, and integration costs across all proposal volumes and summary sheets.
• Approve final cost models, pricing summaries, and cost narratives prior to internal reviews and customer submittal.
• Ensure all proposals comply with internal estimating system requirements and applicable Government contracting standards (e.g., cost/pricing data expectations, documentation rigor, traceability).
• Enforce disciplined Basis of Estimate (BOE) development, including assumptions, methodologies, sources of data, and management review evidence.
• Oversee preparation of audit-ready pricing support for fact-finding, negotiations, and post-award reviews.
• Identify pricing, estimating, and execution risks early and clearly communicate impacts and mitigation strategies to leadership.
• Partner with Supply Chain and Materials leadership to ensure BOM pricing, supplier evidence, lead times, and cost drivers are accurately reflected in proposal pricing.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Manufacturing, Test, and Quality to validate scope assumptions, labor standards, and production/test strategies.
• Support Contracts and Program Management during negotiations, E/N responses, and pricing changes driven by customer feedback or leadership decisions.
• Provide concise, executive-level communication on proposal status, cost drivers, assumptions, and risk.
• Own pricing tools, models, and templates (primarily Excel-based), ensuring version control, governance, and consistency across proposals.
• Establish and track proposal KPIs (cycle time, estimate accuracy, audit findings, rework) and lead corrective actions where gaps exist.
• Drive estimate-to-actual feedback loops and update estimating methods, factors, and standards to improve long-term accuracy and profitability.
• Lead initiatives to streamline pricing workflows, reduce manual effort, and improve data quality and responsiveness.

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Comprehensive health and welfare benefits
• 401(k) retirement plan with company match
• Paid time off
• Flexible work arrangements