Business Development and Proposal Manager

Job Summary The Business Development and Proposal Manager leads pre-award growth initiatives by identifying, qualifying, and pursuing federal and private-sector contracting opportunities aligned with the University’s research, programmatic, and service priorities. This role manages the business development pipeline, capture planning, teaming relationships, and end-to-end proposal development, from solicitation analysis through compliant submission. The ideal candidate combines federal market intelligence, relationship development, persuasive proposal writing, and cross-functional leadership to increase competitive positioning and contract awards. Remote/hybrid work options available. Job Duties & Responsibilities Business Development, Market Intelligence, and Opportunity Qualification

• Identify, screen, and qualify federal and private-sector opportunities (RFPs, RFQs, RFIs, BAAs, and sources-sought notices) aligned with the University's research, programming, and service priorities; recommend bid/no-bid decisions.
• Conduct market research, agency forecasting, competitive analysis, and customer intelligence to build and prioritize a qualified opportunity pipeline.
• Develop and maintain relationships with federal agencies/customers, prime contractors, industry partners, and relevant institutional stakeholders; coordinate early engagement and capture strategies.

Capture Planning and Proposal Management

• Lead the full proposal lifecycle, including capture-to-proposal transition, solicitation review, compliance matrices, outlines, technical and management narratives, pricing coordination, reviews, production, and submission.
• Collaborate with subject matter experts, faculty, researchers, staff, finance, and institutional leadership to develop win themes, discriminators, persuasive content, and compliant responses.
• Establish proposal schedules, assignments, color-team reviews, decision gates, and quality controls; manage contributors to meet all submission deadlines.
• Ensure responsiveness to evaluation criteria, solicitation instructions, institutional priorities, and applicable federal acquisition requirements; validate proposal compliance before submission.

Pre-Award Coordination and Award Transition

• Coordinate pre-award clarifications, discussions, and requests for information; support an organized handoff of awarded opportunities to contracts, finance, and program execution teams.
• Track proposal outcomes, debrief findings, and lessons learned to improve future pursuit and proposal strategies.
• Support pre-award teaming arrangements, proposal pricing coordination, and contract negotiations in collaboration with legal, finance, and University leadership.

Strategic Partnerships, Teaming, and Customer Engagement

• Identify and cultivate teaming partners, prime/subcontracting relationships, and institutional collaborators; assess partner capabilities and develop pursuit-specific teaming strategies.
• Represent the University at industry days, agency outreach sessions, matchmaking events, and conferences; translate engagement into actionable leads and partner relationships.

Pipeline Management, Metrics, and Reporting

• Maintain a centralized opportunity and proposal pipeline with pursuit stage, estimated value, probability, deadlines, ownership, and next actions.
• Report pipeline value, qualified opportunities, submissions, win rates, capture progress, and lessons learned to leadership.
• Monitor federal acquisition trends, agency buying priorities, procurement forecasts, small-business teaming considerations, and relevant solicitation requirements.

Build Institutional Business Development and Proposal Capacity

• Develop standardized business development, capture, bid/no-bid, and proposal development processes, templates, and quality controls.
• Collaborate with institutional stakeholders and external consultants to train faculty and staff on opportunity identification, capture readiness, proposal writing, and federal solicitation compliance.
• Strengthen the University’s pre-award contracting framework, proposal knowledge base, past-performance library, and repeatable pursuit practices.

Qualifications

Minimum:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Research Administration, or a related field
• Minimum of 3-5 years of experience in federal contract development, proposal management, or grants administration
• Demonstrated experience identifying and responding to contract solicitations, particularly from agencies such as NSF, NIH, DoD, DoE, other federal entities, and industry partners
• Proven track record of successful contract proposals and awards
• Knowledge of federal procurement processes, including FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation), and grant/contract management regulations
• Strong writing, editing, and project management skills
• Experience working with online platforms such as Grants.gov, SAM.gov, and federal e-procurement portals
• Ability to work independently, meet tight deadlines, and manage multiple competing priorities

Preferred:

• Master’s degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Research Administration, or a related field
• Familiarity with research and service initiatives at higher education institutions
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, proposal development tools, and database management
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills for collaboration with diverse teams

Supplemental Information Applications without the following will not be considered complete.

• Cover Letter
• Resume
• Transcript(s) if applicable
• Curriculum Vitae if applicable

Review of applications will begin November 17th, 2026 and continue until position is filled.Benefits We offer a complete benefits package to eligible employees including health care, dental, vision, retirement, flexible spending accounts, life insurance, long-term disability, short- term disablity, holidays, annual, and sick leave.

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