What are the responsibilities and job description for the Proposal Specialist position at Balfour & Co?
About Balfour & Co.
Balfour & Co. is one of the world’s leading Collegiate and High School commencement services companies, offering innovative, personalized products like class jewelry, yearbooks, regalia, school uniforms and photography. With brands such as Balfour®, GradImages®, ArtCarved®, and more, we’ve been helping students celebrate life’s most meaningful moments since 1913. Balfour has around 4,000 employees and operates in 3 countries.
Position Summary:
The Proposal Specialist will lead the development of persuasive and visually engaging proposals in response to RFPs, RFQs, and other solicitations. You’ll manage the entire proposal process—from strategy and coordination to final submission—ensuring each response is timely, compliant, and tailored to the client's needs. Success in this position requires strong writing skills, creativity, and a sharp eye for detail, as well as the ability to collaborate across teams and clearly communicate complex ideas. Your work will directly support business growth by helping the company win new opportunities and strengthen client relationships.
Essential Position Functions:
- Monitor bid management resources daily to identify new opportunities, distribute notifications and initiate the creation of the initial proposal draft.
- Proactively solicit bid opportunities through including mass communication to educational procurement offices across North America.
- Manage the proposal writing, building and editing process while also maintaining and updating all templates to remain current with offerings and business initiatives.
- Coordinate with multiple departments including IT, finance, marketing and operations to develop comprehensive responses and compliant proposals.
- Handle all proposal finalization, including but not limited to final document review, notarization, signatory responsibilities, packaging, shipping, and delivery confirmation.
- Drive ongoing development of business intelligence, including public records (FOIA) requests, forecasting future opportunities and archiving competitor submissions to enhance future bidding efforts.
- Provide other Sales support assigned to support customer retention and revenue growth.
Skills
- Strong command of language and ability to craft persuasive, clear, and compliant proposals
- Ability to manage multiple deadlines and coordinate cross-functional teams
- Precision in formatting, compliance, and addressing RFP/RFQ requirements
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills for internal collaboration and client-facing documents
- Ability to interpret solicitation documents and extract key requirements
- Familiarity with tools like PowerPoint, Adobe InDesign, or proposal automation software
- Experience with platforms like Salesforce, SharePoint, or proposal management systems
Education/Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Communications, Marketing, or a related field
- At least 2 years of experience in proposal development, procurement, vendor solicitation or similar
- Experience in managing end-to-end proposal processes and contributing to successful bids
- Experience working in industries such as manufacturing, contracting, consulting, is preferred