What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior Proposal Manager position at LW?
Position Title: Senior Proposal Manager Department/Location: Business Development /Oklahoma City, OK (Remote) Status: Regular/Full-Time _____________________________________________________________________________________ Primary Function: Long Wave Inc. (LWI) is currently hiring for a Senior Proposal Manager to join the Business Development and Capture Team, located in Oklahoma City, OK (Remote). This position reports directly to senior corporate leadership, including the President and Business Unit Vice Presidents. This role serves as the organization’s lead authority for federal, DoD, and enterprise proposal development, incorporating advanced expertise in FAR, DFARS, CFR, and compliance-driven contracting. The Senior Proposal Manager will lead complex proposal efforts and ensure fully compliant, compelling, and audit-ready submissions aligned with organizational goals. This position plays a critical role in supporting Gate 0–3 activities under the LWI Gate Procedure, ensuring all required artifacts meet mandatory entry and exit criteria and are maintained per published policies. Essential Responsibilities:
- Lead assigned proposal efforts from pre-RFP planning through final submission, ensuring compliance with solicitation requirements and LWI processes.
- Define proposal outlines, responsibilities, schedules, and milestones, including color team reviews, gate reviews, and final delivery.
- Facilitate proposal kick-off meetings with functional leaders; provide a clear outline and set the vision for: proposal plans, schedules, milestones, assignments, reviews, delivery and post-delivery criteria.
- Support development and integration of win strategies, themes, and messaging to differentiate LWI.
- Direct and participate in writing, editing, and content development, including executive summaries, technical narratives, and management sections.
- Conduct regular proposal progress status meetings, meet one-on-one with proposal stakeholders and maintain the proposal schedule; proactively identify, communicate, and mitigate risks
- Ensure integration of win themes, discriminators, and customer hot buttons into proposal content.
- Build and maintain tools such as RFP shred files, compliance matrices, SharePoint sites, and schedules.
- Oversee final proposal production, including editing, proofreading, publishing and delivery.
- Organize and conduct lessons-learned sessions to improve future proposal efforts.
- Support Business Development during Gate 0 (Interest Decision) by reviewing initial opportunity alignment and capture readiness.
- Participate in Gate 1 (Pursue Decision) by assisting with preliminary capture planning, compliance strategy, and resource assessments.
- Lead proposal readiness activities for Gate 2 (Bid Decision), including compliance matrices, high-level cost inputs, annotated outlines, and detailed proposal planning.
- Prepare and deliver Gate 3 (Bid Approval) documentation, ensuring final bid artifacts are complete, compliant, and approved for submission.
- Ensure all Gate 0–3 mandatory checklists are completed and archived.
- Support deviation and waiver requests when needed, ensuring justification aligns with procedural requirements and customer/contract constraints.
- Maintain full traceability of proposal artifacts and gate decisions for audit readiness.
- Bachelor’s degree in business, communications, English, law, or related field.
- Four (4) or more years of experience in proposal management, business development, or related field; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Strong proposal management, organizational, and project management skills
- Strong understanding of FAR, DFARS, CFR, and federal procurement processes.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to work with senior executives and cross-functional teams under tight deadlines.
- Experience managing complex proposals for DoD or federal government clients.
- APMP certification (Practitioner minimum, Professional preferred).
- NCMA certification (CPCM, CFCM, or equivalent).
- Significant experience with federal acquisition process (FAR/DFARS).
- Experience with capture planning and business development lifecycle processes.
- High emotional intelligence and ability to work collaboratively across diverse teams.
- Familiarity with ERP/CLM systems such as Deltek Costpoint.
- S. Citizenship required; ability to obtain U.S. Secret Security Clearance if necessary.
- The employee will be working in an office setting and may be required to travel occasionally.
- Remote work may be considered.
- Competitive Salary
- Medical, Dental & Vision coverage
- 401k
- Educational Assistance
- Life Insurance
- Employee Assistance Programs & Work/Life Solutions
- Paid Time Off
- This position’s standard work schedule is a 9/80. The 9/80 schedule allows employees who work a nine-hour day Monday through Thursday to take every other Friday off.