Senior Manager, Global Proposals
Role Overview
Encoura is a data and technology company purpose-built for higher education, helping institutions and students make smarter, more connected decisions. Following the acquisition of Anthology’s Lifecycle Engagement and Student Success division, we are building out our commercial capabilities, and a dedicated proposals function is central to that.
This role exists because we are ready to build and own our RFP and proposal process as a dedicated Encoura function. The time is now, and this person will hit the ground running.
You will establish Encoura’s proposals capability for the Lifecycle Engagement and Student Success division — building the processes, content library, and tooling that make us consistently competitive in a market where RFPs are a primary procurement vehicle. You will work closely with Solution Engineering, Product, Marketing, and Sales to ensure every submission is compelling, compliant, and unmistakably Encoura. You will also connect with and leverage Encoura’s broader proposals expertise across the business, so you are set up to move fast.
This is an individual contributor role to start, with a clear pathway to building and leading a team as the function matures. The right person is a pioneer — someone who is energized by ambiguity, knows exactly what great looks like, and has the expertise and initiative to make it real.
A Day in the Life
- Own and build out Encoura’s RFP and proposal process for the Lifecycle Engagement and Student Success division, establishing it as a fully independent, high-performing function
- Conduct an immediate audit of current proposal content, processes, registered RFP pipelines, and tooling — identifying what can be carried forward and what needs to be built
- Establish a scalable, repeatable end-to-end proposal process from opportunity registration through submission, with clear SLAs, quality standards, and cross-functional accountability
- Build and maintain a centralized content library of approved responses, Encoura boilerplate, product and services descriptions, case studies, and compliance documentation
- Evaluate and implement proposal tooling appropriate to Encoura’s scale, including AI-assisted solutions to improve efficiency and consistency
- Connect with Encoura’s existing proposals team in other parts of the business to identify shared assets, templates, and best practices that accelerate the build
- Lead end-to-end development of all RFP, RFI, and proposal responses for the LE and SS division, ensuring each submission is on time, compliant, and strategically tailored to the customer’s needs
- Partner with Sales, Customer Success, and Solution Engineering to understand the competitive context for each opportunity and craft responses that genuinely differentiate Encoura
- Develop proposal narratives that articulate Encoura’s value proposition across its Lifecycle Engagement and Student Success products and services, with fluency in higher education buying contexts and procurement processes
- Manage the RFP registration pipeline, ensuring opportunities are identified early, tracked, and resourced appropriately
- Manage multiple concurrent proposals in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment without sacrificing quality
- While this is an individual contributor role, it requires strong matrix leadership — you will coordinate and effectively lead a network of SMEs across Solution Engineering, Sales, and Delivery/Professional Services to produce high-quality, on-time proposals without direct line management authority
- Establish clear ways of working with SME contributors so that their input is structured, efficient, and consistent — making it easy for them to participate without it becoming a burden
- Serve as the connective tissue between Sales, Customer Success, Solution Engineering, Product, Marketing, Legal, and Finance during the proposal process, driving to completion with or without formal authority
- Work closely with Marketing to ensure proposal narratives are aligned with Encoura’s evolving brand and go-to-market positioning
- Build relationships across the organization so that contributing teams experience the proposals function as a strategic partner, not a bottleneck
- Ensure all proposals meet regulatory, contractual, and company compliance standards in coordination with Legal and Finance
- Track and analyze proposal win/loss data to surface insights and drive continuous improvement in process and content quality
- Report regularly on proposal pipeline, submission volume, turnaround times, and win rates, using data to build the case for tooling, content investment, or future resourcing
- Stay current on higher education procurement trends, RFP best practices, and competitive intelligence
Role Progression
- Within 1 month, you’ll: Take ownership of the active RFP pipeline and map the current state of content, processes, and registered opportunities. You’llbuild key relationships across Solution Engineering, Product, Sales, and Marketing, and develop a clear, prioritized plan for what needs to be built, in what order, and by when.
- Within 3 months, you’ll: Have stood up Encoura’s proposals function for the Lifecycle Engagement and Student Success division. You’ll have an initialcontent library in place, a repeatable submission process running, and active proposals being managed end-to-end under the Encoura brand. You’ll have connected with Encoura’s broader proposals expertise and identified shared assets and synergies that accelerate your build.
- Within 6 months, you’ll: Be driving measurable improvement in proposal quality, turnaround time, and win rates. You’ll have a scalable process and a growing content library that the broader team actively relies on, a clear point of view on tooling and future investment, and early indicators of what team growth should look like. You’ll be seen as a strategic partner by Sales and Solution Engineering — someone who helps Encoura win.
About You
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience
- 5+ years of experience in proposal management, bid management, or a closely related field within EdTech, SaaS, or technology
- Demonstrated ability to build or significantly improve a proposals function, not just operate within one
- Familiarity with Anthology’s Lifecycle Engagement or Student Success products is a strong advantage — product knowledge allows you to hit the ground running and produce high-quality content from day one
- Deep understanding of the RFP/RFI lifecycle in higher education or institutional B2B environments, including formal procurement processes
- Exceptional written communication skills — able to translate complex product and services capabilities into clear, compelling, customer-centric narratives
- Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent deadlines without dropping quality
- Highly collaborative with a proven track record of working across Sales, Solution Engineering, Marketing, Legal, Finance, and Product teams
- Genuine curiosity about how AI and automation can improve proposal quality and efficiency
- Analytical mindset — comfortable tracking performance data and using it to drive decisions
- Fluency in written and spoken English
- Direct experience with Anthology’s Lifecycle Engagement or Student Success platforms, preferred
- Experience building a proposals function at a company coming out of an acquisition or significant org change, preferred
- Familiarity with AI-assisted proposal tools and a track record of leveraging technology to scale output, preferred
- Experience hiring and developing a proposals team and appetite to do so as this function grows, preferred
- APMP certification or equivalent experience, preferred
- Master’s degree in a relevant field, preferred
What Sets Us Apart
- Mission driven culture
- Comprehensive health and benefits package
- 401k company match that vests immediately upon participation
- Paid holidays and a generous PTO policy
- Paid parental leave
About Us
Encoura’s mission is to empower students and institutions to create meaningful connections so everyone can make the most informed decisions to achieve their goals. Since 1972, the Company has evolved its products and services to better represent the link between students and higher education institutions and to create the highest probability of student success.
Encoura’s expertise now spans enrollment, research, marketing, student success, and advancement and provides an unmatched combination of higher education experience and innovative solutions for colleges and universities. The Company also offers Encourage® — the nation’s largest free college and career planning program used by millions of high school students and educators nationwide.
It is the policy of the Company to provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information. All applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S.
Encoura endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process or are limited in the ability and need an alternative method for applying, please contact the Talent Team.
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