New

Proposal Manager

Arlington, Virginia, United States, Remote

Excella is a transformative technology firm that helps organizations unlock new possibilities. We believe the key to helping clients challenge the status quo and reach new heights lies in our talented people. That’s why we’re committed to developing talent and providing opportunities for career growth at every stage. Join our collaborative team dedicated to solving complex problems with sustainable solutions while building your future as a leader. At Excella, you’re empowered to make lasting impact, turning today’s challenges into tomorrow’s mission successes.

  • Workplace locations look different for everyone. Excellians are a distributed workforce and whether you're working from your home office or a client site, we support a flexible work/life integration regardless of your location.
  • We offer top of industry medical, dental, and vision benefits with multiple options to choose from such as an employer-contributed health savings account, infertility coverage, and orthodontia so you can select the plan that works best for you.
  • Regardless of what stage of life you’re in, Excella wants to support you. We provide 8 weeks of Parental Leave, discounted pet insurance, and a Care.com membership with 3 back-up emergency child or elder care days annually – all available to you on your first day.
  • Starting day one, every employee is bonus eligible and receives 15 days of paid vacation, 6 federal holidays, and 4 floating holidays.
  • Doing your best work means having the best tools! Excella’s TechEleX program provides you with multiple options to suit your technology needs. Choose between a variety of Mac or PC devices, and to ensure your hardware remains current, at the end of a 3-year period Excella will replace your existing computer with a new model from the program. Plus, we’ll even give you the original device to keep for your personal use!
  • With Excella’s Annual Internet Reimbursement benefit, all employees receive an additional $25 per month to help offset the cost of internet access. This initiative reflects our commitment to supporting you in staying connected and productive, no matter where you work.
  • We'll invest in your career by providing 3 days of paid professional development every year, including an allowance for registration fees to attend classes, conferences, or obtain professional certifications.
  • We encourage mindfulness and overall well-being through employee wellness events, a HeadSpace membership, as well as access to TalkSpace and mental health coverage through our medical plans.

Overview:

The Proposal Manager leads the end-to-end proposal management process across all markets and client segments at Excella. This role ensures the timely development, compliance, and delivery of high-quality proposals and related submissions that advance Excella’s strategic growth goals. In addition to managing Excella’s proposal operations, tools, and templates, this leader is responsible for designing and driving AI-enabled process improvements that increase proposal quality, speed, and competitiveness. The Proposal Manager will play a pivotal role in shaping how Excella leverages emerging technologies and artificial intelligence to enhance efficiency, consistency, and innovation in proposal development. 

The core purpose of this role is to manage and continuously improve Excella’s proposal development lifecycle—ensuring compliant, high-quality, and persuasive submissions that position the company for successful recompetes and new business wins.

Responsibilities:

1. Oversee and Innovate the Full Proposal Lifecycle

  • Lead all proposal activities from pre-solicitation through submission, ensuring seamless coordination across capture, BD, and delivery teams to meet deadlines, compliance standards, and quality expectations.
  • Continuously improve and modernize proposal operations by integrate platforms (e.g., GovWin, MS Copilot, Claude) to automate administrative tasks, support intelligent content reuse, improve time-to-delivery, using workflows that enhance efficiency. 
  • Champion Excella’s human + AI collaboration model—balancing automation with professional judgment, ethical use, and brand voice—and foster a proactive, solution-forward mindset that moves teams beyond compliance toward insight-led, differentiated proposal submissions.

2. Ensure Compliance and Submission Quality

  • Exercise full ownership and accountability for the compliance, accuracy, and quality of all proposal submissions. 
  • Serve as the authoritative final compliance decision-maker, ensuring every deliverable meets or exceeds solicitation requirements, FAR/DFARS regulations, and Excella’s internal quality standards. 
  • Rigorously validate all volumes and artifacts through structured compliance checks, AI-enabled cross-verification, readability and tone analysis, and adherence to approved templates and messaging frameworks.
  • Drive the development of submissions that are not only fully compliant but strategically compelling—clearly communicating Excella’s value, differentiators, and alignment with evaluator priorities.
  • Hold proposal contributors accountable for meeting quality benchmarks and ensuring no gaps, inconsistencies, or risks to compliance remain at submission.

3. Facilitate Proposal Strategy and Win Messaging

  • Collaborate with BD, Capture Managers, and SMEs to define win themes, discriminators, and value propositions.
  • Use AI-driven insights and past performance analytics to tailor proposal messaging to agency missions and priorities.
  • Guide teams to apply proactive, solution-forward principles and best practices—teaching, tailoring, and taking control of the proposal narrative to emphasize Excella’s strategic and technical strengths.

4. Drive Proposal Operations, Governance, and Continuous Improvement

  • Oversee proposal processes, templates, and content management systems for efficiency, consistency, and scalability. 
  • Maintain an AI-assisted proposal content library to enable smart reuse of past performance data, resumes, and narratives.Partner with technical and compliance leaders to ensure ethical and compliant AI use aligned with federal acquisition standards.
  • Conduct post-submission retrospectives to identify process and content improvements, and apply lessons learned to refine workflows and win strategies.
  • Partner with technical and compliance leaders to ensure ethical and compliant AI use aligned with federal acquisition standards.
  • Conduct post-submission retrospectives to identify process and content improvements, and apply lessons learned to refine workflows and win strategies.

5. Coordinate Resources and Develop Team Capability

  • Forecast proposal workload, allocate resources, and manage scheduling to ensure coverage across pursuits.
  • Foster collaboration and cross-functional coaching so teams can confidently challenge the status quo in solution narratives and proposal strategy.
  • Train, coach, and mentor proposal staff and SMEs to strengthen proposal literacy, technical writing, and showcasing the proposed solution.

6. Measure and Report Proposal Performance

  • Track key performance indicators (win rate, compliance rate, timeliness stakeholder satisfaction) and report trends to SSG leadership.
  • Develop dashboards integrating AI analytics to identify bottlenecks, forecast success probabilities, and support data-driven decisions.
  • Use findings to continuously refine proposal strategy, resource planning, and process effectiveness.

7. Strengthen Cross-Functional Collaboration and Business Development Integration

  • Collaborate with BD, Capture, and Strategic Solutions teams to align proposal content with Excella’s solution portfolio and market strategy.
  • Facilitate information sharing between proposal and delivery teams to ensure solutions are feasible, differentiating, and reflective of client priorities.
  • Serve as a strategic partner in advancing Excella’s enterprise growth goals through high-quality, insight-driven proposal execution.

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree in communications, business, or a related field required; advanced degree preferred.
  • APMP certification or equivalent proposal management training strongly preferred.
  • 10+ years of experience managing federal proposal processes, including RFP response development and submission.
  • Proven track record of achieving high compliance and win rates in competitive federal or commercial environments.
  • Demonstrated understanding of federal acquisition regulations (FAR, DFARS) and compliance requirements.
  • Proven experience managing proposal operations and leading cross-functional teams in a matrixed environment.
  • Strong writing, editing, and communication skills with exceptional attention to detail and organization.
  • Experience with proposal management and AI-enhanced platforms (e.g., RFPIO, Loopio, GovWin, ClickUp AI, MS Copilot, ChatGPT, Jasper).
  • Demonstrated AI literacy—including prompt engineering, knowledge management, and ethical use of generative tools within regulated environment.
  • Ability to design and implement new workflows that integrate technology and automation into proposal operations.
  • Entrepreneurial mindset with proactive problem-solving skills and the ability to work autonomously while collaborating effectively across teams.

 

Excella is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law. Excella is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, contact Recruiting@excella.com or 703-840-8600.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

 

Create a Job Alert

Interested in building your career at Excella ? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Select...
Select...
Select...

Please list your mailing address.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Excella ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.