Proposal Manager

The Proposal Manager plays a critical role within the Advanced Solutions Development (ASD) function at KPI Solutions, supporting the successful delivery of pre-sales pursuits from qualification through proposal submission. This position is responsible for managing pursuit timelines, maintaining the pursuit tracking system, and ensuring clear ownership and accountability across all active opportunities. The Proposal Manager acts as the operational backbone of the pre-sales process — enabling solution engineers and estimators to focus on technical output by owning the coordination, communication, and escalation work that keeps pursuits on track. This individual partners closely with solution engineers, estimators, and sales leadership to ensure that every active pursuit has a deadline, an owner, and a current status at all times.

• Own and maintain the pursuit tracking system in Smartsheet, ensuring every active pursuit row is current with accurate deadlines, ownership, health status, and blocker notes.

• Manage new pursuit intake — log incoming opportunities, confirm proposal due dates with the Sales Owner, and ensure a Pursuit Lead is assigned before technical work begins.

• Run the weekly pursuit standup meeting, including pre-meeting preparation, facilitating the agenda, updating Smartsheet live during the call, and distributing the post-standup summary to the Teams pursuit channel.

• Monitor pursuit health across the active pipeline, proactively identifying pursuits that are at risk of missing deadlines and escalating to Sales Owners and the ASD manager before deadlines are missed.

• Monitor engineer and estimator capacity using the Smartsheet capacity view; flag overload conditions to the ASD manager before new pursuit assignments are accepted.

• Serve as the primary communication bridge between the pre-sales team and Sales Owners, providing timely, factual status updates and managing expectations on deliverable timelines.

• Maintain and continuously improve pursuit coordination processes, tools, and templates to support a repeatable, scalable pre-sales operation.

• Ensure closed pursuits (Won, Lost, On Hold) are updated in Smartsheet promptly, and perform monthly archive cleanup to maintain a clean active pipeline view.

• Support the ASD manager with pursuit pipeline reporting and capacity data for leadership reviews and board-level reporting as needed.

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Communications, Project Management, or a related field; equivalent professional experience considered.

• 2–5 years of experience in a project coordination, sales operations, pre-sales support, or proposal management role.

• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent deadlines across a fast-moving pipeline without losing track of details or ownership.

• Proficiency in Smartsheet, including building and maintaining sheets, configuring automations, and creating reports and dashboards.

• Strong communication skills; able to work effectively with technical engineers, estimators, and sales professionals — and to push back diplomatically when deadlines or capacity are at risk.

• Natural coordinator instincts — proactive, organized, and comfortable owning a process without being the technical expert in the room.

• Excellent organizational skills with strong attention to detail; able to maintain data accuracy across a high volume of active opportunities.

• Strong interpersonal skills; able to build trust with engineers who may be skeptical of process overhead and with sales leaders who expect responsiveness.

• Familiarity with warehouse automation, material handling, or industrial pre-sales environments preferred but not required.

• Proficiency in Microsoft 365 including Teams, Outlook, and SharePoint; experience with Salesforce CRM a plus.

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Experience with AEC (Architecture, Engineering, or Construction) or management consulting firms.

• Experience with collaborative software platforms (e.g., SharePoint, Smartsheet Work Platform, MS Project, Teams, Salesforce, or similar systems).

• Familiarity in graphic design, layout, and visual communication tools.

• Understanding of best practices in proposal development and commercial enablement.

• Excellent communications skills and ability to manage tight timelines within a team matrix organization.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

• No travel required.

• PMP or CAPM certification a plus but not required.

• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment where priorities can shift quickly and no two weeks look the same.

• Experience with Smartsheet and Microsoft 365 – Office Applications required.

• Medical Insurance

• Dental Insurance

• Vision Insurance

• Health Care Concierge Service

• 401(k) Retirement Plan (Pre-tax & Roth)

• Company paid Basic Life Insurance, Short-Term Disability & Long-Term Disability

• Voluntary Life & AD&D Insurance

• Voluntary Accident, Critical Illness & Hospital Indemnity Insurance

• Pet Insurance

• Milk Stork Program

• Wellness Program with gift card redemption and wellness challenges

• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & 10 Holidays)

• Training & Development
  KPI Solutions provides equal employment opportunity to all individuals regardless of their race, color, creed, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by states, federal, or local law.