Hire Proposal Managers who own the RFP response cycle — win-plan discipline, pursuit-team orchestration, and construction-industry compliance. Sits between BD and Precon; is the difference between a win and a submission.
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Example candidateA structured process for the hire that owns the RFP response cycle — where a broken proposal team turns a winnable pursuit into a compliance mess that goes nowhere.
30-minute call. Align on firm type, annual RFP volume, pursuit-team structure, BD / Precon interface, and start date.
Within 2 weeks we introduce 3–5 Proposal Managers with delivered construction-industry RFP history. References from prior Directors of BD, Chief Estimators, and pursuit teams included.
Every placement carries a replacement guarantee. If the hire fails within the warranty window, we run a no-fee replacement search.
Proposal Managers own the moment when BD hands off to pursuit-response. Win-plan discipline, pursuit-team orchestration, and construction-industry compliance separate a Proposal Manager who converts pursuits into wins from one who ships a compliant submission that loses on strategy.
Every Proposal Manager on the shortlist has reference-verified pursuit-win history — not submission counts. Verified from prior Directors of BD, Chief Estimators, and pursuit-team members.
Reference-verified orchestration across BD, Precon, Chief Estimator, technical SMEs, and executive review team. Kick-off, color-team reviews, and final QC discipline.
DBIA templates, federal compliance (SF 330, USACE), state DHS requirements, hyperscale operator RFP formats, health-system procurement compliance. Sector-specific fluency.
Every candidate is credential-verified, win-rate referenced, and matched to your firm type. Anonymized examples below reflect real placement profiles.
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Example candidate.png)
Example candidate.png)
Example candidate“Proposal Manager” means different things across firm types and pursuit portfolios. Below are the specializations we recruit for:
We’ll help you scope the role on the call — firm type, annual RFP volume, pursuit-team structure, and compliance model.
Proposal Manager hires live and die on win-rate history, orchestration discipline, and compliance fluency. Below is what every candidate has documented before you meet them:
Reference-verified pursuit-win history from prior Directors of BD and Chief Estimators. Not submission counts.
Verified kick-off, color-team review, and final QC discipline. Referenced from pursuit-team members.
DBIA templates, federal SF 330 / USACE, state DHS, hyperscale RFP formats. Matched to your pursuit portfolio.
APMP certification, SMPS credentials, DBIA where applicable. Not just proposal-tenure resume.
Cosential / Unanet, Salesforce, InDesign, Bluebeam, SharePoint. Matched to your environment.
Proposal Manager, Sr Proposal Manager, Director of Proposals comp bands aligned before finalist interviews.
Time to shortlist is typically 2 weeks from scoping call. Total time to placement (shortlist through offer acceptance) is typically 3–4 weeks.
Pricing depends on engagement model. Per-role recruiting is a defined fee. Embedded is a monthly retainer. Director-level searches route through executive search.
Yes. Proposal Coordinator (IC role, promotion track to Proposal Manager) is core coverage. Anchor section on this page covers it.
Where obtainable. We reference-verify with prior Directors of BD, Chief Estimators, and pursuit teams on qualified-pursuit win rate.
Yes. SF 330, USACE, DoD, GSA fluency is core coverage. Referenced from prior federal pursuit teams.
Yes. Every Proposal Manager placement carries a replacement guarantee. Guarantee terms are confirmed in writing at engagement start.
Yes. Multi-hire proposal builds (Director + Sr PMs + PMs + Coordinators + Graphic Designer) route through embedded recruiting or RPO.
Generalist recruiters treat all “proposal writer” experience as interchangeable. iRecruit.co Proposal Manager recruiters verify construction-industry compliance and orchestration — every candidate is matched to your pursuit portfolio.
Proposal Coordinators are the individual-contributor role on the proposal team — kick-off logistics, section-writer coordination, graphic and layout production, and QC support. Sits below Proposal Manager, often the promotion track.
Individual-contributor proposal-team role. Common early-career and mid-career hire.
30-minute scoping conversation. We’ll review the Proposal Manager role you need, firm type, annual RFP volume, pursuit-team structure, and compliance model — then recommend the right hire path and start sourcing.
