Job Details

Overview

Quarterhill is looking for a Proposal Center Manager to join our business development team in Frisco, TX. This role will be working with all members of the business development team to create winning and innovative proposals that include written responses for RFx's; as well as, unsolicited proposals and white papers.

The Proposal Manager will drive the proposal process from Go/No-Go, to the deployment of interdisciplinary proposal tasks that involve the co-ordination of matrixed teams to obtain the completion of quality, compliant and timely deliverables. This will be a hands-on position with dotted line reporting as a part of each RFx response and will be the manager that leads the team to achieve success.

Responsibilities

Proposal Management

• Serve as a key member of the Business Development team, leading proposal responses to customers.
• Execute the proposal response plan while coordinating with key internal stakeholders (e.g., Business Development, technology, legal, finance).
• Validate RFP response requirements and ensure proposal compliance.
• Create and manage proposal schedules to meet RFP deadlines.
• Communicate deliverable requirements and deadlines to internal cross-functional teams and external sub-contractors.
• Administer the production of proposals, including printing, assembly, and shipping per Quarterhill and RFP process/deadlines.
• Monitor proposal progress against the schedule; document and communicate proposal status to key stakeholders.
• Review final proposal responses for compliance, clarity, and content.
• Lead Proposal Kickoff and coordinate with Business Units to identify and assign cross-functional SME resources to proposals.

Content Development and Management

• Develop win themes and technical discriminators, working with marketing and Business Development.
• Build a library of approved proposal content for quick-turnaround opportunities.
• Help create and maintain repositories of proposal tools, including RFP documents, previous responses, response templates, conformance matrices, storyboards, and a library of graphics and key charts.
• Review, edit, and/or write/rewrite management, technical, and price volume content, focusing on accuracy, readability, sufficient detail, and brevity.
• Apply proposal-level domain knowledge of relevant technologies to identify gaps in information and assign questions to SMEs, decision-makers, and/or partners as required.
• Assemble artifacts and support win strategies for new procurement efforts by creating storyboards and helping develop win themes, competitive strategies, and proposed solutions.

Coordination and Collaboration

• Coordinate Go/No Go process when RFP is received.
• Coordinate initial Executive meetings.
• Work with Business Development, Business Units, and other internal functions to coordinate SME reviews of RFPs and associated documents.
• Coordinate Quarterhill/ETC attendance at pre-bid conferences.
• Coordinate leadership meetings with SME and executive leadership to discuss RFP and complete conformance matrix.
• Compile evaluation scorecards and final Go/No Go presentations.
• Assist in identifying key partners and subcontractors, managing them to ensure requisite capability and compliance.
• Manage the proposal process and lead cross-functional teams through an iterative content development and review process to obtain timely, compliant, winning proposal deliverables.

Compliance and Quality Assurance

• Develop proposal compliance matrices and compliant proposal outlines.
• Ensure state and agency procurement guidelines are understood and incorporated into the proposal development process for full compliance.
• Perform routine quality and compliance reviews of technical proposal documents to ensure 100% compliance with RFP requirements and compelling responses.

Research and Analysis

• Assist Business Development Leads in performing external environmental research to understand current and future customers, as well as Quarterhill's competitive landscape.
• Help build and maintain detailed profiles on current and future customers using various research methods.
• Analyze FOIA requests to extract pertinent information from competitors' winning responses, such as competitor pricing, technology, customer notes, preferences, content stylings, descriptions, visuals, and methods of response.
• Conduct gap analysis of RFPs and associated documents to assess qualifications and experience needed versus Quarterhill capabilities and available personnel.

Documentation and Maintenance

• Upload and maintain RFP documentation on SharePoint and/or other systems.
• Organize deliverables and other content into response templates at the start of the process.
• Prepare and/or edit response templates to include technical qualifications and requirements, experience tables, SLA and KPI conformance matrices, and other response documents as required for production and delivery.
• Work with cross-functional teams to evaluate previous proposals to save the best content for future proposal responses.

This list of responsibilities might not cover everythingyou'llend up doing.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's Degree required.
• 3-5 years of experience writing and managing proposals and/or technical documentation.
• Some background with transportation technology solutions and systems is a plus.
• Preference will be given to those with Tolling or ITS industry experience.

Skills and Abilities

• Writing and Analytical Skills:
  • Excellent writing skills, both technical and analytical.
  • Ability to synthesize technical information to read and analyze RFPs and transform requirements into polished, compelling technology sales documents.
  • Ability to write, edit, and format technical documents with confidence.
• Project Management:
  • Excellent project management skills.
  • Ability to organize and lead multiple different teams on simultaneous proposal response efforts.
• Customer Focus:
  • Customer-focused and self-motivated with a great sense of urgency and follow-through.
• Communication:
  • Excellent communicator who can quickly earn the respect of the team and customers.
  • Ability to work effectively across internal and external organizations.
  • Must be able to build inter-departmental relationships and influence people.
• Technical Understanding:
  • Ability to develop outlines and ensure proposals comply with customer requirements.
  • Ability to understand customer engagements and the customer procurement process.

Technical Proficiency

• Proficient with MS Office products, especially Word, PowerPoint, Visio, and Excel.
• Proficient with Adobe Acrobat Pro.
• Familiarity with SharePoint is an asset.
• Proficiency with graphics is an asset.

Personal Attributes

• Structured, organized thought process with the ability to focus on details.
• Ability to support the development and management of key functions.
• Must take direction well but also be able to operate with autonomy and some ambiguity.