- Robot type
- Defense
- Location
- SunnyvaleCaliforniaUSA
- Job type
- Business Operations
- Posted
- Apr 28, 2026
- Salary
- $160,000–$190,000 a year
Full-time
Proposal Manager
Job description
The Role We're hiring for a Proposal Manager to drive world-class proposal execution across Scout AI's portfolio of government and commercial opportunities. You'll own the end-to-end proposal lifecycle, coordinating cross-functional teams to produce compliant, compelling responses to RFPs, RFIs, SBIRs, BAAs, and commercial bids. Think of this as the connective tissue between BD, Sales, Programs, Product, Engineering, Legal, and Finance: you'll keep teams aligned, on schedule, and focused on winning narratives.
Scout AI is the frontier AI lab for war. The future of defense will be decided by those who field intelligent machines at scale.
Job responsibilities
- Own proposal strategy and execution across all active pursuits: establish win themes, align technical approach, coordinate compliance review, and drive proposals to on-time submission
- Serve as Proposal Lead on active opportunities: facilitate kickoffs, assign writing tasks, set detailed milestones, manage proposal schedules, and surface blockers early
- Build and maintain a proposal asset library of reusable, high-quality templates including cover letters, SOWs, compliance matrices, cost volumes, organizational capability narratives, and past performance summaries
- Translate technical concepts into evaluator-focused narratives: work with Engineering, Product, and Program teams to distill complex capabilities into clear, persuasive proposal language that resonates with government…
- Coordinate cross-functional reviews to stress-test win themes, validate compliance, confirm cost realism, and ensure all sections support a cohesive, differentiated story before submission
- Manage proposal schedules and status tracking, including risk reporting, milestone tracking, and resource coordination across functions
- Drive proposal operations and process improvement: establish scorecards, checklists, and workflows that enable consistent, scalable proposal execution as the company grows
- Lead pricing and cost volume coordination between technical teams and Finance to ensure credible, competitive cost narratives that align with technical scope
Job requirements
- 8+ years in proposal management, program management, or government contracting within defense tech, space, dual-use, or equivalent professional experience
- Proven track record leading proposals from kickoff through submission for SBIRs, RFPs, BAAs, or similar government solicitations
- Strong technical communication skills: ability to distill engineering and product concepts into clear, evaluator-friendly narratives without over-simplifying
- Foundational understanding of engineering, product development, and systems architecture to support credible technical scoping and writing
- CRM and pipeline tool proficiency for deal tracking, reporting, and workflow management
- Familiarity with government procurement processes, FAR/DFARS compliance, and common submission portals and timelines
- Comfort with process building: ability to create and refine templates, scorecards, checklists, and workflows that scale and improve over time
- APMP, PMP, or Shipley certification (or equivalent proposal management credential)