The Role
Leads strategic proposal marketing for complex professional-services pursuits, developing win plans, market and competitor insights, differentiators, messaging, and client presentation strategies. Facilitates pursuit workshops, coaches teams, oversees proposal quality, supports win/loss reviews, and mentors marketing staff. Collaborates with business developers, designers, subject matter experts, and firm leaders to create compelling written and visual narratives.
Summary Generated by Built In
If you think your skills, experience and aspirations make you a good match for this position, we encourage you to apply. This position may be filled anywhere in the United States. Preference may be given to candidates that can work in one of the CannonDesign locations.
As part of the application process, candidates should show us their creativity and ability to influence and bring strategy to life through visual and verbal storytelling. Please redact proprietary/confidential information as needed. Note: We acknowledge that developing these items is highly collaborative. That said, we’re looking for examples where you had a primary role in their creation. You’ll be given time to present your work during the interview — we’re interested in “how” you present your work, too.
ABOUT THE ROLE
Step into a role where ambition meets impact and innovation drives opportunity. We’re seeking a creative problem solver to work alongside firm leaders to influence strategy and drive success. This role is ideal for those who play to win, are excited by a challenge and excel at drawing insights that others might overlook.
We work in high-pressure environments, but we’ve cultivated a close-knit community built on shared knowledge, best practices and mutual support. Your drive, diligence and inquisitive nature will be key to challenging pursuit teams to deliver transformative results.
As a Pursuit Strategist, you’ll be part of our Brand, Marketing and Business Development (BMBD) team, reporting to our National Marketing Pursuits Leader and collaborating closely with the entire marketing team, as well as business developers, graphic designers, and market and client leaders throughout the firm.
Success in this role will require the ability to transform raw information into meaningful narratives that inform decision-making and inspire action. You’ll need creativity, strong writing skills and a collaborative spirit to bring ideas to life alongside our talented team. And you’ll be called upon to translate your strategic marketing instincts and talents to serve multiple areas of expertise housed within the firm.
HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL DO
Strategic Proposal Marketing
- Lead strategy development for our firm’s most significant and complex project pursuits.
- During early phases of the Strategic Pursuit Process, you’ll develop an overall action plan that includes profiles of decision-makers and influencers, a competitor analysis, a SWOT analysis and comprehensive market research, all of which you’ll use to develop insights that inform our strategy.
- Partner closely with the Opportunity Leader to develop a project-specific win plan (client issues, features, benefits and proof statements), strategic teaming plan and spearhead the preliminary go/no go and strategy review.
- Lead the effective facilitation of strategy sessions/workshops to develop a pursuit strategy targeted to the client’s needs. Drive an established agenda, guide the creative brainstorming process, challenge and tests ideas, develop action items and assignments, and synthesize the intelligence, outcomes and next steps of these sessions.
- Ensure the greatest possibility of success by supporting compliance, readability and messaging of pursuit-related materials.
- Collaborate with opportunity leaders and marketing leads to organize and determine the objectives of strategy sessions/workshops according to our strategic pursuit process. Identify and engage local, regional and firm resources to support the win-planning process.
- Partner with pursuit teams to develop and implement differentiators, value propositions, key messages, project approaches and successful interview presentations.
- Partner with the proposal content team, subject matter experts and our BMBD team to ensure messaging is translated into a compelling narrative with graphics that provide visual storytelling that reinforces and amplifies our pursuit theme throughout the proposal.
- Serve as a presentation rehearsal coach and facilitator to organize and prepare teams for client presentations and interviews.
- Participate in win/loss debriefs and identify and leverage lessons learned to inform future pursuits.
- Coach and mentor Marketing Specialists and Senior Marketing Specialists across the region in proposal strategy and strategic storytelling.
Firm Knowledge & Subject Matter Expertise
- Develop strong, in-depth knowledge of the firm’s portfolio and personnel and brand (how we express ourselves visually and verbally) to connect with clients and differentiate ourselves in the marketplace.
- Develop subject matter expertise (across markets, typologies, services, technology or other) that adds value to our marketing initiatives and pursuit activities.
Management & Operations
- Work with our National Marketing Pursuits Leader and Regional Marketing Team Leaders to train and develop our Senior/Marketing Specialists.
- Provide peer review and oversight for accuracy and quality of content.
- Self-review all work for accuracy and quality of content.
Other
- Up to 25% travel expected.
- May participate in external marketing activities.
HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED
- Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, communications or a related field required.
- Minimum of 8 years of related work experience required. 10+ years of related work experience preferred.
- Related experience working in a proposal management role influencing strategy and content for a professional services firm required.
- Related experience working in the Architecture, Engineering and/or Construction industry preferred.
- Strong proficiency with InDesign, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
- Familiarity with Deltek CRM Vision, Salesforce and Miro is a plus.
Core Competencies
- Strategic thinker able to translate ideas into plans, goals and role assignments with measures to ensure implementation.
- Enthusiasm for working as part of a driven and disciplined team, with a motivation to overcome hurdles and obstacles to find solutions.
- Ability to command a room, gain consensus and navigate team and organizational dynamics effectively.
- Strong time and project management skills, along with the ability to manage up as you work with large teams in a deadline-driven environment.
- Solid skills and confidence in driving a process.
- Able to inspire and collaborate with a creative team to bring ideas to life.
- Effective communicator — able to share ideas with confidence and clarity, and shape creative and compelling narratives.
The salary range for this position is $ 83,200 to $104,000 annually. This salary range is the range we believe is the anticipated range of possible base compensation at the timing of the posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the anticipated salary range for the position. Employees may be eligible for discretionary bonuses. We offer a full benefit package including medical, dental and vision coverage and flexible spending account options and voluntary insurances. We have paid time off, flex-time schedules, remote work options and a 401k plan and employee perk programs. For a general overview of our benefits, please visit our careers page at https://www.cannondesign.com/careers/benefits. Actual compensation may vary from posting based on geographic location, work experience, education and/or skill level.
ABOUT OUR FIRM
CannonDesign is a design practice where strategy, experience, architecture, engineering, and social impact converge. We don’t just dream up solutions — we create and bring them to life in ways to solve some of the biggest challenges facing our clients and the society. At the heart of everything we do is Living-Centered Design, a bold commitment to using our talents to not just improve the world but to truly reshape it for the better. It’s more than a philosophy — it’s who we are, and it drives us to make a meaningful, lasting difference every day.
ABOUT WORKING HERE
- We are relentless in our pursuit of client adoration (not simply satisfaction). Consistent delivery of the best service is what we are about.
- We are committed to ensuring our practice provides equal opportunities for all employees, as we strive to connect with communities around us and focus on the future of design. We support equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts that benefit all employees through the leadership of our DEI Council, our Employee Resource Groups which are open to everyone, and other community initiatives.
- We’re about communication and transparency here. If you want to talk to someone about an idea you have, or a challenge that needs addressing, we’re ready for you.
Please note that candidates can only apply to our positions on our company Careers site. It's not uncommon for scammers to create positions that look legitimate on other sites; never enter your information or apply for CannonDesign positions on any platform. Should an issue arise that you feel we should be aware of, please contact us. Please provide your resume and portfolio when applying.
As a condition of employment, all employees are expected to complete mandatory training, including compliance training, within required timeframes and adhere to our internal policies and our Code of Conduct.
CannonDesign is an Equal Opportunity Employer. CannonDesign is committed to maintaining a work environment that is free from any and all forms of unlawful discrimination and harassment. It is therefore the firm’s policy to prohibit discrimination and harassment against any applicant, CannonDesign employee, vendor, contractor, or client on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy, veteran status, genetic information, citizenship status, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law. It is also CannonDesign’s policy to prohibit any and all forms of retaliation against any individual who has complained of harassing or discriminatory conduct, or participated in a firm or agency investigation into such complaints.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, communications, or a related field
- Minimum of 8 years of related work experience
- Experience working in a proposal management role influencing strategy and content for a professional services firm
- Experience working in the architecture, engineering, and/or construction industry
- Strong proficiency with Adobe InDesign
- Strong proficiency with Microsoft Word
- Strong proficiency with Microsoft Excel
- Strong proficiency with Microsoft PowerPoint
- Familiarity with Deltek CRM Vision
- Familiarity with Salesforce
- Familiarity with Miro
CannonDesign Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about CannonDesign and has not been reviewed or approved by CannonDesign.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage is described as comprehensive, including medical, dental, vision, mental-health resources, and an EAP. HSAs and FSAs further extend the program’s practicality.
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Parental & Family Support — Policies include paid parental leave for birth, adoption, or foster placement, with additional adoption assistance and dependent-care tax advantages. These offerings indicate meaningful support for diverse family needs.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — A 100% employee-owned structure with access to company stock and profitability bonuses is emphasized. This ownership approach can provide additional wealth-building potential beyond salary.
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The Company
What We Do
As an integrated design firm, we do a lot of things. But at our core, we help people continuously flourish. We leverage the heart, passion and intelligence of our more than 1,000 creative thinkers to develop solutions for some of the greatest challenges facing our clients and society. Whether designing for equity in education, accessible healthcare, inclusive communities, new scientific discoveries or the “next big idea” in business, we partner with organizations to help them improve human life. We do this through a design approach we created called Living-Centered Design. Our approach realizes that to create a world where people continuously flourish, we must address the complex interdependencies that exist between people, businesses, communities, society and the environment. Learn more at cannondesign.com/livingcentereddesign.
