Auterion is seeking a highly skilled and motivated Senior Proposal Manager & Lead Writer to lead the planning, development, and submission of compliant, compelling proposals for the Department of Defense (DoD) and other U.S. Government agencies. The ideal candidate has a strong background in government contracting and combines hands-on writing with end-to-end proposal management. This role is critical to our growth strategy and requires a detail-oriented professional who can manage the entire proposal lifecycle, coordinate cross-functional teams, and deliver high-quality, on-time proposals.
Responsibilities and Duties
- Serve as primary author for executive summaries, technical/management volumes, past performance, resumes, and orals materials; transform SME inputs into clear, evaluable narratives aligned to RFP sections and scoring criteria.
- Manage the full proposal process from RFI/RFP release through submission (written and electronic) and orals, ensuring 100% compliance with requirements and deadlines.
- Coordinate and facilitate proposal kickoff meetings, daily standups, and color team reviews (Pink/Red/Gold); capture actions and drive closure.
- Review, edit, and integrate contributions for clarity, consistency, and compliance; enforce voice, structure, win themes, and graphic standards.
- Track progress against proposal schedules; identify risks and implement mitigation plans to maintain on-time delivery.
- Manage version control/configuration and lead production for written, electronic, and orals submissions.
- Maintain and continuously improve a reusable proposal library (templates, boilerplate, past performance, resumes, graphics).
- Partner with BD, Capture, PM, Engineering, Contracts, and Finance/Pricing to align strategy, staffing plans, BOEs, and CDRLs.
- Support process improvement by codifying SOPs, checklists, lessons learned, and quality gates to increase proposal efficiency and win probability.
- Serve as the primary point of contact for all proposal-related communications and coordination during the proposal lifecycle.
Qualifications and Skills
- Bachelor’s degree in business, communications, or a related field. An advanced degree or relevant certifications (e.g., PMP, APMP) is a plus.
- Minimum of 10+ years of experience managing U.S. Government proposals (preferably DoD/IC) in a government contracting environment, with demonstrated heavy authorship on winning bids.
- Strong knowledge of the federal acquisition lifecycle, proposal best practices, and RFP compliance requirements (FAR/DFARS); familiarity with OTA/CSO, IDIQ/Task Orders, BAAs, and SBIR/STTR is a plus.
- Excellent project management and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent proposals under tight deadlines.
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and drive accountability in a collaborative, fast-paced environment.
- Superior writing, editing, and communication skills with high attention to detail; adept at synthesizing technical input into clear, persuasive content.
- Proficiency in proposal management tools and Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint).
- Deep understanding of FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation) and DFARS (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement).
- Experience with CRM systems (e.g., HubSpot) to track opportunities and proposal activity is a plus.
Benefits
- Flexible working hours & hybrid workplace
- Stock Options
- Generous holiday & PTO allowance
- Health Insurance (includes dental & vision)
- Medical flex spending
- Life Insurance
- Retirement Plan - 401k
- Enhanced maternity & paternity leave
- Mental health and wellbeing support
- Learning and development opportunities
- Regular team socials
About Auterion
We are building the leading software platform for AI-powered autonomous systems for enterprise and government customers. Our team is supporting the most important missions and solving the most challenging problems.
At Auterion, we bring together the sharpest minds who love to solve the hardest problems. Join a vibrant team built on innovation, openness, and excellence, where you’ll be empowered to develop ideas, collaborate across all levels, and make an impact that matters.
Top Skills
What We Do
At Auterion we care about providing enterprise with an ecosystem of software-defined drones, payloads, and third party applications within a single easy to use platform based on open-source standards.
We’re leaders in an open-source movement bigger than ourselves and we’ve been on the same mission for over a decade, since our co-founder Lorenz Meier created Pixhawk, MAVLink, QGC, and PX4 (the world’s most widely used open-source drone autopilot operating system).
Our mission is to be the drone platform of choice for enterprise, government, and drone manufacturers while accelerating the drone industry by driving forward open standards to create a common, future-proof roadmap in a thriving, open ecosystem of buyers and vendors.
At Auterion, we bring together the sharpest minds who love to solve the hardest problems. Join a vibrant team built on innovation, openness, and excellence, where you’ll be empowered to develop ideas, collaborate across all levels, and make an impact that matters.
