Director, Proposals (R6263)

The role

Lead the Business Proposals organization and turn complex deal strategies into compelling, compliant, and timely customer submissions. Lead and develop proposal managers and teams, and own the proposal lifecycle from solicitation analysis through submission.

What you will do

• Lead, coach, and develop proposal managers and their teams.
• Build workforce and capacity plans aligned with the pipeline and regional demand.
• Assign proposal leadership and resources across concurrent pursuits.
• Partner with account teams and Regional Deal Strategists to shape proposal strategy, win themes and evidence.
• Translate complex offerings into clear customer value narratives.
• Own the proposal lifecycle from intake through submission, including clarifications and revisions.
• Lead color team reviews that test compliance, persuasiveness and technical accuracy.
• Coordinate contributions from Sales, Product, Engineering, Finance, Legal, Contracts and Delivery.
• Build and maintain a searchable library of approved proposal content and templates.
• Measure submission timeliness, compliance, win rate and content reuse to improve execution.

Required qualifications

• Significant progressive experience leading proposals for complex defense, aerospace, national security, or government technology opportunities.
• Experience leading proposal managers and multidisciplinary proposal teams, including hiring, coaching and resource allocation.
• Ability to develop winning proposal strategies and translate technical capabilities into customer value.
• Strong command of solicitation analysis, compliance matrices, proposal planning, color team reviews and submission production.
• Exceptional writing and editing skills, with the ability to improve executive and technical content under deadlines.
• Experience coordinating contributions and decisions across Sales, Engineering, Product, Finance, Legal, Contracts and delivery organizations.
• Familiarity with government acquisition and contracting requirements.
• Sound judgment in handling sensitive information and escalating risks with clear recommendations.
• A record of building practical processes and reusable content that improve quality and speed.

Nice to have

• Experience supporting both U.S. government and international defense proposals.
• Experience with offerings combining hardware, software, integration, training, field services and sustainment.
• Experience supporting autonomous systems, aviation, defense software or emerging technology pursuits.
• Experience establishing or scaling a centralized proposals function.
• Familiarity with Shipley methods, APMP certification, or comparable proposal management training.
• Experience applying approved automation and AI tools to proposal workflows with human review.

Benefits

• Bonus
• Equity (full-time regular employees)
• Benefits package (full-time regular employees)
• Temporary benefits package applicable after 60 days (temporary employees)

Before you apply

• All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check.
• Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits.

About the company

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company that protects service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation technologies.