Proposal Manager, Strategic Pursuits

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HDR employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we foster a culture of inclusion, we constantly ask: What is our impact on the world?

Every role makes a difference in HDR's ability to change the world for the better. Read further to learn how you could help make great things possible in your community and around the world.

Summary

HDR is seeking a highly motivated individual to partner with our Transportation Business Group Strategic Pursuit Leaders. Your primary responsibilities will be to support highly visible, complex and game-changing opportunities by producing winning, professional, competitive proposals.

ResponsibilitiesProposal Management & Coordination

• Foster a self-directed, accountable team culture by delivering high-quality, review- and client-ready materials.
• Lead the full proposal lifecycle, from kickoff through final production and interview, owning all deliverables and driving a smooth, efficient process.
• Develop and manage pursuit organization tools, including schedules, compliance matrices, templates, and assignment dashboards, using collaborative online platforms. Includes capturing meeting notes and action items, translating key themes and client priorities into a focused capture plan.
• Review and interpret RFPs to create clear, actionable compliance matrices that guide proposal development.
• Coordinate input from internal teams and external subconsultants, maintaining alignment and clear communication throughout.
• Track and communicate progress, manage deadlines, and adjust priorities to keep the team and deliverables on schedule.
• Support content development by preparing early drafts, capturing meeting notes, and distilling key themes and differentiators into a focused capture plan.
• Proactively communicate workload needs and availability.

Content Development & Quality

• Write, edit, and format non-technical proposal content to ensure clarity and consistency.
• Work closely with specialized experts to write and visualize technical approaches and project understanding information.
• Develop qualifications, bios, data, forms, and terms to be accurate and compliant.
• Support the creation of storyboarding, benefit statements, message development, project profiles, and data to demonstrate aligned qualifications and differentiators.
• Research project background and tailor content accordingly.
• Author and review draft proposal text for consistency, brand voice, and grammar to remove errors and redundancy.
• Integrate risks and issues identified by the pursuit team and translate them into a clear, reader-friendly narrative.
• Identify gaps in draft proposal text based on capture planning, RFP requirements, and other resources.

Visual & Layout Skills

• Compose and format documents with reader-friendly graphic/layout skills. Expect an intermediate level of InDesign, with an interest in advancing to an expert level.
• Engage marketing resources, including coordinating with graphic designers, market sector data keepers, and layout artists as needed. Communicate progress with the Strategic Pursuit Leader.
• Collaborate with technical leads to develop draft presentation materials and work with graphic designers to transform complex technical content into clear visuals.
• Provide clear direction and timely communication to achieve high-quality deliverables.
• Develop materials, such as interactive presentations, leave-behinds, and other brand-specific deliverables to communicate key messages and differentiators.

Quality Control & Compliance Checks

• Create schedules and time blocks to conduct reviews of content and graphics throughout the production period.
• Monitor progress to ensure internal proposal deadlines and quality processes are met.
• Work with Strategic Pursuit leaders to meet expectations of quality-driven materials, including graphics and formatting of proposal elements.
• Perform or coordinate technical editing and compliance reviews to obtain grammatical accuracy and alignment with RFP requirements.
• Continuously improve processes for producing high-quality materials.

Pre-positioning, Collateral & Material Management

• Research project background, news articles, and Board/Council meetings and keep collected data organized in a collaborative online platform.
• Gather and refine resumes, project information, histories, photographs, and other information to support key differentiating sections of the proposal.
• Develop materials, such as interactive presentations, leave-behinds, and other brand-specific deliverables to help team members communicate key messages.
• Engage with leadership in the coordination and analysis of marketplace, client, and project-specific research.
• Partner with the marketing communications team to develop sector qualifications and marketing collateral materials for positioning prior to an RFP release.

Continuous Process Improvements

• Learn, use, and teach current AI tools and other software, resulting in more efficient processes and quality deliverables.
• Support proposal quality by monitoring against best practices and industry standards.
• Contribute to continuous improvement through internal and external debriefs.
• Serve as a subject matter expert and adhere to HDR procedures, policies, protocols, and best practices, including standard file management and archiving procedures.

Required Qualifications

• A minimum of 5 years relevant industry experience
• Demonstrated "self-starter" with a history of completing projects with limited oversight
• Experience in sales and developing effective win strategies
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Proficient in Adobe Creative Cloud applications, including InDesign

What We Believe

HDR is our company. Together, we build on each other\'s life experiences and perspectives to make great things possible every day. This shapes our collaborative culture, encourages organizational trust and connects us closer to the clients and communities we serve.

Our Commitment

As employee owners, we all have a role in creating an inclusive environment where each of us is welcomed, valued, respected and empowered to bring our authentic selves to work every day.

We provide a comprehensive benefits package that promotes employee ownership, health, and success, including medical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, an employee assistance program, paid time away, parental leave, paid holidays, retirement savings with employer match, and tuition reimbursement. The compensation range varies by location. Examples: California: $79,233 - $138,915; Colorado: $68,429 - $113,190; etc.

Primary Location: United States-Colorado-Denver

Other Locations: United States-Multiple locations across the US (Round Rock, Charlotte, Long Beach, etc.).

Industry: Marketing/Communications

Schedule: Full-time

Employee Status: Regular

BusinessClass: Marketing and Admin

Job Posting: Aug 29, 2025

At HDR, we are committed to the principles of employment equity. We are an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer (https://www.hdrinc.com/equal-employment-opportunity-employer). We consider all qualified applicants, regardless of criminal histories, arrest and conviction records.

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