Proposal Manager - Energy Market

Position Overview

Kiewit’s Energy proposal team is seeking a Proposal Manager to lead the development of complex, client-focused proposals, qualifications packages and other pursuit-related deliverables that support the successful acquisition of new work.

In Kiewit’s Energy Group, the Proposal Manager serves as a leader within the proposal development process, partnering with business development, operations, engineering, estimating, executive leadership and subject matter experts to transform pursuit strategies into compliant, compelling and strategically aligned submittals. This role requires an individual capable of independently leading proposal development efforts while creating alignment across multidisciplinary pursuit teams with varying perspectives, priorities and objectives.

Successful candidates possess advanced proposal management capabilities and are recognized as trusted advisors throughout the pursuit process. They understand how to interpret procurement requirements, develop proposal strategies, identify gaps and risks, facilitate discussions that drive decision-making and guide teams toward a unified vision for the final deliverable. While pursuit strategy is developed collaboratively with pursuit leadership, the Proposal Manager plays a critical role in facilitating strategic discussions, challenging assumptions, identifying differentiators and translating complex technical, operational and commercial concepts into evaluator-focused messaging.
This individual is expected to recognize when proposal development efforts are drifting away from client priorities, pursuit objectives or established strategy and proactively partner with internal leadership to intervene and realign the team. They possess the technical fluency and business acumen necessary to ask insightful questions, connect ideas across disciplines and help pursuit teams develop stronger, more cohesive responses without serving as the technical authority themselves.

District Overview

The Kiewit Energy marketing, creative and proposal team provide get-work services to an array of markets, including power generation, transmission and distribution, renewables, industrial, oil and gas, and water/wastewater. Individuals in this department get exposure to a mix of high profile, complex pursuits across North America valued from $5M-$6B. This incredibly profitable, competitive, fun group focuses on winning more work with high-quality, client-focused sales strategies through creative communication techniques. Our rapidly growing team, which includes graphic designers, proposal professionals, writers, digital strategists, marketers, and data analytics brings vast experience, communication expertise, innovative concepts, and best practices to all projects we support across the company. 

Location

This role can be based at any one of our offices in Houston, TX; Lone, CO; or Lenexa KS office. Opportunities for flexible work are available. 

Responsibilities

•    Leading proposal development efforts from solicitation release through final submission across a variety of pursuit types and levels of complexity.
•    Facilitating alignment discussions with pursuit leadership to establish proposal priorities, strategic messaging, differentiators and client-focused themes.
•    Developing and maintaining proposal planning tools, schedules, compliance documentation and pursuit-specific work plans that guide proposal development activities.
•    Identifying proposal risks, content gaps, conflicting assumptions and areas of misalignment while proactively driving resolution with the appropriate stakeholders.
•    Building strong working relationships with pursuit leadership and the Market Manager through proactive communication, early escalation of concerns and a willingness to seek input when additional perspective or direction is needed.
•    Facilitating proposal kickoffs, strategy sessions, working meetings, review meetings and other discussions necessary to advance pursuit development.
•    Coaching support proposal personnel on a pursuit (or when specifically asked by the Market Manager) and supporting their development in proposal management, content development, compliance and strategic thinking.
•    Partnering with business development, operations, engineering, estimating and executive leadership to gather information, refine messaging and strengthen proposal positioning.
•    Translating complex technical, operational and commercial concepts into compelling, evaluator-focused content and proposal narratives.
•    Guiding the development of executive summaries, key messages, action captions, themes and other strategic proposal elements.
•    Managing proposal review cycles and facilitating discussions that drive decisions, establish accountability and maintain forward progress.
•    Partnering with graphic designers to develop visuals that communicate technical concepts, strengthen messaging and improve evaluator understanding.
•    Overseeing final production, quality control and submission activities to confirm proposal deliverables are complete, compliant and aligned with pursuit objectives.
•    Supporting continuous improvement initiatives, proposal process enhancements and development of reusable knowledge resources.
•    Perform other departmental duties as needed, including marketing support, internal communication, meeting support, document formatting, copy editing and production.

This role offers the opportunity to influence some of the organization’s most visible and strategically important pursuits while helping shape proposal strategy, developing proposal personnel and driving alignment across complex pursuit teams. Typical opportunities range from qualifications-based selections and negotiated procurements to large, technically complex projects across a variety of markets and delivery methods.

Qualifications

•    8+ years of project and/or team management experience in A/E/C, EPC or related industries.
•    Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Journalism, English, CM, Engineering or a related field.
•    Strong technical writing and content development skills.
•    Strong proficiency in all MS Office programs and Adobe Acrobat; exposure to Adobe Creative Suite preferred.
•    Excellent organization, communication, interviewing and editing skills.
•    Ability to manage multiple deadlines and deliver high-quality work in a dynamic environment.
•    Occasional travel (less than 10%) may be required.

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