Contract Proposal Manager Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

As a Proposal Manager, you will sit at the center of Divergent's most critical growth efforts and own the development and execution of complex, high-value proposals from initial strategy through final submission. You will serve as the connective tissue across program management, business development, engineering, legal, finance, and executive teams, ensuring all contributors are aligned while juggling multiple proposal responses and ensuring they stay on track for successful delivery.

You will drive response strategy, shaping how Divergent's capabilities are positioned against customer requirements and competitive dynamics. This includes highlighting strengths, identifying risks, and working directly with technical subject matter experts to refine solutions and mitigate gaps. You will own proposal planning, generation, execution, and submission end-to-end, including compliance, review cycles, pricing alignment, and final submission.

This role requires exceptional project management and attention to detail, as well as creativity, critical thinking, and bias towards action.

• Own end-to-end proposal responses, serving as primary author and integrator of cross-functional inputs
• Develop response structure and compliance, ensuring adherence to solicitation instructions and all applicable federal, prime, and regulatory requirements
• Translate complex technical inputs into clear, compelling narratives that highlight Divergent's differentiated capabilities and align to evaluation criteria, while maintaining consistency across volumes
• Drive response strategy in partnership with business development teams, including win themes, differentiators, and competitive positioning
• Partner with business development, program management, and executives to drive pricing strategy and price-to-win alignment, increasing proposal competitiveness and PWIN.
• Coordinate and manage complex, cross-functional review cycles, ensuring actionable feedback is incorporated effectively and on schedule
• Track customer priorities and competitive dynamics to continuously refine bids and positioning
• Support drafting a range of informational and marketing materials, such as white papers, pitch decks, and more.
• Lead Divergent's highest-priority, enterprise-level proposal pursuits, driving proposal strategy and execution across multiple business functions from capture through submission. (S07)
• Partner with executive leadership to influence bid/no-bid decisions, proposal investment strategy, customer positioning, and pursuit prioritization for strategically significant opportunities. (S07)
• Establish proposal management standards, methodologies, templates, and governance that improve organizational proposal quality, scalability, and win probability. (S07)
• Serve as a subject matter expert for proposal strategy, coaching Proposal Managers and Capture & Proposal Analysts while elevating proposal best practices across the organization. (S07)

• Ability to lawfully access information and technology that is subject to US export controls
• 5+ years of experience in proposal management or similar writing- and project management-intensive roles, with a strong track record of delivering high-quality, technically complex, deadline-driven work
• 7+ years of proposal management experience, including demonstrated success leading aerospace and defense proposal efforts for U.S. Government or defense industry customers. (S07)
• Able to bring structure to ambiguous, fast-moving environments
• Bias towards action and proven ability to manage complex, cross-functional efforts with multiple stakeholders under tight deadlines while maintaining high standards for quality and compliance
• Exceptional writing and communication skills, with the ability to synthesize technical, legal, and business inputs into clear, persuasive narratives
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and capable of managing multiple concurrent proposals at different stages
• U.S. citizen eligible and willing to obtain a Secret or Top Secret security clearance
• Demonstrated experience leading large, highly strategic proposal efforts with executive visibility and enterprise-wide business impact. (S07)
• Proven ability to influence executive stakeholders and drive alignment across engineering, business development, finance, legal, and program leadership on complex pursuits. (S07)

• Experience operating in fast-paced, innovation-driven environments such as software, advanced manufacturing, or similar
• Familiarity with standard bid and proposal processes, with the judgment to adapt them for speed and agility in non-traditional contracting environments
• Demonstrated experience managing large, complex proposals (e.g., multi-volume RFPs, IDIQs, or strategic captures) end-to-end and winning major contracts
• Strong understanding of federal acquisition processes, procurement cycles, and government contracting frameworks
• Experience supporting pricing strategy, including collaboration on cost volumes and price-to-win
• Experience developing capture and proposal strategies that resulted in major competitive contract awards. (S07)
• Experience establishing proposal operations, governance, or organizational best practices that improved proposal effectiveness across a growing organization. (S07)
• Experience serving as a strategic advisor to executive leadership on capture strategy, competitive positioning, and long-term business growth. (S07)

• This position will be based either in Washington DC (remote) or hybrid/onsite in our Torrance, CA office

At Divergent, our pay range is based on the level of the job. For this role, we will consider candidates at levels S05 - S06 as evaluated through our interview process. 

• S05/Senior level: $134,640-185,130
• S06/Lead level: $155,500 - $213,810
• S07/ Principal: $179,610- $246,960