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Director Proposal Development Jobs in California

Proposal Coordinator

Santa Ana, CA · On-site

$65K - $72K/yr

Marketing and Administration Director FLSA Status: Salary Full-Time Position Summary - The Proposal Coordinator is responsible for proposal development, ensuring accuracy and integrity of all ...

Marketing and Administration Director FLSA Status: Salary Full-Time Position Summary - The Proposal Coordinator is responsible for proposal development, ensuring accuracy and integrity of all ...

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Showing results 1-20

Director Proposal Development information

See California salary details

$49.8K

$91.1K

$126.8K

How much do director proposal development jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 10, 2026, the average yearly pay for director proposal development in California is $91,081.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $79,000.00 and $110,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a director of proposal development, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Director of Proposal Development, you need expertise in proposal management, strategic planning, and persuasive writing, often supported by a bachelor’s or master’s degree in business, communications, or a related field. Familiarity with proposal automation tools (like RFPIO or Loopio), CRM systems, and certifications such as APMP are commonly required. Strong leadership, attention to detail, and exceptional organizational and interpersonal skills set top performers apart in this role. These competencies are crucial for leading teams, producing compelling proposals, and securing business opportunities in competitive environments.

What does a director of proposal development do?

A Director of Proposal Development oversees the creation, management, and submission of proposals, typically for business development or government contracts. They lead a team of proposal managers and writers, coordinate with subject matter experts, and ensure proposals meet requirements and deadlines. Their role involves strategic planning, quality control, and often working closely with sales and executive leadership to align proposal efforts with organizational goals. Success in this role requires strong leadership, project management, and communication skills.

How does a director of proposal development typically collaborate with cross-functional teams during the proposal process?

A Director of Proposal Development regularly works with subject matter experts, sales teams, project managers, and executives to gather the necessary information and create compelling, compliant proposals. This role involves coordinating input from various departments, leading meetings to align on strategy, and ensuring deadlines are met. Effective communication and project management skills are essential, as the director must balance multiple priorities while ensuring consistency and quality in every submission. Building strong relationships across departments is key to streamlining the proposal process and improving win rates.

What is the difference between Director Proposal Development vs Proposal Manager?

AspectDirector Proposal DevelopmentProposal Manager
ResponsibilitiesOversees proposal strategy, manages teams, and ensures alignment with organizational goalsCoordinates proposal efforts, manages proposal timelines, and ensures compliance with RFP requirements
Required CredentialsTypically requires a bachelor’s degree, extensive proposal experience, and leadership skillsUsually requires a bachelor’s degree and experience in proposal coordination
Work EnvironmentStrategic, leadership-focused, often in corporate or government sectorsOperational, detail-oriented, often in government contracting or consulting firms

The main difference is that the Director Proposal Development focuses on strategic leadership and overseeing proposal teams, while the Proposal Manager handles day-to-day proposal coordination and compliance. Both roles require strong proposal experience, but the director role involves higher-level planning and management responsibilities.

What are the most commonly searched types of Proposal Development jobs in California? The most popular types of Proposal Development jobs in California are:
What are popular job titles related to Director Proposal Development jobs in California? For Director Proposal Development jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What cities in California are hiring for Director Proposal Development jobs? Cities in California with the most Director Proposal Development job openings:
Infographic showing various Director Proposal Development job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 81% Full Time, 14% Part Time, 2% Temporary, and 2% Contract. Highlights an 91% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 6% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $91,081 per year, or $43.8 per hour.

Director, Proposal Management

Aya Healthcare

San Diego, CA • On-site

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement

Re-posted 26 days ago


Job description

Join Aya Healthcare, a winner of multiple Top Workplace awards!
The Director of Proposal Management is responsible for leading and optimizing Aya Healthcare's enterprise proposal function to drive revenue growth, win rate improvement, and operational excellence. This role provides strategic and operational oversight of the full proposal lifecycle, ensuring alignment between capture strategy, narrative development, compliance governance, pricing integration, and executive review.
The Director manages direct reports -Proposal Leads (strategy and narrative owner) and Proposal Specialists (process and governance owner) - and ensures seamless coordination across business development, workforce solutions, legal, finance, pricing, marketing, and subject matter experts (SMEs).
This leader establishes structured proposal governance, advances enterprise standards, and cultivates a high-performing, scalable proposal organization capable of supporting complex commercial and government pursuits.
Who we are:
We're a $8+ billion, rapidly growing workforce solutions provider in the healthcare industry. We deliver tech-enabled services that help healthcare organizations meet and manage their contingent labor needs. We build and manage tech-enabled marketplaces for national and local healthcare talent and deliver contingent labor management solutions through our proprietary software platform.
At Aya, we're obsessed with creating exceptional experiences for our clients, clinicians, and employees. In fact, we put employee satisfaction above all else. Our team members are responsible for incomparable customer experience and we know that happy employees are critical to maintaining happy clients. We foster an entrepreneurial, high-energy, low-bureaucracy culture and value innovative thinking and creative problem solving. We embrace diversity in thought and backgrounds unified by a commitment to high achievement. When you join Aya, you'll be surrounded by teammates who care about you as an individual and leaders who will help you grow both personally and professionally.
Key Responsibilities:
Strategic Leadership & Win Strategy Oversight
  • Define and oversee enterprise proposal strategy aligned to Aya's growth objectives.
  • Ensure early engagement in capture to shape win themes, discriminators, and evaluator-aligned positioning.
  • Partner with business development leadership to assess bid/no-bid decisions and competitive positioning.
  • Align narrative strategy with pricing strategy to strengthen overall value proposition and scoring potential.
  • Monitor win rates and implement continuous improvement initiatives based on performance analytics and debrief findings.
Team Leadership & Functional Oversight
  • Directly manage the Proposal Lead and Proposal Specialist roles, clarifying accountability between narrative ownership and process governance.
  • Establish clear role alignment, workload prioritization, and performance expectations.
  • Coach and develop team members to strengthen strategic writing, governance execution, and stakeholder influence.
  • Scale the proposal function to support increasing volume and complexity of pursuits.
Proposal Governance & Operational Excellence
  • Oversee structured proposal lifecycle management, including capture, RFP shred, compliance matrices, color team reviews, executive refinement, submission, and debrief.
  • Ensure adherence to enterprise standards, documentation protocols, and system-of-record integrity.
  • Enforce structured Color Team governance (Blue, Pink, Green, Red, Maroon, Gold) to improve submission quality.
  • Mitigate compliance risk and ensure proposals meet all RFP requirements and submission standards.
  • Standardize templates, reusable content libraries, and metadata tracking for institutional knowledge retention.
Cross-Functional Leadership & Executive Engagement
  • Serve as the executive escalation point for proposal risk, compliance gaps, and timeline concerns.
  • Partner with Legal, Finance, Pricing, Marketing, Operations, and Workforce Solutions leadership to ensure cohesive submissions.
  • Lead executive-level reviews and ensure final proposals align with Aya's brand, strategy, and contractual obligations.
  • Present proposal performance metrics and improvement plans to senior leadership.
Continuous Improvement & Innovation
  • Champion proposal modernization initiatives, digital tools, and workflow automation.
  • Implement best practices aligned to structured methodologies (APMP, Shipley).
  • Drive post-submission debriefs to refine win themes, content effectiveness, and governance processes.
  • Establish measurable KPIs including win rate, on-time submission rate, compliance accuracy, and content reuse effectiveness.
Required Skills & Experience
  • 7+ years of progressive experience in proposal management, capture management, or strategic business writing.
  • 3+ years of leadership experience managing proposal teams or cross-functional pursuit teams.

What We Offer:
  • Free premium medical, dental, life and vision insurance
  • Generous 401(k) match
  • Aya also offers other benefits to those that are eligible and where required by applicable law, including reimbursements and discretionary bonuses
  • Aya provides paid sick leave in accordance with all applicable state, federal, and local laws. Aya's general sick leave policy is that employees accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. However, to the extent any provisions of the statement above conflict with any applicable paid sick leave laws, the applicable paid sick leave laws are controlling
  • Celebrations! We hit our goals and reward ourselves.
  • Company-sponsored virtual events, happy hours and team-building activities are always on the horizon - plus, you get a special treat on your birthday!
  • Unlimited DTO - we believe in time off!
  • Virtual yoga, meditation or boot camp classes offered daily

Compensation: Aya reasonably anticipates the pay scale for this position to be $130,000 annually plus bonus.
The pay scale for this position may vary if applicant possesses experience outside of what Aya reasonably anticipates for this position. Bonuses are subject to the role and your manager's discretion.
Aya Is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EEO) and welcomes all to apply. Please click here for our EEO policy.