Business Development & Proposal Manager

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Are you a strategic, collaborative business development leader who thrives at the intersection of client relationships, capture strategy, proposal excellence, and team development? GFT is seeking a growth-minded Midwest Area Business Development & Proposal Manager to help shape the future of business development in the Midwest. In this role, you’ll partner closely with area, business group, and client service leaders to advance growth priorities, support key clients, guide high-impact pursuits from early positioning through proposal and interview, and develop a high-performing BD team.

At GFT, we’re not just pursuing projects - we’re strategically capturing opportunities that shape our communities. The Strategic Growth Office is the engine behind GFT’s enterprise-wide growth. It fuels our most significant pursuits by aligning talent, insights, and strategy to win complex, high-impact projects. From vision through delivery, we partner across all Business Groups to develop compelling, competitive proposals that reflect our core values and technical excellence.

What you’ll be challenged to do:

The BD & Proposal Manager is a senior position that supports either multiple regional business lines or one Global Business Line and contributes to meeting the goals in GFT's strategic plan by leading key business development support efforts. Working independently or through management of a team of resources for larger, more complex pursuits, the BD&P Manager is an internal BD support position that also works externally in support of (not in place of) the business lines’ client and capture managers. The BD&P Manager is responsible for owning the cradle-to-grave internal support from client management phase through proposal development phase of the BD Lifecycle Program (BDLP), including managing respective proposal efforts and/or participating routinely in the writing and reviewing of the proposal.

In this capacity, the successful candidate will be responsible for the following:

Supervisory

May manage one or more assistant proposal specialists/proposal specialists on a day-to-day basis. Responsibilities includes assignment of tasks to appropriate team member and review of work to ensure compliance with quality and department-specified practices and procedures

May manage and/or assist Business Development Manager or Leader with proposal workload and resourcing for regional or global business development team

May serve as timesheet approver, perform Performance Evaluation Reviews (PER), and recommend training for staff and provide input to annual training plan for department

Other duties as assigned

Proposals

Manages proposals and assures the capture strategy is defined and transitioned to the proposal strategy through the course of proposal development phases and final submittal/interviews, as required.

Leads multiple large, long-term and complex pursuits concurrently

Responsible for leading interview development and working closely with Manager for input and oversight

Provides by discussing and writing the key strategic win theme development and messaging and organizes resources to support overall proposal effort (graphics, other proposal specialists, print production, operations, etc.) and requires no direct oversight from Manager to produce a quality proposal

CAPTURE PLANNING

Proactively identifies opportunities in the pipeline that should start capture and then initiates with the business line, promotes, and leads Capture Planning support efforts for longer-term, complex opportunities concurrently with no oversight required by Manager

Proactively researches and drives the development of the opportunity with the Capture Manager

Concurrently works across multiple opportunities at any given time and establishes the priorities per each opportunity in alignment with the Capture Manager

Able to flex within the framework of best practices

Keeps all CRM documentation updated

Uses capture management plans in accordance with company templates and standards

Coordinates with respective MARCOM staff to define needs and develop strategic plan recommendations for the business line for early opportunity pre-positioning activities that will be led by MARCOM and overseen by the BD&P Manager

CLIENT MANAGEMENT

In support of the client manager, develops client and teaming relationships at the direction of the client or capture managers. The BD&P manager may develop understanding of the pursuit through industry activities, such as trade shows to develop relationships and develop opportunities in support of the business line

Leads any Tier 1 and/or 2 client management plans for a single business line with no oversight from Manager required

Communicates/prioritizes BDM support efforts based on understanding of business plan

Facilitates client management meetings and assures documentation in CRM

Coordinates with respective MARCOM staff to define needs and develop strategic plan recommendations for the business line for early client pre-positioning activities that will be led by MARCOM and overseen by the BD&P Manager

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What you will bring to our firm:

Normally a 4-year degree required in English, marketing, journalism, communications, or applicable field is required

Must have the requisite experience in the Midwest

What we prefer you bring:

Normally 10+ years of total combined experience in the full lifecycle of business development (marketing, communications, client, capture, and proposal phases), with most of the experience focused in one or more of GFT's core business lines

Minimum of 3 years of demonstrated experience supporting, facilitating, and participating in capture planning support

Demonstrated success in taking opportunities successfully from capture support though and including successfully performing all phases of proposal management responsibilities

Minimum of 5 years of demonstrated increasing responsibility in the business development lifecycle phases (marketing, communication, client, capture, proposal)

At least 2 years of experience supervising staff (if applicable)

Certification or training in business development, marketing, communications, or sales received through an industry professional organization is highly desirable

Compensation:

The salary range for this role is $115,000 - $130,000. Salary is dependent upon experience and geographic location.

Featured Benefits:

Hybrid (in-person and remote) work environment.

Comprehensive benefits package including wellness programs, parental leave, and pet insurance, in addition to medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance.

Tax-deferred 401(k) savings plan.

Competitive paid-time-off (PTO) accrual.

Tuition reimbursement for continued education.

Commitment to professional development, access to internal and external training programs, and support of active participation in professional organizations

Incentive compensation for eligible positions.

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At GFT, a privately held AEC firm, we innovate where transportation, water, power, and buildings converge. We call this the Infrastructure of Life. We measure our success by the strength of our relationships – that’s why we’re the employer of choice for 5,000+ of the industry’s brightest engineers, planners, architects, inspectors, designers, and more.

Our clients choose us for our expertise and prefer us for our nimble approach, creativity, and personal touch. Backed by over a century’s experience, together we’re building a lasting legacy for future generations: stronger communities, a healthier planet, and better lives.

Unsolicited resumes from third party agencies will be considered the property GFT.

GFT does require the successful completion of a criminal background check for all advertised positions.

Location: Kansas City

Core Business Hours: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Employment Status: Full-Time