The posting
We are seeking an experienced Deputy Director of Proposals to support the leadership, operational effectiveness, and continuous improvement of a high-performing proposal organization.
The Deputy Director will serve as a key partner to the Director of Proposals, providing operational leadership across proposal planning, resource coordination, pursuit governance, and quality assurance.
This position requires a seasoned proposal professional who can operate effectively in a matrixed organization, influence cross-functional teams, navigate competing business priorities, and drive accountability.
The successful candidate will balance business judgment with operational discipline, ensuring proposal resources are aligned with organizational growth priorities and that pursuits are executed efficiently, compliantly, and competitively.
Key Responsibilities:
Proposal Operations and Execution
- Provide operational leadership and oversight across a portfolio of concurrent proposals, qualifications packages, and strategic pursuits.
- Coordinate proposal schedules, milestones, review cycles, and deliverables to support consistent execution.
- Monitor proposal activities, identify execution risks, and proactively implement mitigation strategies.
- Support proposal managers in resolving complex operational challenges and competing priorities.
- Establish visibility into active pursuits, proposal workload, resource constraints, and upcoming submission requirements.
- Ensure consistent application of proposal development methodologies, quality standards, and compliance practices.
- Serve as an operational escalation point for proposal execution challenges, elevating strategic or unresolved matters to the Director of Proposals.
Resource Planning and Capacity Management
- Develop and maintain visibility into proposal resource capacity, utilization, and forecasted demand.
- Coordinate proposal resource planning and recommend staffing allocations based on pursuit complexity, priority, and availability.
- Identify workload imbalances, resource conflicts, and potential delivery risks.
- Collaborate with proposal managers and functional leadership to develop practical resource solutions.
- Support long-range capacity planning and provide recommendations regarding resource needs, external support, and operational efficiencies.
- Provide data-driven assessments to inform pursuit prioritization and proposal investment decisions.
Pursuit Qualification and Bid/No-Bid Governance
- Support the Director of Proposals in implementing a disciplined and consistent bid/no-bid governance process.
- Coordinate pursuit qualification assessments to evaluate strategic alignment, customer relationships, competitive positioning, revenue potential, probability of winning, and resource requirements.
- Provide objective analysis of proposal development costs, resource availability, and execution feasibility.
- Identify pursuits that may not align with organizational growth objectives or represent an appropriate return on proposal investment.
- Partner with business development, capture, and operational leadership to ensure pursuit decisions are informed by meaningful qualification criteria.
- Track bid/no-bid outcomes, pursuit decisions, and associated proposal resource commitments.
- Support the Director in reinforcing a selective, strategic, and disciplined approach to opportunity pursuit.
Proposal Quality and Process Excellence
- Promote consistent proposal development practices, tools, templates, and review methodologies.
- Monitor adherence to established proposal standards, compliance requirements, and quality expectations.
- Identify opportunities to streamline workflows, eliminate inefficiencies, and reduce unnecessary administrative burden.
- Support implementation of proposal technologies, automation, and innovative approaches to improve efficiency and quality.
- Facilitate lessons-learned activities and translate findings into actionable improvements.
- Establish repeatable processes that improve proposal predictability, scalability, and execution.
Performance Metrics and Operational Reporting
- Monitor key performance indicators, including proposal volume, resource utilization, schedule adherence, quality, and delivery efficiency.
- Analyze proposal trends and provide actionable recommendations to improve organizational effectiveness.
- Prepare operational updates and executive-level briefings for the Director of Proposals.
- Support forecasting, workload planning, and proposal investment analysis.
- Identify systemic challenges and recommend corrective actions.
Cross-Functional Collaboration and Leadership
- Serve as a trusted operational partner to the Director of Proposals.
- Collaborate with business development, capture management, technical teams, pricing, contracts, and business operations.
- Facilitate alignment across stakeholders to support proposal execution and timely decision-making.
- Provide guidance and subject matter expertise to proposal professionals without direct supervisory responsibility.
- Influence outcomes through collaboration, credibility, sound judgment, and demonstrated proposal expertise.
- Foster a culture of accountability, professionalism, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in business administration, communications, management, or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
- 10+ years of progressive experience in proposal management, capture support, business development operations, or related functions.
- Demonstrated experience supporting complex, high-value proposals in a large, matrixed organization.
- Extensive knowledge of proposal development processes, compliance requirements, review methodologies, and submission procedures.
- Experience coordinating multiple concurrent pursuits with competing deadlines and resource requirements.
- Strong understanding of bid/no-bid qualification, pursuit investment considerations, and proposal resource planning.
- Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams without direct reporting authority.
- Strong analytical, organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to exercise independent judgment, manage ambiguity, and recommend practical solutions in a fast-paced environment.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience working within a large enterprise or highly matrixed business environment.
- Familiarity with Shipley or comparable structured proposal development methodologies.
- SMPS or APMP certification or equivalent professional credentials.
- Experience implementing proposal process improvements, workflow automation, and resource planning tools.
- Experience supporting organizational growth initiatives, acquisitions, or integration of proposal operations.
Core Competencies
- Strategic and analytical thinking
- Operational leadership
- Business and financial acumen
- Resource planning and prioritization
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Conflict resolution and influencing skills
- Proposal quality and compliance
- Process improvement and innovation
- Sound judgment and decision-making
Position Scope and Authority
The Deputy Director of Proposals will provide operational leadership and coordination across the proposal function while working under the strategic direction of the Director of Proposals.
The position will not have direct personnel management responsibilities. Formal employee supervision, performance evaluations, personnel decisions, and organizational staffing authority will remain with the Director of Proposals.
The Deputy Director will have delegated responsibility for coordinating proposal execution, developing resource allocation recommendations, monitoring operational performance, facilitating established processes, and escalating matters requiring Director-level decisions.
If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.
Original Posting:
November 12, 2026
For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.
Pay Range:
Pay Range $107,900.00 - $195,050.00
The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.
