Strategic Pursuit Manager

Job Description

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If you think your skills, experience and aspirations make you a good match for this position, we encourage you to apply. This position may be filled anywhere in the United States. Our regional offices include: Western Region (Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland and Seattle), Great Lakes Region (Buffalo, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Toronto), Central Region (Dallas, Denver, Houston, and St. Louis), or Eastern Region (Arlington, Baltimore, Boston, and New York City). Preference may be given to candidates that can work in any of our US offices.

As part of the application process, candidates are required to submit 2-3 work samples that demonstrate proficiency with Adobe InDesign and other layout software such as PowerPoint, 1-2 writing samples (i.e. project descriptions, employee bios, proposal cover letters, etc.) and an example of how you approach managing a large, complex pursuit. Please redact proprietary/confidential information as needed. Note: We acknowledge that developing these items is highly collaborative. That said, we’re looking for examples where you had a primary role in their creation. You’ll be given time to present your work during the interview — we’re interested in “how” you present your work, too.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Are you a master of organization, a natural leader and a strategist at heart? This role blends the precision of project management with the finesse of high-stakes proposal development. Think of it as being a “Project Manager with a PhD in proposals.”

As a Strategic Pursuit Manager, you’ll be part of our Brand, Marketing and Business Development (BMBD) team, reporting to our National Marketing Pursuits Leader and working closely with Market Leaders, Strategists and Subject Matter Experts, orchestrating large, multi-functional teams to pursue the firm’s most ambitious targets. Success requires anticipating roadblocks, managing up with big personalities and thriving in deadline-driven environments. With a passion for puzzles and processes, you’ll bring strategic thinking, exceptional organizational skills and creativity to navigate complex challenges. At our firm, where marketing is a valued partner, you’ll contribute to a culture of collaboration, resilience and winning. If you’re driven to create clarity, inspire teams and deliver results while ensuring the journey is as enjoyable as the destination, this is your opportunity to make an impact at one of the world’s most innovative design firms.

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL DO

Strategic Proposal Marketing

• Work with pursuit teams to develop pursuit strategies, including partnering with opportunity leaders and pursuit strategists to drive capture planning efforts, providing business intelligence on clients, competitors and CannonDesign.
• Facilitate and participate in strategy sessions and workshops related to assigned large/mega-scale strategic pursuits. This includes driving the established agenda, guiding a creative brainstorming process, challenging and testing ideas, developing pertinent action items and assignments, and documenting the intelligence, outcomes and next steps.
• Bring discipline and rigor to the Go/No Go process and capture management planning phase.
• Establish and manage pursuit budgets and costs for all strategic pursuits within your purview.
• Partner with proposal content team, Subject Matter Experts and Pursuit Strategists to ensure messaging is translated into a compelling narrative with thematic graphic representation throughout the proposal, interview and other related deliverables.
• Collaborate with technical staff for proposal content and write/review/edit original content for clarity, compliance and key messages.
• Manage BMBD production team to meet deadlines and create compelling, compliant and high-quality proposals, interviews and other collateral, as needed.
• Lead the pursuit team on presentation phase, including presentation coaching.
• Work with Opportunity Leader to ensure win/loss debriefs are completed and captured — and leverage lessons learned to inform future pursuits.
• Coach and mentor marketing specialists and senior marketing specialists across regions in proposal management and production.

Firm Knowledge & Subject Matter Expertise

• Develop strong, in-depth knowledge of the firm’s portfolio, personnel and brand (to understand how we express ourselves visually and verbally) to connect with clients and differentiate ourselves in the marketplace.
• Develop subject matter expertise (across markets, typologies, services, technology or other) that adds value to our marketing initiatives and pursuit activities.

Management & Operations

• Work with National Marketing Pursuits Leader and Regional Marketing Team Leaders to influence training and ongoing development of Marketing Specialists.
• Provide peer review and oversight for accuracy and quality of content.
• Self-review all work for accuracy and quality of content.
• Work with Opportunity Leaders to accurately document progress through the Strategic Pursuit Process in Salesforce.
• Work with our Marketing Content Manager to preserve custom proposal content for use on future pursuits.
• Establish, improve and model marketing best practices.

Other

Up to 25% travel expected. May participate in external marketing activities.

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, communications or a related field required.
• Minimum of 8 years of related work experience required.
• Related experience working in a proposal management role for a professional services firm required.
• Related experience working in the Architecture, Engineering and/or Construction industry preferred.
• Strong proficiency with InDesign, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.