Senior Bid Manager

The primary responsibility of this role is leading and managing international and U.S. federal government and commercial Bids/Proposals and other related BD Ops deliverables (e.g., ROM pricing estimates, RFI responses, and white papers) in support of Shield AI’s Europe/Africa (EURAF) Go To Market (GTM) team.

The ideal candidate will have leadership experience and possess excellent communication (technical writing experience preferred) and coordination skills to drive cross-functional collaboration across Shield AI product lines and geographic regions. The International Business Development Operations (Int’l BD Ops) team is seeking a candidate who thrives in a dynamic environment and is eager to join a rapidly scaling, nontraditional defence contractor.

• Manage competing priorities across proposal and other deliverable (WPs, RFIs, ROMs, etc.) development in the fast-paced environment of the Int’l BD Ops team.
• Lead end-to-end proposal execution from pre-RFP planning through submission and closeout.
• Drive cross-functional proposal teams to deliver compliant, high-quality submissions on schedule.
• Continuously improve proposal processes, tools, templates, and best practices.
• Mentor proposal contributors and foster high-performing, collaborative teams.
• Support EUAF GTM team with briefing and presentation development for customer engagements.
• Support customer meetings, demonstrations, and GTM events as required.
• Provide additional support to BD Ops and GTM team leadership as needed.

• Confident team leader: Lead global proposal efforts, align stakeholders, and communicate key customer, market, and BD strategy insights.
• Strong communicator: Strong oral and written communication skills. (Technical writing experience preferred.) Strong presentation skills. Ability to communicate seamlessly at all levels of Shield AI and customer organizations
• Attention to detail in a fast-paced environment: Be rigorous and go fast is one of Shield AI’s leadership traits and, possibly, the most relevant one for BD Ops. Our ideal candidate must always work with efficiency and a keen attention to detail. Both are critical to supporting on time, compliant Bids/Proposals and related deliverables.
• Organization and time management: Strong organizational and time management skills enabling the tracking and execution of multiple workstreams with stakeholders across Shield AI.
• Extreme ownership: BD Ops serves as the primary cross-functional lead for Bids/Proposals across product lines and geographic regions. We manage the proposal lifecycle from start to finish including kickoff, collaboration with stakeholders, color reviews, and management reviews with senior leaders/executives. We are ultimately responsible for everything that does or does not happen in the Bid/Proposal process.
• Team-first mentality: The ideal candidate will demonstrate the ability to be flexible, work hard, hold themself and others to high standards, embrace teammates, and act with kindness.

• 4-6+ years of international government proposal development or BD operations experience.
• In lieu of direct government proposal experience, have 5+ years of experience working with U.S. Federal or International government requirements.
• Bachelor's degree in business, communication, marketing, engineering, or equivalent industry experience.
• Outstanding record of academic achievement.
• Experience with proposal methodologies (e.g. Shipley), compliance matrices, and implementing project management tools and processes.
• Proven record of leadership in a professional setting.
• Ability to communicate complex, technical ideas effectively – both orally and in writing.
• Ability to work collaboratively and flexibly as part of a team, embrace the startup environment.
• Ability to work effectively with people at all levels of an organization.
• Demonstrated record of hard work, trustworthiness, holding oneself and others to high standards, and being kind to others.