Proposal Manager
Impact: Business development success through expert proposal management and writing
Lead the development of winning proposals for government contracts, grants, and commercial opportunities. Coordinate cross-functional proposal teams, develop proposal strategies, write and edit proposal content, manage compliance matrices, and ensure proposals are submitted on time and meet all requirements.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Moderate
- Team vs solo
- 60% Team / 40% Solo
- Client facing
- Frequent
- Impact visibility
- Moderate
- Travel
- 5 to 10% for client meetings and industry events
- Schedule flexibility
- Moderate
- Remote work
- Hybrid
- Typical work hours
- 40 to 55 hours/week
- Stress level
- Low
At a glance
- Median salary
- $135,000
- Entry-level
- $70,000 - $95,000
- Senior
- $220,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 8% (as fast as average)
- Demand
- Stable
- Freelance potential
- Low
- Salary growth potential
- High - 65 to 80% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- Low
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- 65
Soft skills
- 35
Technical complexity: Moderate
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Bachelor's Degree
- Licensing
- No
- Years to mid-career
- 2 to 4 years
- Years to senior
- 5 to 8 years
- Career switching
- Moderate
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- Proposal Writer > Proposal Coordinator > Proposal Manager > Senior Proposal Manager > Director of Proposals
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 25% moderate risk as AI automates some proposal writing
- AI disruption risk
- Moderate
- Demand trend
- Stable
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 7/10
- Meaning
- 7/10
- Work-life balance
- 6.5/10
- Prestige
- 7/10
- Social perception
- High