Project Manager, Bids & Contracts

Project Manager, Bids & Contracts

Department: Professional Services

Reports To: Sr. Manager, Bids & Contracts

Position Summary:

The Project Manager, Bids and Contracts, leads the end-to-end management of bids, contracts, RFPs, RFQs, and other procurement opportunities for district and state customers. This role combines project management, proposal strategy, and hands-on proposal development. The Project Manager serves as the primary author for significant portions of RFP, RFQ, RFI, bid, and contract responses, developing compelling, compliant narratives that articulate the company's value proposition, instructional approach, implementation plans, and product solutions.

The Project Manager drives accountability across stakeholders, prepares proposal submissions, and ensures contractual and proposal requirements are met throughout the opportunity lifecycle. As a key contributor to business growth, this position directly supports revenue generation by helping secure new contracts, renew existing agreements, and maximize competitive opportunities.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead and manage the full lifecycle of bids, proposals, RFPs, RFIs, RFQs, and contract opportunities from receipt through submission and award.
• Develop and maintain cross-functional proposal schedules, work plans, milestones, and submission timelines to ensure on-time delivery.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams, including Sales, Legal, Finance, Operations, Product Management, and Executive Leadership, to gather required content and approvals.
• Facilitate bid kickoff meetings, status reviews, and stakeholder communications throughout the proposal process.
• Manage proposal content development, including executive summaries, technical responses, pricing narratives, management plans, and supporting documentation.
• Ensure all submissions are accurate, complete, compliant, and aligned with customer requirements and company standards.
• Perform compliance reviews, quality assurance checks, and risk assessments prior to submission.
• Maintain proposal repositories, contract databases, templates, content libraries, and lessons-learned documentation.
• Monitor bid opportunities and support bid/no-bid decision-making processes.
• Ensure adherence to applicable regulations, procurement requirements, company policies, and customer-specific standards.
• Analyze win/loss results and implement process improvements to increase proposal quality, efficiency, and win rates.
• Generate reports and metrics related to proposal activity, contract status, pipeline forecasting, and performance.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for internal stakeholders and external customers regarding proposal and contract matters.
• Support audits, compliance reviews, and customer inquiries related to bids and contracts.

Within your first month, you'll be:

• Completing onboarding and gaining familiarity with company products, services, customers, and organizational structure.
• Developing relationships with key stakeholders across Sales, Legal, Finance, Operations, and Leadership.
• Learning the company's bid, proposal, contract, and approval processes.
• Reviewing existing proposal content libraries, templates, contract repositories, and standard operating procedures.
• Becoming proficient in proposal management, contract management, and collaboration tools.
• Participating in active bids and RFPs to understand current workflows and customer requirements.
• Identifying opportunities for process improvements and efficiency gains.
• Taking ownership of smaller bids, contracts, or proposal projects with guidance from leadership.

By the end of your first year, you'll be:

• Successfully managing a portfolio of complex, high-value bids, contracts, and RFP opportunities with minimal supervision.
• Demonstrating strong project leadership across cross-functional teams and executive stakeholders.
• Improving proposal quality, compliance, efficiency, and win-rate performance.
• Leading strategic initiatives to streamline proposal and contract management processes.
• Serving as a subject matter expert on bid management, contracts, and customer solicitation requirements.
• Mentoring team members and sharing best practices as appropriate.
• Providing data-driven recommendations to leadership through proposal, contract, and pipeline analytics.
• Contributing directly to business growth through successful contract awards, renewals, and revenue-generating opportunities.
• Building reporting and metrics to improve visibility into proposal and contract performance.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelors' Degree or equivalent experience with managing and coordinating bids, contracts, and RFP activity

Qualifications:

• At least 3 years of Project Management experience and certification preferred.
• Demonstrated experience developing, writing, editing, and submitting successful RFP, RFQ, bid, grant, or procurement responses.
• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Excellent written, editing, and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple complex projects simultaneously under tight deadlines.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to quality and compliance.
• Advanced stakeholder management and team leadership abilities.
• Proficiency with proposal management, contract management, and Microsoft Office/M365 tools.

Physical Requirements:

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be able to lift including up to 15 pounds at times.

Highlights for Children provides reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job or to perform your job. Examples of reasonable accommodation include making a change to the application process or work procedures, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment.