Senior Proposal Manager

Leadership skills:
• Lead India 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.
• 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. 
• 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.  

What you will do: 

• 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 India 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.  

Required qualifications

• 2-4+ years of Government of India / Indian Ministry of Defence or international government proposal development or BD operations experience.  
• In lieu of direct government proposal experience, have 3+ years of experience working with Government of India or international government requirements.  
• Bachelor's degree in business, communication, marketing, engineering, or equivalent industry experience.  
• Strong 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. 

Preferred qualifications

• Strong technical background especially with unmanned/uncrewed systems and/or autonomy software.  \
• Demonstrated understanding and knowledge of military operations and India defense acquisition processes. 
• Understanding of international markets/geopolitical trends in aerospace / defense industry.  
• Experience managing Foreign Military Sale and Direct Commercial Sale bids/proposals.
• Active Indian security clearance.