Technical Proposal Writer

Posted Aug 5

Job Description

We are looking for an experienced Technical Proposal Writer to join our remote team and compose compelling technical narratives that reflect our mission, past work, and capabilities in response to opportunities across our focus areas and business goals.

The Technical Proposal Writer is a critical part of the Growth department. In this role, you’ll write clear, concise technical content for proposals based on a clear understanding of the intersection of Coforma’s capabilities, experience, and expertise and our customers and their users’ needs. Through a combination of techniques, including interviews and desk research, the Technical Proposal Writer will develop proposals that are clear, complete, and compelling against known requirements.

The ideal candidate is a strong and clear communicator, with excellent writing skills, and a knack for specificity in their writing. You have prior working knowledge of the Federal government contracting space, and thrive in bringing together multiple ideas, voices, and perspectives in a unified, compelling, and compliant narrative.

If you’re a self-starter, experienced in writing technical proposals against requirements, passionate about improving lives, and able to connect across research, engineering, design, product, marketing, and business teams to see projects through to successful completion, Coforma is a great company for you.

$112,000—$140,000 Base Salary + Benefits + Growth Potential Exact compensation may vary based on skills and experience.

The job posting for this role is scheduled to close at 5:00pm PDT on Wednesday, August 2nd, 2023 unless an extension has been noted. The desired start date for this role is early-to-mid September 2023.

This is a US-based remote position and some travel will be required.

Responsibilities — Content Development

  • Unify a variety of writing styles following Coforma’s business development voice and tone, including by recognizing passive voice and updating to active voice
  • Make technical jargon accessible to readers of diverse backgrounds through plain language writing to craft readable, compelling proposals for client evaluators
  • Maintain consistency in proposal writing by following style guides, processes, and policies and consulting with our MarComms to ensure brand cohesion and alignment
  • Interview subject-matter experts and perform desk research to support the development of proposals across company brands, business goals, and focus areas
  • Work with the design team to create graphics and visuals for proposals as needed
  • Leverage content libraries, interviews, and internal documentation to develop technical proposals that are clear, exact, compliant, and compelling
  • Collaborate with proposal team members throughout the life cycle of a proposal to ensure that our proposals are accurate and meet and/or exceed compliance and the clients’ expectations
  • Familiarize yourself with the history of any one opportunity to develop a clear understanding of the ecosystem in which you’ll operate, identifying examples of past performance, competencies, and aligned experiences that contribute to our win themes and technical narrative strategy
  • Contribute to new content creation for the proposal library
  • Help create processes documentation, resumes, past performance write-ups, and other related proposal documents.

Responsibilities — Time Management, Collaboration, and Process Improvement

  • Consult on internal technical project documentation and follow and improve internal processes to craft accurate, compelling technical content for our past performance library
  • Communicate progress, risks, delays, and opportunities while contributing to the overall success and health of the Growth department
  • Work efficiently and productively on proposals under short timelines and sometimes with little advance notice, while helping foster and maintain a positive, collaborative, transparent approach
  • Digest complex client requirements, communicate them to subject-matter experts, and report on content readiness to match requirements
  • Edit and revise proposals according to feedback and within the requested time frames
  • Present new processes, feedback, and ideas to internal and external Coforma stakeholders
  • Integrate feedback from client debriefs into future proposals.

Requirements

  • 6+ years of professional work experience
  • 4+ years of federal proposal writing experience
  • 2+ years technical writing experience in an IT, digital services, engineering, design, data, or related field
  • Excellent ability to communicate clearly in writing and orally (whether verbally or through assistive technologies/aids) to increase transparency
  • Experience managing milestones, dependencies, communications, and stakeholder expectations
  • Strong organizational skills and keen attention to detail
  • Ability to work across multiple proposals with different deadlines and priorities
  • A proactive, empathetic, persistent, positive, and growth mindset
  • Proficient with Google Suite
  • Understanding of and ability to write in plain language

Preferred Qualifications

  • A track record of developing winning proposals
  • Experience writing proposals in the digital services space
  • Comfortable in a fast-paced environment, flexible, innovative, and attentive to detail
  • Comfortable working remotely
  • Working knowledge of agile frameworks like lean, Scrum, kanban, and TDD
  • Experience using an RFP management/content management Tool (Loopio preferred)

We Don't Care About

  • Whether or not you have a degree of any kind
  • Whether your educational major, if you had one, is related to this role
  • Whether or not you have GitHub contributions
  • Whether or not you have worked at a well-recognized company
  • Whether you’re sure that you check every single box perfectly

We Do Care About

  • Your passions, professional or otherwise
  • Your well-informed opinions about technology, teams, and processes
  • You

$112,000 - $140,000 a year The annual salary range for this position is $112,000–$140,000/year.

We're Coforma

The stress of job searching can make you wonder if you’re enough. Studies have even shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs when they don’t meet every qualification. We believe that you ARE enough, and that it’s okay not to meet every requirement. We’re building a culture that’s authentic, inclusive, and diverse. If you’re excited to work with us but not sure you check every box, apply anyway! You may be just right for this role or another one.

About Us

We use creativity to get results for clients and the communities they serve.

We’ve honed a modern, agile, user-centered approach that elevates human needs through thoughtfully-designed systems and products.

From connecting families in crisis at the US border to improving the way governments consume COVID-19 mobility data through a more accessible and user-friendly tool, we’re dedicated to improving people’s lives through thoughtful technology products and services. Together. Our cross-functional team works closely with each other and with our government, nonprofit, and commercial partners to research, design, and build better products and services.

Coforma employs over 100 talented creators. Our leadership has decades of experience in improving government digital services from a civic service mindset, and a strong record of developing innovative technology solutions for government, enterprise, and nonprofits.

We thoughtfully integrate design into product development. We are experts in leading the design and development of products to meet business goals, build alignment, and deliver value through technically feasible and iterative design activities.

Business objectives and human beings are at the center of our work. We work very closely and collaboratively with our partners, from solicitation through to delivery, to ensure that the solution provides a high level of value to the business. Accessibility is never overlooked in our work, and our iterative approach validates the utility and delight of the final product.

Equal Opportunity & Inclusive Workplace

Coforma is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, age, pregnancy, disability, work-related injury, covered veteran status, political ideology, marital status, or any other factor that the law protects from employment discrimination. Background checks and other security clearances may be required for some roles as it relates to the nature of our client work.

Our team and our office aims to be an accessible and hospitable place to work. We welcome applicants, contractors, and employees who are committed to improving our culture and practices.