{"id":2838576,"url":"https://alion.io/job/arkeus-proposal-manager","title":"Proposal Manager","company":{"id":368,"name":"Arkeus","domain":"arkeus.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/arkeus","size_band":"11-50","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Rippling","truth_index":null},"role":"Sales","role_family":"Sales","seniority":"senior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Stafford, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":87000,"max_usd":186000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":4349},"experience_years_min":7,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-19T06:35:05Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-19","last_verified_at":"2026-10-26T09:59:07Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":7,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":7},"description":"About Arkeus\nArkeus builds AI-powered sensing systems that help autonomous platforms detect, track and understand what's happening in the most complex and contested environments. Our technology is deployed across defence and national security applications - already protecting lives and strengthening security across the U.S. and allied markets.\nBacked by QIC, Main Sequence, R+VC, Salus Ventures, Folklore Ventures, DYNE Ventures and Beaten Zone Venture Partners, Arkeus is entering a major growth phase. We are a small, fast-moving company with the energy and ambition of a start-up and the technical credibility of a world-class defence technology provider.\nWe work at the intersection of optics, autonomy, robotics and real-time AI and we deploy what we build. If you want to ship technology that matters, not technology that ships decks, this is where you belong.\nCheck it yourself on News | Arkeus\nWe have developed an inclusive, transparent and engaging culture that focuses on building a diverse workforce - realising that to attract the very best, we need to ensure our culture is ready to welcome people from all ages, genders and backgrounds.\nAbout the role\nAs Proposal Manager at Arkeus, you will own how we win new defence business. You will lead bids from the release of an RFP or solicitation through to submission, turning our engineering capability into compliant, persuasive proposals that evaluators score highly.\nReporting to the VP of Growth, you will run proposals across traditional FAR/DFARS procurements and faster acquisition routes such as OTAs, DIU Commercial Solutions Openings and SBIR/STTR, and adapt our bids for Australian, UK, NATO and other allied buyers. You will work hand in hand with business development on capture and with finance on pricing.\nThis is a senior, hands-on role. You will write as well as manage, working directly with engineers, program leads and executives to produce each response. As our pipeline grows, you will build the processes, content library and resourcing needed to scale the proposal function.\nAbout you\nYou are an experienced proposal manager and writer with a track record of winning US government contracts. You know DoD solicitations inside out - from Section L/M analysis and compliance matrices to colour-team reviews - and you can run a disciplined bid without a large proposal team behind you.\nYou are comfortable with technical subject matter in uncrewed systems, autonomy, EO/IR payloads or counter-UAS, and can turn engineering content into clear, evaluator-focused language. You are as at home on a fast-turnaround OTA or SBIR submission as on a large traditional program bid, and you have bid in at least one non-US defence market.\nYou are organised, calm under deadline pressure and credible with engineers, executives and customers. You hold contributors to schedule, give direct editorial feedback and protect compliance with ITAR/EAR and CUI requirements. Ideally, you are eligible to obtain a US security clearance.\nKey responsibilities\nProposal Leadership & Writing:\nRun Proposals from Start to Finish: Lead each bid from release of the RFP or solicitation through to submission. That includes requirements analysis, the compliance matrix, the schedule, win themes and Pink, Red and Gold team reviews.\nWrite and Edit All Proposal Volumes: Write technical, management and past performance volumes, and edit material from subject-matter experts into one consistent, persuasive and compliant response.\nUS and International Contract Routes:\nCover All US Contract Routes: Prepare bids for FAR/DFARS procurements and for faster routes: OTAs, DIU Commercial Solutions Openings, SBIR/STTR, AFWERX and Army xTech.\nAdapt Bids for International Markets: Rework proposals for Australian Defence (ASDEFCON), UK MOD, NATO/NSPA and allied buyers, managing differences in format, evaluation criteria and sovereignty requirements.\nCapture, Compliance & Content:\nCoordinate Capture and Pricing: Work with business development on capture strategy, gate reviews and competitor analysis, and with finance on pricing volumes and basis-of-estimate narratives.\nKeep Proposals Compliant and Build a Reusable Library: Make sure proposals meet ITAR/EAR, CUI marking and DISP/CMMC requirements. Build an approved content library (past performance, resumes, boilerplate) to cut the cost of each new bid.\nYour experience and skills\nProposal Track Record: At least 7 years writing or managing proposals, with a track record of won US government contracts worth more than US$5M.\nDoD Solicitations: Hands-on experience with Section L/M analysis, compliance matrices and colour-team reviews. Shipley training or APMP certification (Practitioner or Professional) is strongly preferred.\nFast Acquisition Routes: Experience with fast acquisition routes (OTAs, DIU, SBIR/STTR, Replicator-style programs), not only traditional large-program bids.\nInternational Defence Markets: Experience bidding in at least one non-US defence market, preferably Australia, the UK or NATO.\nUncrewed Systems Fluency: Technical fluency in uncrewed systems (UAS/UAV, autonomy, EO/IR payloads or counter-UAS), with the ability to turn engineering content into language evaluators respond to.\nExport Controls & Security: Experience working under ITAR/EAR controls and, ideally, eligibility for a US security clearance.\nWhy Join Arkeus\nYou will work on the hardest problems in deep-tech - optics, autonomy, real-time AI and hardware-software integration in a single product. The gap between what you build and where it ends up is almost nonexistent.\nYou will collaborate with exceptional leaders who have decades of combined experience in AI, optics and defence. You will be learning from - and contributing to - the best in the field.\nYou will become part of a close-knit, ego-free team where ideas compete on merit, not seniority. Low politics, high trust. The kind of team you will still be talking about in ten years.\nYou will work hard and be expected to bring your best - and in return you will grow faster than you ever would at a large organisation.\nYou will work on technology that is already deployed in real environments - protecting lives and strengthening security across defence and national security applications.\nYou will receive a competitive, market-benchmarked salary, structured career pathways built to grow with you, and the opportunity to participate in our Employee Share Option Plan (ESOP).\nYou will build the proposal function of a growing defence technology company while directly shaping the contracts that put our products in the hands of US and allied customers.\nIf this sounds like you, please apply even if you don't check every box - we care more about how you think than whether your CV is perfect. 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