Proposal professionals face unique personal challenges and we have developed a system that makes a career possible; career a euphemism for long term emotional survival without certain burnout.

The job is the writing of technical proposals. Subject matter may be telecommunications, Internet services, local area network construction, large-scale electrical power construction for facilities, and integrated electronic security. The clients are the local, state and federal governments.

Our department is a collaborative collection of individuals that deal with the mission personally, and deal with each other as people. The sector of the business that generates the cash is largely blue collar and is geared by nature to support career commitments and people looking for a personal connection to the company and their coworkers.

We are a PRIVATE company, we are a PROFITABLE company, ownership is young, we are CASH POSITIVE, we are GROWING UNDER CONTROL, we have services that can clearly be DIFFERENTIATED, and we are far more agile than the big Federal contractors and “Beltway Bandits” that are the traditional sources of these proposals. Put another way, we have not laid off a single soul in our construction operations since 1950, pay all the vendors on time, and deliver what we contracted to deliver when we contracted to deliver it. Next to no litigation for the past 60 years. We are a different environment than the risky start-ups and various limited scope minority firms, and far more personal than the big defense contractors. This is an intimate environment with the power of the big players and much to deliver that the big players cannot deliver at all.

We are a one of a kind organization in many ways. We have a very strong organization of highly trained people working “neck down” in our field construction groups, and we are a non-union environment, which presents definite economic advantage to our clients. We also employ a distinguished group of engineers who are unique in that they see their designs all the way through to commissioned operational reality.  We also benefit from a handful of visionaries that are artists at identifying market niches and opportunities. We have been very successful in configuring the systems of knowledge, specialized staff, process, service bundles, and even business structures that we have evolved in ways that make us a one of a kind provider.

The nature of the business and employees make it easier to be a proposal professional. We have a culture. The business is based on camaraderie, operational excellence and project control. Our construction company underpinnings do not reward political behavior. Straight forward is the order of the day, and the lack of political intrigue and subterfuge makes life a lot easier. When there is something to be conveyed to you it is more than likely that you will hear the whole message and it will be straightforward. You will understand what people want and what is expected of you. Compared to these big defense contractors, this is a pure and honest environment.

We do the legacy work of delivering big, robust heavy power systems, we restore and renovate power systems and we invent systems for the protection of the most vital resources of the country that our international enemies have not imagined or seen. We are communication service providers to the arcane groups that monitor our national security. We are on the one hand fundamental infrastructure builders and on the other creative service providers and inventors.  We are a point of leadership for an entire industry.

How we make an environment with no end to deadlines tenable as a career is by mixing up the nature of proposal creation. To be blunt, where one can “cut and paste” one is a fool not to. There are infrastructure elements that make consistent and quality response easier, and we wisely use them.  If that “standard elements” process is the essential thrust of the business at all times, boredom for the writer is certain. What makes our department interesting and exciting is the research based proposal methodology we use.

Traditionally department heads and engineers drive the storyboard and contents. This group of professionals is exceedingly busy and is rarely blessed with the time to seek out the bleeding edge or properly survey the competition. At times they are just plain behind the times and out of touch. Our proposal team actually researches the requirements to be distilled into a proposal, investigates the state of the art, and looks at what is published and what the competition is doing. Very often the writer leads the kick off. Yes, the first couple of times you research something new that inception is bumpy, but you quickly become a subject matter expert, and your grasp of the competitive marketplace and technologies purveyed can eclipse that of the department head buried in operational and business issues. More eyes on the playing field and more creativity being applied are at the heart of our incredible win rate. It is also a lot more pleasant to work as a technically competent peer than to polish information you do not understand at all.

Our business is the design + build specialty electrical construction business doing technical electrical and electronic constructions. While our field construction staff number nearly 3,000 people, there are only a handful of managers that run the enterprise and you will know them all personally soon after joining. Unlike the big and impersonal environments in the major public contractors where much of this work is done and where you are essentially an employee number, it is very personal here. If you are committed, talented and disciplined, this is the kind of place you need to be. Personal recognition, reward and career growth that will be formulated based upon your real contributions stand us apart if you are looking for a career destination.

The group was started as an experiment of sorts. Traditionally, department heads and project managers and a traditional estimating/preconstruction department was the means of new business capture. We hired a capture manager and what has evolved is a very powerful capture team that has profoundly expanded the business. The “outsiders in that proposal group” are now a proven and a necessary element in the success of the overall enterprise.

ABOUT YOU

You know how to assemble winning proposals addressing (most often but not always) federal RFPs and ID/IQ contracts. You have prepared winning proposals and have worked with FAR. Deltek GovWin might be next to Microsoft Office or Visio on your computer.

Working for us is going to require a combination of writing skills, common sense, some personal interest in technology and technical things, some technical knowledge base, communications skills, determination and attitude.

What you have been able to do professionally is to take a body of knowledge and deliver that within the very rigid, pre-defined structure that is a public request for proposal (RFP) with some custom content that will appeal to the few talented individuals buried in big public and government agencies. While meeting the letter of the RFP is essential, there are those who will grasp the differentiation, value, or genius embedded in the otherwise rote response, and winning proposals have the nuts and bolts and the wow elements cleverly and synergistically combined.

If you write technical proposals to answer government RFPs for information technology systems, electrical power systems, security systems, telephone systems, telecom services and VDV systems integrations for the local, state and Federal audiences, you actually understand the challenges inherent in meeting the structural requirements of the RFP while still being able to stand out. If you write to those different audiences with those agencies successfully we have unique circumstances to exchange for your talent.