Senior Proposal Writer (Contract)

Description

The company is an incubation firm that builds and invests in fast-growing technology companies in healthcare, cyber, and national security.

Its federal unit develops AI-powered, mission-ready capabilities for the U.S. government and turns complicated government needs into solutions that can be reused and have high impact.

The team values people who are dedicated, collaborative communicators, principled and accountable, and thorough about the quality of their work.

This is a contract role for a Senior Federal Proposal Writer (1099) who will produce clear, persuasive, and compliant responses to federal solicitations.

Responsibilities

• Turn capture strategy and complicated technical input into strong proposal content.
• Work with the Proposal Manager, capture leads, Solutions Architects, product leaders, and subject matter experts.
• Sit in the Operations Cell and report to the Proposal Manager, who works under the COO.
• Draft and revise technical approaches, management and staffing plans, transition plans, past performance, executive summaries, white papers, solution briefs, and other response content.
• Read solicitations, SOWs, PWSs, instructions, and evaluation criteria, including Sections L and M.
• Create compliant outlines, storyboards, content plans, and compliance matrices.
• Interview SMEs, program managers, key personnel, and product leaders, then convert their input into clear proposal text.
• Apply capture strategy, customer priorities, win themes, discriminators, benefits, and proof points.
• Handle review comments and deliver clean, submission-ready revisions on tight deadlines.
• Keep voice and messaging consistent across multi-author responses.
• Maintain reusable past-performance, corporate-experience, management, and technical content.
• Raise missing inputs, compliance gaps, conflicting guidance, and schedule risks early.

Requirements

• At least 5 years of federal proposal writing in government contracting.
• Hands-on experience with Shipley or a similar proposal development process.
• Solid grasp of federal solicitations, FAR and DFARS concepts, Sections L and M, and evaluation criteria.
• A track record of contributing to winning federal civilian or defense proposals.
• Skill in explaining complex subjects such as AI/ML, autonomy, cybersecurity, software platforms, defense hardware, advanced communications, and health technology.
• Strong interviewing, writing, editing, and collaboration skills.
• Skill in safeguarding sensitive company, customer, partner, and procurement information.
• U.S. citizenship.
• An independent-contractor business setup and the ability to provide a W-9.
• Bonus: current APMP certification.
• Bonus: active Secret or Top Secret U.S. Government security clearance.
• Bonus: experience with OTA, CSO, BAA, and SBIR/STTR submissions for national-security organizations.

Conditions

Hourly pay of $100-$140 per hour, based on experience.

Fully remote, project-based 1099 work assigned on demand, with no minimum volume guaranteed.

Each assignment defines its scope, deliverables, milestones, deadlines, acceptance criteria, estimated hours, and authorized maximum.

Acknowledge assignment requests within one business day, or faster when agreed in advance for active proposals.

Work up to 40 hours per workweek within an approved assignment. Extra hours, and work outside scope or the authorized maximum, need the COO's written approval beforehand.

Provide your own secure workspace, reliable high-speed internet, suitable computer hardware, Microsoft Office 365, PDF editing tools, and other standard software. The company may supply specific systems when needed.

Follow all applicable confidentiality, data-protection, system-access, records-management, and information-handling requirements.

Disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest.

Benefits

• The benefits below apply to full-time roles, not this contract.
• Career track with room to advance quickly as the firm grows.
• Fully employer-paid health care, including medical, dental, and vision, for you and your family.
• 14 weeks of paid maternity or paternity leave at normal pay.
• Unlimited PTO, with management approval.
• Room for professional growth and ongoing learning.
• Optional 401K, FSA, and equity incentives.
• Mental health benefits and lower-cost GLP-1 options through third-party providers.