Proposal/SOQ Manager

Proposal/SOQ Manager

Business Strategy | Reports to: Sr. Manager, Environmental Compliance & Business Strategy | Remote, open countrywide (Irvine office available) | Full-Time, Exempt

About EPD Solutions, Inc.

EPD integrates entitlement processing, environmental analysis, regulatory compliance, land use planning, and construction management services under a single umbrella, providing private and public clients with a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach to project delivery. Our core values are simple: act with integrity, prioritize people, innovate as a team, always show respect, and share a passion for expertise.

At EPD, we believe our greatest strength is our people. We are a team of planners, environmental professionals, and project specialists who bring different perspectives and areas of expertise to a shared commitment: helping our clients successfully navigate complex projects and create better communities. Collaboration is central to our approach. Our projects often require coordination across multiple disciplines, agencies, consultants, and stakeholders, and we believe the strongest solutions come from people working together toward a common goal. We foster an environment built on trust, respect, accountability, and a willingness to share knowledge.

Every member of our team has an opportunity to contribute, take ownership, and grow. We value people who bring curiosity to their work, take initiative, communicate openly, and are willing to step forward when challenges arise. We encourage our employees to develop their expertise, learn from one another, and take pride in the work they deliver.

EPD is committed to investing in the people who make our work possible. We offer competitive compensation, health care and retirement benefits, discretionary bonus opportunities, and meaningful opportunities for professional development. Most importantly, we strive to create a workplace where talented professionals can build careers, contribute ideas, and feel that their work makes a difference.

About the Position

The Proposal/SOQ Manager is at the center of EPD's high-priority, high-complexity pursuits and plays a key role in business development at both the company and department levels. You'll make sure client-facing proposals and Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) goes out on time and gets the details right, for public agency and private clients alike. You'll work with every department, with subject matter experts at all career levels, and with senior management to represent EPD accurately, using AI tools to raise the quality, efficiency, consistency, and compliance of each submission.

This position will serve as a central liaison for managing company responses to Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and Requests for Qualifications (RFQs), ensuring pursuits are organized, compliant with RFP/RFQ requirements, timely, and thoroughly vetted. The Proposal/SOQ Manager will translate technical, operational, and executive input into compelling, compliant, and competitive submissions.

You're someone who has led proposals and SOQs from first look to final submittal and can rally clients, colleagues, and subconsultant partners around a plan. You pair a sharp QA/QC eye with the creativity to make a submission stand out.

Success in this role requires the ability to quickly interpret solicitation requirements and develop strategic, project-specific responses. The Proposal/SOQ Manager will leverage EPD's existing proposal resources, relevant project experience, past performance, lessons learned, and institutional knowledge, while creating new content as needed to enhance the strength and competitiveness of each submission.

The responsibilities below describe the core of the role. As with any growing team, you'll also pitch in on other work that supports EPD's business development goals.

Critical Outcomes (first 6-12 months)

• EPD has a real, forward-looking pipeline of public sector opportunities, built from agency forecasts, capital plans, and procurement portals, and you're the one keeping it fresh
• Go/No Go calls happen early enough to shape a response instead of scrambling after one, and the reasoning is written down
• We know our win rate, and every debrief makes the next pursuit a little sharper
• Our qualifications library, resumes, and project sheets are current and organized, so no one is rebuilding a project sheet from scratch
• Teams across EPD hit their pursuit commitments because the plan was clear, not because someone had to escalate

Scope & Decision Authority

Here's what you'll own, in partnership with senior leadership:

• Go/No Go recommendations on public sector solicitations, backed by documented rationale
• Pursuit strategy, including positioning, win themes, teaming approach, and subconsultant selection
• Proposed project team composition, and the past performance that best positions EPD for a given selection panel
• Pursuit assignments and deadlines for contributors across disciplines, including colleagues more senior than you
• Quality determination on whether a submission is ready for release
• EPD's qualifications content library and firm-wide pursuit collateral
• Win rate, tracked and reported by service line

Key Responsibilities

Finding & Shaping Opportunities

• Keep a steady eye on procurement portals, agency capital plans and forecasts, industry publications, and the relationships EPD leadership brings to the table
• Dig into prospective clients, selection panels, incumbents, competitors, and market drivers so we know where we stand before we commit
• Lead Go/No Go evaluations, weighing fit, capacity, competitive position, and expected return, and bring a clear recommendation to senior leadership
• Build capture strategy before the solicitation drops, including win themes, teaming, and the differentiators we want to lead with

Running the Pursuit

• Break down solicitation requirements and build the compliance framework the response lives by
• Set the schedule, make clear what each discipline owes and when, and keep contributors on track
• Direct subject matter experts and senior leadership on the input needed, the form it should take, and when it's due
• Sort out conflicting technical or strategic input and make recommendation on content direction
• Manage the agency question and addendum process, and keep the team in the loop on what changes
• Get the firm ready for shortlist interviews, from key messages to presentation coaching

Content & Quality

• Turn technical scopes and regulatory approaches into clear, persuasive, client-specific stories
• Write original content when the library doesn't quite fit the pursuit
• Use AI tools to sharpen messaging, run quality review, and pressure-test drafts
• Serve as quality authority before release and manage transmittal through agency bid platforms

Owning the Program

• Own the qualifications content library, project sheets, staff resumes, and branded collateral, partnering with our marketing and graphics resources
• Run win and loss analysis, chase agency debriefs, and turn what we learn into how we pursue the next one
• Track win rates and use it to get smarter about which pursuits we chase
• Keep improving EPD's pursuit process, tools, and templates

Qualifications

Required

• 7+ years of proposal and SOQ development in the AEC industry, including owning pursuits from opportunity identification through submittal
• A track record of qualifications-based selections won with you as the pursuit lead
• Fluency in public agency procurement, including portals, forecast and capital planning documents, compliance requirements, addenda, and shortlist processes
• Sound independent judgment on pursuit decisions, and the confidence to walk leadership through your recommendations
• The ability to keep contributors outside your reporting line accountable, including people more senior than you, while keeping the relationship intact
• A strong grasp of branding, marketing strategy, industry trends, and business development
• Intermediate to advanced skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, and Adobe Acrobat

Preferred

• Experience building capture strategy before a solicitation is released, not just responding once it is
• Adobe InDesign and Illustrator; graphic design chops are a plus
• Familiarity with California public agency procurement and CEQA/NEPA work
• Comfort working remote-first with a distributed team and competing deadlines

You'll Fit Right In If

• You have a good sense of humor. You can laugh when an addendum lands at 4:45 on a Friday, and still make the deadline
• You'd rather ask a smart question than guess at a page limit
• You bring imagination to the narrative and stamina to the finish line
• You stay calm, kind, and organized when three deadlines land in the same week
• You believe teamwork makes the dream work, and you're not embarrassed to say it out loud
• You think a clean compliance matrix is a genuinely beautiful thing

Compensation & Benefits

Medical, dental, and vision insurance; 401(k) with company match; generous PTO, including holidays, a floating holiday, and a winter break that runs from Christmas through New Year's Day; flexible spending account; life and disability insurance; discretionary bonus program.