Manager, Bids and Proposals

Position Summary

When a district runs a formal RFP, the proposal we submit is often the only version of Right At School its evaluators will ever see. Every competitor submits something compliant, so what separates qualifying from winning is the thinking behind it: how well we understand what a district actually needs, how clearly we show what makes us different, and how convincingly we make the case that we're the partner they've been hoping to find.

The Manager of Bids & Proposals owns that work. You'd be the principal writer on every RFP, with the discretion to bring in freelance support wherever it makes sense. You'd set the bid strategy together with Sales, Marketing, and Finance leadership, own the narrative and positioning that runs through every proposal, and lead the function while developing our Associate Manager, Bids & Proposals.

Why This Role

This is a role where the strategy and the craft live together. You'll be the one deciding with Sales which bids are worth pursuing and working out how we position ourselves against each competitor, and then you'll write the proposals that carry all of it. For many districts, what you write is the first real sense they get of who we are and what it would feel like to partner with us.

You'd also have two projects to build that we've wanted for a while. The first is a proper content library, where you'd decide what belongs in it and hold the quality bar so that every proposal starts from something strong. The second is figuring out where AI genuinely helps, whether that's in drafting, research, or tightening up the writing. An RFP takes 25 to 40 hours today, and we think there's real room to make that easier without giving anything up.

What Success Looks Like

• Win rate improves year over year, both overall and against the competitors we see most often.
• District evaluators come away able to articulate what makes Right At School different.
• Our scores improve in the rubric categories we've targeted, whether that's pricing, academic quality, or another area where evaluators have marked us down.
• The hours it takes to produce a proposal come down meaningfully, carried by the content library and AI-assisted production, with no loss in quality.
• Bid strategy is deliberate. We pursue what we can win, decline what we can't, and the go/no-go calls hold up when we look back at them.
• Content compounds, so each season starts from a stronger library and template than the season before.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

Writing and Content

• Serve as the principal writer on all RFPs, bringing in freelance writing support wherever volume, timing, or the nature of a proposal makes that the better call.
• Build and own the content library, a structured and searchable body of approved content spanning curriculum, operations, impact, professional development, hiring, training, and program offerings.
• Own the master proposal template, including the annual refresh that brings in new programs and data.
• Interview subject matter experts across operations, curriculum, and impact to build content that is specific and genuinely differentiated.
• Lead the annual audit of our proposals to find opportunities for improvement and to identify recurring questions worth adding to the template.
• Manage freelance writing capacity, including scoping, quality control, and cost efficiency.

AI Strategy for Proposals

• Own how AI is used across the proposal function, with two aims: reducing the time a proposal takes to produce, and making our proposals more compelling.
• Develop AI-assisted approaches to drafting, research, retrieving content from the library, proofreading, and readability.
• Work with the Associate Manager on AI-assisted work plans and compliance review, keeping human judgment as the final word on compliance.
• Set the standards, guardrails, and quality bar for AI-assisted content, so that speed never comes at the cost of accuracy or voice.
• Measure and report the efficiency gains so we know what's working.

Bid Strategy and Positioning

• Set annual bid strategy together with Sales, Marketing, and Finance leadership, including go/no-go criteria, target win rates by state and district type, and pricing posture.
• Own go/no-go decisions with Sales leadership, drawing on the viability intelligence compiled by the Associate Manager.
• Own the narrative and positioning strategy, including win themes, differentiators, and how we frame ourselves against each competitor set.
• Lead the annual RFP ROI review and competitive analysis, and translate what you find into the following season's content strategy.
• Partner with Finance on pricing inputs, pro forma strategy, and the research that allows us to price competitively.
• Partner with Sales on district intelligence, what reps need in the field, and what's on the horizon for districts in the coming cycle.
• Partner with Marketing on brand voice, design standards, and the proof points that run through every proposal.

Leadership

• Lead weekly 1:1s with the Associate Manager, including coaching, feedback, and development support.
• Set priorities and distribute workload across the function in line with the bid calendar.
• Anticipate upcoming renewals and build the preparation plan ahead of season.
• Report on pipeline, win rate, hours per proposal, and revenue influenced to Marketing and Sales leadership.

Who You'd Lead

Direct Report: Associate Manager, Bids & Proposals

Runs the RFP process end to end and is accountable for compliance and on-time submission on every proposal, including:

• Sourcing and surfacing opportunities, and compiling the viability intelligence behind go/no-go decisions.
• Work plans, timelines, kickoff meetings, and deadline coordination.
• Final compliance review and submission by portal, print, or shipping.
• Forms, notarizations, legal coordination, and all supporting materials.
• Pro forma research and district-facing communication.
• Shaping how the content library is structured and how AI supports the process side of the work.