Proposals Senior Specialist

Role summary:

NTT DATA is seeking a highly experienced Proposals Senior Specialist to lead and drive strategic proposal efforts that support complex sales pursuits. In this role, you will serve as a trusted advisor to pursuit teams, providing expert guidance throughout the proposal lifecycle. You will be responsible for orchestrating high-impact, compliant, and client-focused proposal responses, often managing multiple concurrent bids. This role requires strong leadership, cross-functional collaboration, and the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.

You will also mentor junior proposal team members, contribute to continuous improvement initiatives, and help shape proposal best practices across the organization.

Responsibilities:

• Manage multiple deals with moderate to high complexity, including large-scale, multi-tower, or global pursuits.
• Lead all aspects of proposal logistics, including setting up and managing collaborative workspaces, scheduling and facilitating status meetings, creating and maintaining proposal development plans, and ensuring version control and brand consistency across all deliverables.
• Establish and drive a clear bid calendar / proposal development plan, ensuring ownership of each deliverable is assigned, and all stakeholders are aligned on responsibilities, timelines, and quality expectations.
• Proactively identify and escalate risks or delays to pursuit leadership and management, offering mitigation strategies to ensure timely delivery of compliant, high-quality proposals.
• Conduct in-depth analysis of RFx documents, identifying key client requirements, evaluation criteria, and win themes. Develop first drafts using content libraries and tailor responses to align with client priorities.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Sales, Solution Architects, Consulting, Delivery, Legal, HR, and Finance to gather inputs and ensure alignment across all proposal sections.
• Partner with Editors and Graphic Designers to produce visually compelling and brand-compliant responses, ensuring consistency in tone, structure, and messaging.
• Ensure all deliverables meet internal quality standards and client-specific requirements, including formatting, compliance, and submission protocols.
• Lead the development of proposal and presentation materials for orals, working closely with Technical SMEs, Finance, Legal, and Sales leadership to craft persuasive narratives and visuals.
• Contribute to the enhancement of the proposal content library by identifying and curating high-quality, reusable content from recent submissions.
• Mentor junior proposal team members, providing guidance on best practices, tools, and processes.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives by identifying process gaps, recommending enhancements, and participating in proposal operations reviews.

Requirements and skills:

• 6-8 years of experience in Bid/Proposal Management.
• Advanced MS Word skills and proficiency in MS Office (PowerPoint, Excel etc.)
• Subject Matter Expertise in proposal and RFP best practices.
• Strong attention to detail and project management skills.
• Advanced project management skills ability to manage multiple proposals of varying complexity simultaneously.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills to effectively author proposal content and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders.
• Advanced analytical and problem-solving skills to interpret proposal data, identify risks, and recommend process improvements.
• Proficiency in proposal management tools and systems for tracking, organizing, and managing proposal activities.
• Strategic knowledge and leadership skills to contribute to process enhancements and lead proposal projects impacting regional operations.
• Strong collaboration and cross-functional coordination skills for working effectively with sales, finance, legal, delivery, and regional teams.

Good to have:

• APMP Foundation or Practitioner-level certification.
• Experience managing proposals for large or multi-tower deals.
• Exposure to proposal quality audits or compliance reviews.
• Ability to coach or mentor junior team members.
• Working knowledge of GenAI.