Proposal Manager

Ames Construction has been building America for more than 60 years, and the people who work here are the reason we continue to succeed. 

We are a full-service, heavy civil and industrial contractor building critical infrastructure, including highways, bridges, mines, dams, rail, and more. Our teams take on challenging projects that keep communities safe, supply chains moving, and the country connected. 

At Ames, we are Fueled by Family and Driven by Ownership. That means we look out for one another, take pride in what we build, and take responsibility for our actions, our results, and the long-term health of the company. 

Guided by our core values of People, Team, Our Bond, Persistence, and Vision, we do what we say we will do, push through challenges and deliver work we’re proud of. 

When you join Ames, you’re joining a company built for long-term success — where skilled people, strong teams, and disciplined execution come together to build careers and a better future.

The Proposal Manager will lead development, preparation and submittal of proposals for projects being pursued which includes: identification of proposal content requirements, collaboration with Pursuit, Operations, Engineering and Administrative coworkers to develop winning strategies, proposal development and submittal, relationship building with Clients and industry partners, and providing development and training opportunities.

Expected outcomes of the Proposal Manager role include, but are not limited to:

• Effective communication.

• Professional, developed relationships with coworkers.

• Identification, recruitment, development and training of coworkers.

• Professional, developed relationships with clients and industry partners.

• Effective, well formatted and written proposals in compliance with the Project Documents.

• Deliver compliant, professionally produced proposals within customer defined timeframes.

• Collaboration and proposal alignment with estimating, risk and wellness, legal, scheduling, quality, environmental and preconstruction efforts.

• Continued support of project pursuits through post bid updates, interviews and proposal review meetings and negotiations.

• Clear communication of proposal contents to preconstruction and construction teams.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Ensure that safety is Ames number one value.

• Understand project delivery methods (e.g., DB, PDB, CMGC, Best Value), become familiar with each and propose best practices for proposal content based on the client’s delivery method.

• Conduct research on potential clients and competitors to tailor proposals to specific needs and preferences. 

• Analyze RFP/RFQ documents, identifying key requirements, deadlines, and evaluation criteria.  

• Gather and incorporate relevant industry data, statistics, and case studies into proposals. 

• Collaborate with project managers, engineers, estimators, project controls, legal, risk and wellness, quality, environmental, graphic design and other team members to gather project specific information. 

• Monitor and download Project Documents to Ames SharePoint site or system drive in collaboration with the Senior Pursuits and Preconstruction Manager.

• Organize and format proposal content, develop compliance matrix and ensure compliance with client requirements. 

• Write, edit, and proofread proposal sections to ensure clarity, accuracy, and consistency. 

• Manage version control of proposal documents. 

• Schedule and lead proposal kickoff meetings to define roles, responsibilities, and timelines. 

• Coordinate proposal review meetings and track action items to ensure deadlines are met. 

• Create and maintain a proposal library of templates, boilerplate content, and graphics. 

• Collaborate with graphic designers to create visually appealing proposal elements, including charts, diagrams, and images. 

• Ensure that proposal visuals align with the overall design and messaging. 

• Conduct thorough quality checks on final proposal documents to ensure