Manager - Technical Bid & Solution
Role:
This is not a traditional Project Manager position. We are not looking for someone whose primary strength is maintaining Jira boards, scheduling meetings or updating project plans. We need someone who can read a 150-page government RFP and determine what Dash would actually have to build, migrate, integrate, test, deploy, support and manage if we win. The ideal person can move comfortably between technical and business conversations, challenge unrealistic assumptions, coordinate architects and engineers, build a credible delivery plan and make sure the proposal never promises something the delivery team cannot execute.
Technical RFP Analysis
- Analyze technical RFP requirements and decompose them into capabilities, workstreams, deliverables and dependencies.
- Identify mandatory technical requirements, integrations, security requirements, environments, data considerations, service levels and implementation constraints.
- Develop technical questions and clarification requests where requirements are ambiguous.
Solution Shaping
- Facilitate solution workshops with architects, developers, cloud/data specialists, project managers and other SMEs.
- Develop credible solution approaches for custom application development, modernization, cloud, data, AI, integration and managed-service engagements.
- Define scope boundaries, assumptions, dependencies and exclusions.
- Ensure proposed solutions are practical, supportable and aligned with Dash delivery capabilities.
Estimation & Delivery Planning
- Develop or coordinate work breakdown structures, staffing models, schedules, milestones and effort estimates.
- Validate whether the proposed team can realistically deliver within the requested schedule.
- Identify delivery risks and mitigation strategies and support pricing teams with clear resource, effort and timeline assumptions.
Technical Proposal Development
- Own or co-author technical approaches, implementation plans, transition plans, architecture narratives, project-management approaches and related proposal sections.
- Provide technical input to graphics, diagrams and solution architecture.
- Review technical proposal sections for accuracy, consistency and credibility.
- Participate in technical Red Team reviews.
Presentations & Pursuit-to-Delivery Continuity
- Support oral presentations, technical demonstrations, solution-defense sessions and clarification responses.
- Lead structured technical handoff after award so delivery receives proposal assumptions, commitments, staffing models, milestones and risks.
- Track lessons learned from actual project delivery and feed them back into future estimates and proposal approaches.
Reusable Solution Assets
- Develop reusable reference approaches for recurring SLED opportunities.
- Maintain solution patterns, estimation assumptions, team models and implementation approaches that can accelerate future pursuits.
Required Experience & Skills
- 7-10+ years of experience across IT delivery, architecture, technical presales, solution consulting, bid management or technical project leadership.
- At least 3 years of meaningful involvement in RFP/RFI responses, presales or solutioning.
- Strong understanding of modern application development, cloud, integration, data and enterprise technology delivery.
- Ability to estimate teams, effort, timelines and implementation dependencies.
- Strong understanding of project risks, assumptions and delivery governance.
- Ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Strong professional writing and presentation skills and willingness to challenge unrealistic assumptions.
Preferred Qualifications / Experience
- U.S. public-sector or government-bid experience.
- Experience with Azure, AWS or Google Cloud.
- PMP, Scrum, SAFe, cloud or architecture certifications.
- Experience with AI/ML, data platforms, application modernization or systems integration.
- Experience supporting fixed-price or deliverables-based IT services proposals.
The Personality We Are Looking For
- Wants to understand how things actually work rather than repeating buzzwords.
- Challenges an estimate that does not make sense.
- Is comfortable saying, "We should not promise this unless we can prove how we will deliver it."
- Connects commercial promises to delivery reality.
- Takes ownership from RFP analysis through award handoff.
- Can work effectively with strong technical personalities.
- Is practical, curious, organized and decisive.
What Success Looks Like
Within the first 90 days, major solution-based pursuits should have clearer scope, assumptions, estimates, staffing models, timelines and technical narratives, with stronger continuity between what Dash sells and what Dash ultimately delivers.
