Vice President, Enterprise Proposal Center - Remote

Join the Enterprise Growth Enablement & Proposals (EGEP) team at ICF 

We are one team united around one mission: growing ICF. We accomplish this by creating systems that support effective business development (BD) activities, providing best-in-class proposal and BD services, and inspiring our teammates to win. By supporting growth, we further ICF’s mission to create a more prosperous and resilient world. We work side-by-side with experts devoted to climate resilience, digital modernization, public health, disaster management, cybersecurity, energy efficiency, and other critical areas that require complex technical solutions. 

What makes EGEP unique? 

We've built a collaborative, innovative, and transparent environment that values diverse perspectives. We constantly seek better ways to improve, embracing industry best practices and new ideas. Join us and bring your ideas to our mission.  

Please note: Ideally, candidates should be located within a commutable distance to Reston, VA. However, we are open to remote candidates, with a preference for those in the Eastern and Central time zones. Remote candidates must be willing to travel. 

Your role on the team: 

This role offers an exciting opportunity to spearhead a dynamic team, the Enterprise Proposal Center (EPC), and play a pivotal role in driving the success of ICF’s proposal management efforts. The EPC offers a range of proposal management services designed to ensure high-quality, compliant, and strategic submissions that align with company goals and client needs. It serves as a valuable partner in the proposal development process, offering expertise and resources for ICF’s federal, state and local, and commercial bids. We seek a visionary leader who is deeply passionate about innovation, collaboration, and excellence. As the Vice President of the EPC, you will oversee the entire proposal management organization, guiding the successful development and submission of proposals that fuel ICF’s growth. This position requires strategic vision, operational excellence, and the ability to forge strong collaborations across diverse stakeholders. Join us in setting the standard for best-in-class proposal management practices and making a meaningful impact on our organization's success. 

Key responsibilities: 

Proposal management and BD collaboration: 

• Support BD and capture efforts, including supporting win planning and strategy for our Federal Enterprise Account & Capture team and division capture management teams across the company. 

• Collaborate cross-functionally with ICF’s lines of business, group BD teams, and contracts and administration, pricing, and finance teams to ensure the alignment and integration of efforts. 

• Build and nurture strong partnerships with internal customers and actively seek out opportunities to improve support. 

• Share updates and information consistently across relevant channels and teams, including the EPC newsletter. 

• Foster effective communication and collaboration among BD leads, proposal team leaders, capture managers, group leadership, and corporate support. 

• Oversee proposal development through teamwork, proactive workload planning, and resource allocation. 

• Coordinate advance planning with teams across the company to identify solicitations early in the pipeline. 

• Represent the EPC in meetings, providing updates on proposal activities and outcomes. 

Strategic responsibilities: 

• Define and communicate a vision for the EPC to achieve best-in-class status, advocating for ICF’s best interests and fostering a shared vision. 

• Lead the continued advancement and implementation of best practices for proposal management and leadership, continually seeking and incorporating feedback from stakeholders. 

• Actively build industry relationships to leverage the evolution of proposal centers and bring in innovative ideas. Display curiosity, test new ideas for alignment with the business, and manage change. 

• Develop strategies to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies aligned with EGEP initiatives and stay updated on new tools, best practices, and training opportunities. 

Leadership responsibilities: 

• Ensure the delivery of high-quality, compliant, and competitive proposals. Participate in reviews, address compliance concerns, and uphold internal policy standards. 

• Provide leadership, coaching, and mentorship to our ~50-person team. Proactively manage performance evaluation and development strategy, ensure equitable rewards, and address performance issues in coordination with human resources. 

• Develop and maintain an EPC onboarding strategy, ensuring a consistent and coordinated process for onboarding, training, process standardization, and continuous improvement. 

• Lead training/upskilling as needed to keep pace with changing government procurement strategies. 

• Ensure cross-team coordination and awareness of team functions within the proposal process, with defined roles for each team. 

• Collaborate with direct reports on succession planning, professional development, and advancement opportunities for high-performing staff. 

Operational responsibilities: 

• Optimize and streamline workload management across the proposal management, writing/editing, and graphics teams, simplifying service delivery. Oversee labor budget and controllable expenses and produce regular workload reports. Conduct advance resource planning and identify hiring and upskilling needs. 

• Ensure the EPC realizes the full value of technology-enabled products to manage and produce proposals. 

• Drive a continuous process improvement program across the EPC, ensuring consistent application within each team. 

What you will bring: 

• Bachelor's degree 

• At least 10 years of proposal management experience with at least 5 years of experience in managing a proposal team in a consulting environment. 

• Experience with managing proposal teams within a company with more than $1 billion in revenue. 

• Experience with leading and managing teams, including performance evaluations, coaching, training, and mentorship. 

• Experience with managing activities such as workload planning, resource allocation, and budget oversight. 

• Experience in collaborating and partnering with other business teams (e.g., contracts and administration, pricing, finance, human resources). 

• Experience with managing proposals within federal civilian agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

What we’d like you to bring: 

• Ability to define and communicate a vision for achieving best-in-class proposal management practices. 

• Experience with delivering winning federal government proposals greater than $100 million. 

• Understanding of the nuances of federal, state and local, and commercial clients and how these customers differ in the proposal environment. 

• Recent experience with supporting pursuits that involve less traditional, more agile, and more interactive procurement methods and submittals (e.g., proofs of concept, coding challenges, incentive prizes, or other contests; oral pitches, video presentations, or other digital deliverables). 

• Experience in designing and implementing training programs for proposal staff to enhance skills and knowledge and drive continuous improvement across teams. 

• Familiarity with the Shipley Process, Association of Proposal Management Professionals certifications, and other proposal-oriented processes and networking and training organizations. 

Professional skills: 

• Curiosity and openness to new ideas, with a willingness to innovate and adapt to industry advancements. 

• Ability to manage and influence various stakeholders, including senior executives, internal clients, and cross-functional teams. 

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to engage effectively with a wide range of stakeholders. 

• Strong leadership skills to guide and mentor a large team, ensuring alignment with organizational goals. 

• Experience in collaborating cross-functionally with lines of business, BD teams, and corporate support teams to ensure alignment and integration of efforts. 

• Proficient with desktop publishing software, Microsoft PowerPoint, pipeline management systems (e.g., Microsoft Dynamics), and other collaboration tools designed to facilitate working across remote teams (e.g., Mural). Some AI experience would be beneficial.