Director of Proposal Management

Make a Difference for Climate and Equity - Join Slipstream as Director of Proposal Management

Are you a strategic leader with a passion for driving transformative change? Do you thrive in fast-paced environments where innovation meets impact? At Slipstream, you can help shape a cleaner, more equitable energy future.

We are seeking aDirector of Proposal Managementto lead and elevate our proposal development strategy. In this pivotal role, you will accelerate our ability to secure funding and partnerships that advance integrated, community-centered approaches to climate solutions. Your leadership will directly support our mission to build an equitable clean energy society where everyone benefits from energy innovation.

About Slipstream

Slipstream is a national, mission-driven nonprofit that accelerates climate solutions. For everyone.

We inspire bold ideas to tackle big energy challenges. Our work spans energy efficiency, energy planning with municipalities and Native Nations, equitable building decarbonization, emerging technologies, and green financing. We collaborate with governments, utilities, and community-based organizations to discover, test, and scale solutions that work for real people in real communities.

We are optimistic, inclusive, and ambitious about our impact-and we're looking for someone who shares our drive.

Director of Proposal Management | Slipstream

At Slipstream, we believe climate solutions must be bold, inclusive, and actionable. We're seeking a visionaryDirector of Proposal Managementto lead our organization-wide strategy for securing transformative funding that drives systemic change in climate and equity.

In this high-impact leadership role, you will shape and execute a dynamic proposal development strategy that fuels Slipstream's mission and amplifies our national presence as an influencer in equitable clean energy innovation. You'll lead a talented team of proposal professionals, setting a clear strategic direction, optimizing processes, and ensuring the delivery of compelling, competitive proposals that showcase Slipstream's unique value and vision.

What You'll Do

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  Drive Strategic Growth: Lead the development of high-quality proposals that align with Slipstream's mission and strategic priorities, securing funding from government agencies, foundations, and other partners.

  
  
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  Lead with Vision: Set priorities, coach your team, and foster a culture of excellence, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

  
  
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  Elevate Our Impact: Design and refine proposal systems that increase efficiency, boost win rates, and ensure alignment with organizational goals.

  
  
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  Collaborate Across the Organization: Partner with subject matter experts, program leaders, and the Advancement team to identify opportunities, shape narratives, and position Slipstream as a leader in equitable climate solutions.

  
  
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  Tell Our Story: Strengthen Slipstream's brand and reputation through strategic storytelling, persuasive writing, and partnership development.

  
  

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Leadership -- understanding partner needs, identifying Slipstream's value proposition and key differentiators in proposed scopes of work, and crafting compelling narrative messages that align with the organization's strategic goals.
   
   
   
   • Aligns proposals with mission, goals, strategic plan, and programming.
     
     
     
     • Ensures that all funding proposals support the nonprofit's long-term objectives and strategic plan.
     • Possesses a strong understanding of Slipstream's core work areas, including electrification and decarbonization, energy and resilience planning, utility program administration, contractor training and education, workforce development, and loan program administration.
     • Responsible for budgeting and forecasting to ensure appropriate resources for the proposal process; oversee efforts to ensure that each proposal includes a reasonable cost estimate, is consistent with schedule and scope, and has pricing approved in coordination with financial policies.
     • Develop and manage a feedback process that informs Slipstream about proposal strengths and weaknesses, fosters continuous improvement, and helps leadership set priorities for business development; solicit input from stakeholders to evaluate and manage risk associated with schedule, scope, cost, and contractual issues.
     • Manage proposal process including process training for subject-matter experts and proposal team, proposal project management, evaluating success, reporting, and recommending changes based on results.
     
     
     
     
   • Identifies and assesses funding opportunities.
     
     
     
     • Proactively researches and targets grants and partnerships that align with the organization's priorities.
     • Provides support and direction in working with foundations, government entities, and funding subscription platforms.
     • Monitors portals and opportunities email in-box for new opportunities.
     
     
     
     
   • Influences program development.
     
     
     
     • Collaborates with internal teams to shape initiatives that are fundable and impactful.
     • Collaborates with internal teams to identify impact metrics.
     
     
     
     
   
   
   
   
2. Operational Excellence and Efficient Project Management
   
   
   
   • Manages complex timelines.
     
     
     
     • Oversees multiple concurrent proposals, ensuring deadlines are met without compromising quality.
     
     
     
     
   • Coordinates cross-functional teams.
     
     
     
     • Brings together program staff, finance, communications, and leadership to contribute to compelling proposals.
     
     
     
     
   • Develops and maintains a proactive RFP management system that allows Slipstream to influence, prepare for, and anticipate RFPs from target clients and markets.
   • Implements systems and tools.
     
     
     
     • Uses appropriate tools (e.g., pipeline reports, dashboards) and software (e.g., Salesforce, Sage, Asana) to standardize processes and streamline workflow to improve consistency.
     • Work with the Principal Director of Advancement and internal teams to establish a Development Library, including a Metrics Library.
     • Supervises the Development Operations Manager on customizing Salesforce functionality to include:
       
       
       
       • Qualifications Library
       • Development Library
       • Metrics Library
       • Pipeline tracking
       • New business revenue tracking
       
       
       
       
     • Fluent in leveraging Artificial Intelligence to refine communications and content.
     
     
     
     
   
   
   
   
3. Quality and Compliance Assurance
   
   
   
   • Ensures proposal excellence.
     
     
     
     • Crafts persuasive, data-driven narratives that clearly articulate need, impact, and alignment with funder priorities.
     • Understands and participates in budget-building process, including components such as direct and indirect costs, fringe benefits, cost-share, and the drafting of a budget narrative that aligns budget items with proposal objectives. Familiarity with labor rates is also important.
     
     
     
     
   • Maintains compliance.
     
     
     
     • Ensures all submissions meet funder guidelines and organizational policies, reducing risk of disqualification.
     • Works closely with the legal team to ensure regulatory compliance in proposal submissions.
     
     
     
     
   • Tracks performance.
     
     
     
     • Monitors success rates and uses data to refine strategies and improve future submissions and win rates.
     • Coordinates with the CFO on establishing process to track progress on meeting FY new revenue goals.
     
     
     
     
   
   
   
   
4. Capacity Building
   
   
   
   • Mentors Proposal Team and other staff.
     
     
     
     • Trains and supports team members and staff in proposal writing and grants management.
     • Supervisory responsibilities include setting goals for performance and deadlines in ways that comply with company's plans and vision, organizing workflow, ensuring that employees understand their duties or delegated tasks, monitoring employee productivity and providing constructive feedback and coaching, actively participating in recruiting, hiring, performance remediation, training, and issue resolution.
     
     
     
     
   • Improves organizational readiness.
     
     
     
     • Helps build internal capacity to respond quickly and effectively to funding opportunities.
     
     
     
     
   
   
   
   
5. Actively participate as a member of assigned workgroups.
6. These responsibilities are not all-inclusive and other duties may be assigned from time to time.

• Required: Bachelor's degree in a relevant field, such as English, Communications, Journalism, Public Administration, Nonprofit Management, Urban Planning, Urban Sustainability
• Master's or Doctorate degree in a related field, preferred.
• In lieu of education, 7 to 10+ years of experience in:
  
  
  
  • Grant writing and proposal development
  • Fundraising or development roles
  • Project or program management in a nonprofit or mission-driven setting
  • 3 to 5+ years in a leadership or supervisory role, managing teams or cross-functional projects
  
  
  
  

Competencies

• Ability to interpret strategic direction & formulate initiatives
• Demonstrated leadership, supervision, mentoring, & team building experience with the ability to build cross-functional teams
• Ability to exhibit analytical skills, track progress, interpret data, & prepare recommendations
• Ability to thrive and maintain focus in a quick-paced environment with many competing priorities
• Expertise in business & management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, leadership technique, problem solving, and coordination of people and resources
• Demonstrated experience in responding to government solicitations and navigating foundation opportunities
• Self-motivated and able to work independently; able to organize and prioritize
• Demonstrated experience in effective resource management of multiple processes and projects, including management of budgets and schedules to reach program or project goals
• Demonstrates skill in oral and written communication; public speaking skills & ability to be persuasive
• Skilled in conflict resolution and large group facilitation
• Deep knowledge of budgeting and forecasting
• Effective delegation and follow-up skills
• Skilled at quickly developing positive, communicative, and collaborative relationships with partners, sub-contractors, and Slipstream personnel at all levels of the organization

Mental Requirements

• Learning new tasks
• Remembering processes and deadlines
• Completing tasks in coordination with multiple teams and independently
• Making timely decisions
• Able to learn new concepts relevant to funding opportunities

Physical Requirements

• Primarily a sedentary role, with tasks typically performed while sitting or occasionally standing.
• Ability to operate a computer and standard office equipment.
• Tasks demand visual focus for reading and working on screens.
• This position frequently communicates via phone and video conferencing, with in-person interactions as applicable.

Work Environment

• Fully remote position with the ability to work from home or another suitable location with reliable internet access.
• Must have the ability to work independently while staying engaged with the team through virtual communication tools such as email, chat, and video conferencing.
• Requires a quiet and professional workspace for virtual meetings and collaboration.
• Hybrid work available if located in Madison, WI or Chicago, IL. If in-office, expect a moderate noise level.
• Typical schedule of 9-5 in Central Time zone [or any U.S. time zone].
• Flex hours may be available depending on role and team requirements.
• Travel up to 25% required for in-person meetings, conferences, client visits, etc.

Slipstream is an equal-opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all individuals feel valued, respected, and supported. We center community in everything we do and strongly encourage people of all backgrounds to apply and join us in our mission. We welcome applicants regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or any other protected status or characteristic under federal, state, or local laws.

Please note that Slipstream will only contact candidates via the Paycom portal. We will never ask a candidate for payment of any kind as part of the hiring or onboarding process or send payment to any candidate prior to completing the hiring and onboarding process.