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Job Summary
The Senior Proposal Consultant brings federal acquisition fluency, proposal writing craft, proposal graphic design experience, and applied AI expertise to support our subject matter experts (SMEs) in developing winning healthcare proposals.
This is not a health SME position. A Senior Proposal Consultant who knows federal proposals well and can engage productively with health SMEs will succeed here without a public health degree.
Primary Responsibilities
The Senior Proposal Consultant interprets Section L instructions and Section M evaluation criteria for each pursuit. They advise the Solution Lead on the FAR and contract vehicle requirements (VHA IHT 2.0, NIH, broader HHS). When the team meets to devise the proposal strategy, the Senior Proposal Consultant contributes win themes, discriminators, and methods to connect the Solution Lead’s overall approach to the evaluation criteria clearly.
Proposal Development
As an AI tool specialist and innovator, the Proposal Consultant leads technical research gathering and drafts the bulk of the technical volume, working to support and implement the Solution Lead’s vision. The Consultant is not simply a technical writer; this role requires active thought partnership with the Solution Lead to develop innovative health solutions that satisfy all solicitation requirements and maximize value to the Government customer. Emphasis on Aptive ’s differentiators, evaluator-aligned framing, compelling graphics, and compliance review are among the Consultant’s key contributions. Graphics are developed collaboratively: the Senior Proposal Consultant converts the Solution Lead’s sketches and concepts (logic models, service delivery models, care pathways, journey maps, governance structures, evaluation frameworks) into production-ready proposal visuals, working closely with our graphic designers. The Consultant also coordinates with the pricing team to produce the bid’s staffing level of effort.
The Proposal Consultant applies AI context engineering expertise to perform virtually all tasks: assembling the right reference materials, customer knowledge, competitive intelligence, past performance examples, win themes, settled solution detail, and evaluation criteria so our LLMs produce color review-ready narrative.
AI tooling and best practices evolve quickly; the Senior Proposal Consultant keeps current.
Minimum Qualifications
Seven years of demonstrated experience supporting federal proposals in a dedicated capture, proposal, or solutioning role, with leadership or principal-author contributions on 25+ proposals.
Working knowledge of the federal acquisition lifecycle, FAR Section L and M analysis, and Shipley (or equivalent) capture and proposal frameworks.
Demonstrated ability to interpret evaluation criteria, develop win themes, manage compliance matrices, address color team review feedback, create staffing plans, and lead production through submission.
Expertise applying LLMs and other AI tools to proposal work: research, drafting, editing, compliance checking, graphics ideation. Comfort building prompt libraries, evaluating tool outputs critically, avoiding recognizable patterns in AI-generated draft text, and refining outputs by hand.
Practical command of context engineering for proposal writing: assembling reference materials, win themes, settled solution detail, and evaluation criteria into prompts so an LLM produces accurate, properly voiced content. Demonstrated capacity to draft full technical volumes when the Solution Lead has determined the solution.
Familiarity with federal health programs sufficient to converse credibly with health SMEs across all Aptive pursuit categories, ask the right clarifying questions, and represent the solution accurately in writing. (A public health degree is not required.)
Extremely strong writing, editing, and visual thinking. The ability to convert complex concepts into clean narrative and clear graphics under deadline pressure.
Capacity to support three to five concurrent pursuits at different stages of the lifecycle.
Desired Qualifications
APMP certification (Foundation, Practitioner, or Professional).
Experience supporting VA proposals, particularly under VHA IHT 2.0 or predecessor task order vehicles.
Experience supporting NIH or other HHS proposals.
Background as a Shipley-trained technical writer, capture manager, or proposal manager.
Experience at a federal contractor, federal capture organization, or dedicated proposal-services firm such as Lohfeld, OST Global Solutions, or BPL.
Familiarity with proposal platforms (Loopio, GovDash, Responsive/RFPIO, Qvidian) and current AI tooling (Claude, ChatGPT, Notebook LM, custom RAG over proposal libraries).
Proposal graphic design experience in PowerPoint, Adobe Creative Suite, or Figma.
About Aptive
About Aptive . Aptive partners with federal agencies to achieve their missions through improved performance, streamlined operations and enhanced service delivery. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, we support more than a dozen agencies including Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Defense, Homeland Security and the National Science Foundation. We specialize in applying technology, creativity and human-centered services to optimize mission delivery and improve experiences for millions of people who count on government services every day. Founded: 2012. Employees: 300+ nationwide.
EEO Statement
Aptive is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, parental status, veteran status, age, disability, or any other protected class. Veterans, members of the Reserve and National Guard, and transitioning active-duty service members are highly encouraged to apply. About Aptive : Aptive partners with federal agencies to achieve their missions through improved performance, streamlined operations and enhanced service delivery. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, we support more than a dozen agencies including Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Defense, Homeland Security and the National Science Foundation. We specialize in applying technology, creativity and human-centered services to optimize mission delivery and improve experiences for millions of people who count on government services every day. Founded: 2012. Employees: 300+ nationwide.