Business Development & Capture Director

ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Strategic Capture Director leads Sparksoft’s Health and Human Services (HHS) portfolio of work (Centers for Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, and/or Health Resources and Services Administration). Contracting growth goals by leading sales activities and the full lifecycle of business development and capture. Responsible for researching, tracking, and qualifying new opportunities to building relationships with current/prospect clients and strategic partners, and overseeing all bid activities to ensure quality, compliant and compelling proposals are submitted on time.  The ideal candidate is a proven leader with established client relationships and intimate knowledge of HHS proper in one or more of the following Operating Divisions (OpDivs), preferably CDC, FDA, NIH and/or HRSA.

• Provide sales and marketing support to meet growth targets for the HHS account throughout the agency.
• Maintain a qualified pipeline that consistently generates new revenue. Provide real-time updates in Sparksoft’s CRM system and during pipeline review meetings for intel sharing across BD team.
• Practice mature BDLC via CRM and disciplined gate reviews for data-driven decisions on IDIQ, BPA, TORP, RFP, RFI, SSN, etc., responses.
• Manage and execute capture activities, along with the technical solution and proposal content development.
• Enhance corporate brand through marketing to position the organization favorably with prospective staff, partners, and customers.
• Foster trust and rapport with customers and partners by understanding driving factors and pressures. Establish strategic relationships with key industry partners and client decision-makers.
• Identify opportunities for growth and contribute to meeting/exceeding all corporate targets and recompetes.
• Conduct market research and client development activities to gather intelligence, promote Sparksoft’s capabilities, and facilitate opportunity identification and bidding process.
• Drive unsolicited sales opportunities through specific solution presentations and building relationships with government stakeholders.
• Monitor Sparksoft’s contract vehicles and procurement sites to identify and create a robust pipeline of existing and future contracting opportunities.
• Evaluate and qualify solicitations and lead opportunity briefs to facilitate bid/no bid gate reviews.
• Participate in creating a winning capture strategy for each opportunity including informing price-to-win strategies, researching the competition, selecting teaming partners and subcontractors, identifying, and proposing key personnel, developing a staffing model, etc.
• Lead proposal kickoff meetings and facilitate flow of competitive intelligence with all partners.
• Collaborate with other SMEs to solicit capture information and develop win themes and differentiators that clearly articulate a winning strategy, compelling solutions, and a convincing executive summary.
• Manage all staff involved in the proposal development process. Provide detailed guidance to bid teams, subcontractors, and other proposal contributors to obtain quality writing assignments and pricing on time. Identify and track proposal risks and coordinate escalation and resolution.
• Leads proposal color team reviews, editing, illustration, and final proposal production efforts to ensure compliance, clear and concise writing, and consistent “one-voice” style for a polished finish.
• Participate in industry days, conferences, and other trade shows to cultivate HHS contacts and strategic partner relationships.
• Contribute to the development and continuous improvement or business development and proposal management processes, tools, templates, and library.
• Ensure all key performance metrics, including qualified opportunities, submission rate, win rate, revenue generated, customer satisfaction is monitored and maintained on a regular basis.
• Conduct after-action reviews with all business opportunity capture participants to document lessons learned and identify necessary adjustments to capture technique, strategy, and actions.
• Execute and manage purchase requisitions of tools, training, and other consulting resources to support BD activities.
• Assist recruiting/HR with identifying strategic hires, interviewing, and training new resources.
• Adhere to all corporate policies and processes, including timelines and milestones.
• Utilize highly persuasive communication skills for online facilitation, public speaking, and presentations.
• Earn trust and respect from management, peers, and partners through consistently transparent and honest communication.
• Grow HHS, BD and capture expertise by attending industry events, seminars and conferences.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE: 

• 5+ years hand-on experience in government contracting, business development, and capture.
• 3+ years’ experience solutioning and writing proposals for HHS bids.
• 3+ years technical experience with proven development of Health IT solutions.
• 3+ years program management experience and weekly client interaction at HHS.
• Advanced knowledge of HHS data, policies, applications, programs, stakeholders, operations, contractors, competitive landscape, challenges, vision, buying preferences, etc.
• Familiarity with Federal Enterprise Architecture, HHS Technical Architecture and Authorization to Operate standards, models, tools, and processes.
• Experience with Shipley BDLC best-practices and industry-standard pipeline management CRM tools.
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills with proven abilities to develop high-quality, winning proposals.
• Proven ability to analyze target opportunities against organizational capabilities to continuously refine and qualify the pipeline.
• Must have strong partner value proposition valuation and negotiating skills.
• Superior Project Management skills to manage multiple, concurrent projects, shifting priorities, tight deadlines, and coordinating multiple parties to achieve a common objective, while managing risks.
• Patience and people skills with ability to work in a time-sensitive environment to achieve effective progress, anticipate problems, and meet all deadlines.
• Demonstrated working knowledge of U.S. Government contracting processes, including FAR.
• Understanding of contract types such as FFP, T&M, CPFF, etc, as well as GSA Schedules and GWACs, IDIQs, BPAs, etc.
• Experience with executing contracts such as NDA, Teaming Agreements, CTA, JV/MPP, MSA, 1099 consulting agreements, subcontracting agreements, etc, with meticulous attention to details in terms and conditions, and risk assessment.
• Proven track record in managing and motivating cross-functional proposal teams using proven processes, including strategic planning, market analysis, competitive intel, teaming, Pwin and PTW analysis, and proposal development lifecycle.
• Understanding of Federal market, trends, competitive pressures, and regulatory constraints.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, be a team player, and be well organized and efficient with excellent judgment, problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Exceptional marketing and presentation skills to articulate solutions and garner buy-in from various internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to work effectively across multiple disciplines with a strong, open, and collaborative leadership style.
• Confident, self-starter, proactive – skilled in taking initiative, assessing requirements, coming up with plans, and taking the lead in making plans reality.
• A high level of energy with a results-driven attitude in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrates a high degree of adaptability, comfortable in establishing new directions, managing rapid change, and trying different approaches to deal with uncharted territories.
• Possesses excellent interpersonal skills to build and maintain positive, productive relationships with peers, colleagues, managers, consultants, and clients.
• Comfortable and experienced operating in an outcome-oriented environment.
• Experience working in a small business and wearing multiple hats.
• Candidates must be able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance.
• Candidates must have lived in the United States 3 out of the past 5 years.

EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in technical writing, business administration, engineering, computer science, IT, or equivalent.
• Master’s degree in Business Administration or Management is preferred.
• Certification as a PMP, Agile, or SAFe, or a relevant technical certification is desired.