Proposal Specialist

Are you someone with strong leadership and administrative skills? Do you enjoy building relationships and working collaboratively in a team environment with both internal and external stakeholders? Are you a trusted partner and a problem solver? As someone with excellent communication skills and business acumen, you will thrive in our fast-paced and agile environment.

Your Opportunity

Dillon Consulting is seeking motivated candidates to fill two existing positions for a Proposal Specialist to join our Business Development and Sales (BDAS) group. The addition of a new Proposal Specialist is part of an exciting new approach to managing our proposal sales operations in Dillon! This key role within the BDAS Team requires a detail-oriented professional who collaborates effectively, in a fast-paced environment that is highly deadline oriented. The ideal candidate is a high energy, team player passionate about creating proposals that are more effective, efficient, and engaging.

We offer flexible work hours and hybrid work arrangement options to help balance the competing demands of work and personal life. At Dillon, we operate as one team. This position is available at any of Dillon’s offices in Canada.

Proposal Specialists report directly to the Proposal Support Manager and works closely with the Manager of Pursuits, Submission Managers, Marketing Specialists, Graphic department, and other executives/associates, on assigned pursuits. They are responsible for the direct, hands-on production of proposals and presentation materials and the development, growth, execution, and representation of the Dillon brand. The role is specialized for individuals with a high attention to detail, outstanding writing and editing abilities, outstanding time management skills, expert knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite, and a passion for learning new tools that support efficient, high-quality, human-led proposal development.

If you are driven by reliability, achievement, continuous development and creativity then our values align and we highly encourage you to apply for this exciting role.

What your day will look like

Proposal Development & Execution

• Prepare professionally written responses to proposal documents that address client requirements and are compliant, accurate, concise, and effective; ensuring professional and easy-to-understand final products through writing, copy editing, formatting, and selection of supporting materials.
• Responsible for the end-to-end management of the proposal development and submission process, including guiding technical content authors and submission managers to strengthen proposal strategy, enhance response quality, and improve win rate.
• Use proposal development software with integrated AI capabilities to support content development, content retrieval, and workflow efficiency within a human-led, strategy-driven proposal process.
• Lead and collaborate with Business Unit Managers and various cross-functional teams.
• Collaborate with the Business Development & Sales and Marketing departments to develop clear, persuasive, and accurate proposal content and corporate messaging that is client-focused, technically correct, on brand, and aligned with pursuit strategy.
• Collaborate with the Graphics department to develop innovative design templates to take our proposals to the next level and wow our clients.
• Coordinate and conduct kick-off and other meetings/calls; ensuring that all key cross-functional areas are represented; and develop detailed action plans and timelines/schedules based on submission requirements and deadlines.
• Leverage project management skills to define and manage the proposal response process, section assignments, review stages, and schedule to ensure deadlines are met and final deliverables are strategically aligned, compliant, and of the highest quality.
• Leverage AI-enabled proposal management tools to streamline content discovery and initial drafting, ensuring more time is dedicated to high-level strategy, value proposition refinement, and personalized client messaging.
• Coordinate proposal production with internal/external resources, including editing, formatting, printing, distribution, and delivery of final materials to the client.
• Oversee a proposal coordinator that is supporting the same Business Unit, checking on any workload capacity constraints, assisting with their ongoing development, and providing any required guidance.
• Support business and proposal development process improvements.

Learning & Development

• Commit to self-development and ongoing learning and professional development.

What you will need to succeed

• Minimum five years’ experience with preparing proposals and tender submissions.
• Post-secondary education in an administration, marketing, business, or communications field.
• Experience using proposal development technology, including AI-enabled tools, to support efficient, high-quality, human-led proposal content development will be considered an asset.

• Advanced skills in Microsoft Word and experience with large and complex document formatting.
• Proficient with Microsoft Excel.
• Strong business writing, editing, and communication skills.
• An aptitude for formatting, editing, layout and making written content sound like “one voice.”
• Excellent attention to detail and a high regard for accuracy and quality.
• Understanding of basic financial terms and functions, along with experience working with budgets and schedules (e.g., Gantt charts).
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, and time management skills with the ability to work successfully in a fast paced environment with changing workload demands.
• Experience in a professional services consulting firm (environmental/engineering/planning) is considered an asset.
• Experience using proposal development or proposal management platforms to support content development, collaboration, and submission workflows is considered an asset.
• Experience with AI platforms considered an asset.
• Experience with Adobe Creative Suite (In-Design, Illustrator, and Photoshop), Microsoft Project and PowerPoint considered an asset.
• APMP Certification considered an asset.

Why choose Dillon

Dillon is powered by people who are technically proficient, passionate about socially important projects, and motivated to deliver superior, tangible results. We strive to remain at the forefront of technology and innovation, and are empowered to continually grow and develop. 

We live our core values:

• Achievement: do the work to hit the target;
• Continuous Development: always learning; always adapting; always growing;
• Creativity: discover new possibilities;
• Courage: do the things that matter, especially when it’s hard;
• Inclusiveness: enabling belonging to draw strength from our differences;
• Reliability: words result in actions that build trust.

In addition, we offer:

• Employee share purchase plan

• Dillon is 100% employee owned and share ownership is open to all employees.

• A competitive compensation package

• Comprehensive health benefits
• Generous retirement savings plan
• Student loan repayment assistance with matching employer contributions

• Flexible work hours and hybrid working options

• Dillon values its staff and the contributions that are made each day and understands that work arrangements can differ based on personal needs and business needs.  We are taking a trust-based approach to offer a variety of flexible and hybrid work options to help balance the competing demands of work and personal life. 

• Learning and Development opportunities

• As a knowledge-based business, we use a composite approach to development including coaching to build the how, mentoring to share lessons, advising to round out perspectives, and co-creation of knowledge through internal learning opportunities.

• Focus on Innovation

• The ability to anticipate, examine, and adopt new and innovative solutions is a crucial driver for the continual and progressive advancement of our business performance. In our culture, people are empowered to reflect and question current practices and seek forward looking solutions to today’s problems and tomorrow’s opportunities.

• Employee and Family Assistance program

• A variety of EFAP tools and online resources to support well-being are available to all employees.

• Goodlife Fitness Corporate Membership

• Our employees can take advantage of reduced annual membership fees.
• Wellness Subsidy
• Our employees can take advantage of a wellness subsidy that can be put towards expenses for a variety of health and/or wellness related activities such as gym membership, purchase of home fitness equipment, yoga classes  and dance classes.

About Dillon

Dillon is a proudly Canadian, employee-owned, professional consulting firm specializing in planning, engineering, environmental science, and management. We partner with clients to provide committed, collaborative, and inventive solutions to complex, multi-faceted projects. With over 25 offices and more than 1100 employees across Canada, Dillon offers a wide range of services related to building and improving facilities and infrastructure, protecting the environment, and developing communities.

Now operating for over 75 years, we continue to strive for excellence in everything we do. Dillon has been listed as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies for 19 years in a row and has the distinction of being a Platinum Club member in this program.

Health & Safety at Dillon

Prospective employees are expected to fully align with Dillon's core commitment to Health & Safety. This includes active, ongoing engagement with our Health & Safety processes and platform, and the active, ongoing identification and reporting of health and safety hazards.

Employment Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at Dillon

Dillon is committed to employment equity and an inclusive, diverse workplace where opportunities are based on skills and abilities. If you require accommodation during the interview process, please let us know. We look forward to hearing from you.

Technology enablement and the use of AI at Dillon

We invest in modern technologies to enable continuous improvement across the organization. Please be advised that Dillon Consulting utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) assisted tools to support parts of our recruitment process to increase efficiency and fairness. While AI supports this process, all hiring decisions are made by our human recruiting team. By applying, you acknowledge and consent to this use.