Alyssa’s Story

Starting Out

Alyssa recently moved into a new role at her remote company: proposal coordinator.  For the past 4 years, she’s been the entire back office for the firm and in addition to payroll, customer service and social media management, has written their procedures and policies from scratch.  Luckily, she was able to draw on earlier positions in Human Resources at larger companies.  Although excited for the chance to use her writing skills, she’s a little intimidated by the proposal lifecycle and entering an unfamiliar sector.

Her company provides interior design, remodeling and landscape maintenance services to property management companies in Northern Virginia and Maryland.  The COO and founder wants to move into municipal government contracting for their services, and knows Alyssa will be great at winning awards for the firm.  Alyssa began to look for information and came across our blog, then reached out for more information.   After a brief zoom meeting, Alyssa felt much more comfortable about her new role.

What’s a proposal coordinator?

Many large government contracting firms have personnel and/or departments that handle various aspects of the proposal lifecycle.

Does my firm need a proposal coordinator?

Depending on the size of the company and how much of its business comes from government funding streams, it might be a good idea to have a person who heads up the core functions of lead identification, breaking down the RFQ/RFP, compiling documents, writing narrative passages, and submitting responses to secure government awards.

What’s a capability statement?

In its simplest form, a capability statement is a promotional or marketing statement about your business and its capabilities and skills that advertises who you are and what you do. They must be tailored to your audience: the government buyer or another firm with whom you wish to partner , or a (larger) prime contractor.  Think of it as a large business card that includes government-specific information such as your NAICS codes, CAGE code, DUNS number.

What are other terms for “proposal” in this context?

You will hear the terms RFP (or RFQ, solicitation, and others) to refer to the government’s request for a contractor to compete for work (awards, contracts).  Some other terms used for your response to that solicitation are: bid, offer, and response.  This is not an exhaustive list!

What are municipal government contracts?

Municipal contracts are government purchases at the local level.  Cities, towns, and counties purchase goods and services too.

What are the qualities needed to be successful in the contracting profession?

The contracting profession requires strong analytical and problem solving skills, good communications (both written and oral), ability to work in a team atmosphere, and flexibility. Much of the unique knowledge will be learned with formal and informal training and continuous learning is part of the job.