Proposal Specialist - Bilingual (EN/FR)

Some of what you will do:

Reporting to the proposal team manager, the proposal specialist owns the proposal process from the kick-off meeting through to submission. They serve as the project manager for complex, verbiage and compliance driven RFx opportunities for both prospective and existing customers of all sizes. The proposal specialist plays an integral role in driving revenue and increasing profitability through conversion, retention, and penetration

Specifically, You Will:

• Provides operational leadership for proposal development, charting project plans and bid schedules, spearheading kickoff calls, delegating tasks, communicating critical deadlines, conducting executive reviews, and holding stakeholders accountable throughout.
• Identifies legal and operational risks, provides risk mitigation strategies (Ex. reservation of rights language) and recommendations to stakeholders, engaging the risk management and legal teams as needed.
• Strategizes with the sales team to identify win themes, customer pain points, and key value drivers to create a unified bid strategy for revenue generation.
• Collaborates across all organizational functions and levels, building alignment between the proposal, pricing, sales, merchandising, transportation, operations, legal, risk management, and credit teams.
• Gathers, analyzes and organizes data from other departments, discerning key information and integrating it into the response.
• Drafts and creates proposals that capture Staples Professional’s value proposition and align our offering with customer needs. Edits and revises drafts based on customer addenda and stakeholder feedback.
• Creates national customer-facing content that captures Staples Professional market differentiation. 
• Maintains the content library.
• Leads post-submission exercises such as presentations, clarifications, “best and final offers”, protests and debriefs. Compiles data and customer feedback to enhance future responses.
• Work wells in situations with many unknowns and knows how to solve challenges and guide others through ambiguity.

Some of what you need:

• A university degree with emphasis on communications, business, marketing, and/or journalism.
• Proposal Management Professional (APMP) is considered an asset.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) is considered an asset.
• Project management skills with demonstrated ability to keep projects on track through proactive communication, prioritization, problem solving, time/task management, ability to manage multiple projects, and organization.
• Advanced computer skills: Must have advanced skills in the entire MS Office Suite including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and Outlook, and an ability to learn new software quickly.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, to clearly explain concepts in professional documents using easy-to-understand English.
• Proposal process knowledge with an understanding of what to look for in an RFx, kickoff calls, content management, and on-time delivery of projects.
• Excellent and in-depth understanding of Staples’ product and service offering, translating this into a selling strategy unique to each customer’s RFP requirements.
• Ability to handle multiple priorities and effectively manage multiple projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills with an ability to foster positive working relationships across all business areas.
• Bilingual in English and French.
• Ability to work independently under pressure, especially under tight client deadlines with minimal supervision.
• Strong analytical skills and business acumen.
• 2-4 years’ experience in a proposal/bid writing, marketing, technical writing, copy writing, editing, or communications job role. 

Physical demands/working conditions:

Office environment – Hybrid, with 4 days onsite in Richmond Hill, subject to the hybrid policy.

Some of what you will get:  

• Associate discount
• Health and Dental benefits
• RRSP/DPSP
• Performance bonuses
• Learning & Development programs
• And more...

 

We value transparency in our hiring processes. Please note, artificial intelligence may be used in certain stages to screen, assess, or select applicants, however, a human reviewer makes all final decisions. This posting is for an existing vacancy.