Business Development Manager

At Areté, we are on the forefront of utilizing innovative solutions, with great minds from all backgrounds, to help solve the nation's most complex security challenges. We strive for an inclusive, collaborative team environment that approaches differences as opportunities for innovation and excellence. As an employee-owned company, we foster an atmosphere that propels diverse career opportunities and professional growth.

Discover your future with us.

The Business Development Manager is a mid-level business development professional responsible for supporting execution of business development outreach and leading day-to-day coordination of the Corporate Proposal Support Team. This role partners closely with the Business Development Director to execute capture strategies, support proposal development, and improve proposal processes across the enterprise. The position emphasizes execution, coordination, and proposal leadership, rather than ownership of full capture accountability or revenue targets.

Primary Responsibilities:
Business Development & Capture Support

• Support the Business Development Director in executing business development outreach activities, including customer engagement preparation, opportunity research, and pipeline tracking.
• Assist with capture planning activities such as competitive analysis, teaming research, win themes, and pursuit schedules.
• Participate in customer meetings, industry events, and internal strategy sessions as assigned.
• Maintain opportunity documentation, schedules, and coordination materials to support timely decision-making.
• Occasional travel for customer meetings, proposal activities, or industry events.

Corporate Proposal Support Leadership

• Lead the Corporate Proposal Support Team, coordinating proposal schedules, assignments, and deliverables across multiple pursuits.
• Manage proposal development activities including compliance tracking, content coordination, color team reviews, and final production.
• Partner with capture managers, pricing, contracts, technical SMEs, and program leadership to ensure proposal inputs are complete, compliant, and aligned with strategy.
• Support development and maintenance of proposal templates, tools, and standard processes.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Coordinate with corporate functions including finance, contracts, legal, engineering, IT, cybersecurity, and marketing to support proposal and capture efforts.
• Serve as a central point of coordination between sector teams and corporate proposal resources.
• Track proposal lessons learned and contribute to continuous improvement initiatives.

Additional Responsibilities

• Prepare briefings, reports, and presentations for leadership review.
• Support limited proposal cost coordination activities (e.g., data collection, BOE inputs) under direction.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

This position can be based in our Northridge, CA or Falls Church, VA offices and is classified as an exempt, non-supervisory, full-time role.

We have an impressive range of benefits, programs, and perks that we offer:

Health & Wellness:

• Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance
• Life and Long-Term Disability (LTD)
• Vision Reimbursement
• Fitness Reimbursement

Financial:

• Company-funded 5% contribution to your 401(k) retirement plan
• Company-funded 5% contribution to your Employee Stock Ownership Plan
• Continuing Education Assistance

Work-Life Balance:

• Flexible Scheduling
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Paid Parental and Bereavement Leave

Qualities We Look For:

• Creativity and innovation in solving challenges
• Integrity and responsibility in all actions
• Collaboration across teams and specialties
• Responsiveness in fast-paced environments
• Passion for national security and excellence

Experiences and Background We Look For (Required Skills):

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Management, Marketing, Engineering, or related field.
• 7 years of experience in business development, proposal management, capture support, or program support within a government contracting environment.
• Demonstrated experience supporting federal proposals and capture efforts.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional teams without formal supervisory authority.
• Strong understanding of the federal business development and proposal lifecycle.
• Excellent written, organizational, and communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Working knowledge of proposal compliance, reviews, and production processes.
• Proficiency with CRM and proposal tools (e.g., Deltek, GovWin, SharePoint, Teams).
• Comfortable with, or prepared to, incorporate Artificial Intelligence tools into business and proposal processes.

Nice to Have (Preferred Skills):

• APMP Foundation or Practitioner certification.
• Experience supporting DoD, Civilian, or Intelligence Community proposals.
• Prior exposure to capture planning activities (win themes, solution shaping, competitive analysis).

The salary range for this role is $125,000/yr to $165,000/yr however, Arete considers several factors when extending an offer of employment, including but not limited to: the position and associated responsibilities, a candidate's work experience, education/training, and key skills.

Other Considerations

Areté is committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination, and we believe every person has the right to be treated with fairness, dignity, and equal consideration.

Areté is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

U.S. citizenship is required to meet position eligibility.

Successful passage of a criminal background screen is required to meet position eligibility.

Selected applicants will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.

Areté will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring.

Successful passage of a Department of Transportation (DOT) drug test is required to meet position eligibility.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you have the right to request an accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our website because of your disability. To request an accommodation, please contact Areté Human Resources at 818-885-2200 for assistance.