Proposal Writer / Manager (for a Digital / Creative / Marketing Agency

Taoti Creative is looking a Proposal Writer / Manager to join our agency's business development team!

(Sorry in advance for the long read. But this is your career we’re talking about here! It’s worth the extra detail, right? The right fit is critical for both of our sakes, so please forgive us in advance for the verbosity.)

Now, about the job…

It’s one thing to have the brilliant ideas and technical knowledge to put together a solution for a client. But it’s another thing to be able to write it down and articulate it in a clear, concise, and compelling way. Taoti is looking for a Proposal Manager who can write interesting proposals and manage the submission process. At Taoti, our business development approach is extremely collaborative, so it’s not like we throw an RFP at you, lock you in a dark room, and say, “here, write a response to this.” As our opportunities come in or our team finds them, we evaluate, qualify, and strategize about how to win it. As a team (of which you will be part), we decide which opportunities to pursue and what our big ideas are. That’s where you step up. You borrow bits from old proposals and relevant core language, take ideas from our team, add in your own two cents, and set out to write the world’s best proposal that wins over our soon-to-be client in a manner that aligns with sometimes strict submission requirements.

Please note: This job is for a full-time, W2, in-office position; however, we do employ a hybrid work environment in which you may work remotely about two days per week.

What we're looking for

You write unbelievably well and can authentically and appropriately convey our agency tone and voice. We pursue as many government (federal, state and local) opportunities in response to publicly posted RFPs as we respond to inbound leads where the requirements are gathered via email and conversations with potential clients.

You know how to write compelling copy that stands out, gets attention and portrays Taoti as uniquely qualified to support the needs of potential clients on a specific project as well as their larger strategic goals.

You have 2-4 years of proposal writing experience.

You WANT to write proposals.

While you may not be an artist, you know how to make a fine looking document (or ask for help when you need some design input).

You’re curious about how we’ve handled specific requirements in the past and instinctively dig into our previous deliverables to highlight our team’s collective expertise when it helps reinforce why we’re an ideal partner.

You take ownership of our core content library to ensure that contributions in new proposals elevate the quality of how we describe our past performance and our approach.

You’re collaborative. You’re not afraid to ask teammates questions early in the proposal process about how to tackle a client need.

You care as much about understanding subtle differences in our approach, technology and deliverables as you do about ensuring proposals are submitted on time. In other words, you come away from each proposal feeling like you understand exactly how the work will be done.

You take pride in identifying and addressing project risks. This includes creating questions that can help clarify client expectations and writing assumptions that help ensure our price-to-win strategy does not put us at risk of committing to more than the budget can support.

Some typical responsibilities

Work with the Business Development team to identify and determine opportunities to pursue, including frequent monitoring of multiple RFP sources.

Read RFPs and RFIs to help evaluate if Taoti is the right fit for that client.

This includes identifying how and why Taoti is an excellent fit, and flagging the “uh ohs” where meeting client expectations might present a challenge.

Ideate on win themes and strategies on pursued opportunities.

Seeking targeted feedback on proposal outlines draft proposals from other team members on technical or creative approaches. In other words, give your busy colleagues things to react to instead of asking them to fill out a blank document.

Budget, concept, and write a winning proposal that matches the client’s needs. This usually requires multiple back and forths between the budget, the prose, deliverables and assumptions.

Socialize the proposal with others, including SME and other senior leaders.

Manage the process of reviewing the proposal and submitting it.

Making sure the case studies included reflect the most relevant aspects of our work as they relate to the proposal requirements.

Grab our CRM system (Currently ZohoCRM, possibly a new on in the next year) by the reins and ensure all relevant data is added and up-to-date, including deadlines and “how did they find us?” information.

Taking a beat after each proposal submission (whether you led it or not) to identify and catalogue the content that needs to live in our core language library.

Tips for getting onto the short list…

As a full-service agency, we do more than our fair share of web development. So, experience with Drupal and/or WordPress is a HUGE plus. So is experience with branding, marketing, video, SEO, analytics, CRM systems and paid media. If you’ve got it, tell us about it!

Show—don’t tell—us how great you are.

If you wrote and/or managed large-scale proposals for large, complex projects with multiple service offerings, partners or multi-year commitments, please share an example if possible, or describe your contributions.

We can tell a lot by the documents someone creates. Doesn’t matter what it is, but we’d love to see some documents you’ve put together.

Talk to us about your favorite tools.

Give us some insight into your general Project Management philosophies.

Tell us why you want to work at Taoti, specifically. And what was wrong with your last gig that makes you want to leave?

Show us your passion and energy. We like passion and energy.

As a member of the business development team, we seek competitive colleagues who want to help us win deals that are set up for our colleagues to succeed.

So what on earth is a Taoti?

Established in 1996, Taoti Creative is a boutique, full-service creative agency located on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. We are privately owned and have no corporate overlords (nothing personal, WPP.) We have the in-house ability to concept and deliver holistic branding, marketing and integrated digital solutions for our clients. This includes brand guides, logos, marketing strategies and execution, web development, social media management, branding, experiential marketing, video, AR/VR, etc. Our mission is to ‘move the needle’ for our clients. We leverage technology, creativity, and innovation to generate meaningful and measurable results for our clients—that’s what drives us. Speaking of clients, they’re about 50% government, 30% non-profit, and 20% commercial. Some of our customers include DC.gov, U.S. Figure Skating, Events DC, Howard County, MD, science and health-related non-profits, World Bank, USAID, the Environmental Defense Fund, the NFLPA, Jane Goodall Foundation, a slew of water utilities, commercial clients and dozens of ‘National Association of,’ etc.

Our full-time team of about 60 employees is about 65% in-house and 35% remote. We hail from over 12 countries. There’s of course plenty of additional information on our website. If you’ve not done so already, be sure to check out our Instagram, LinkedIn, and culture video: Or if you’re feeling virtual, here’s a snapshot of some of our current team in our office, located in the former rehearsal space for the Shakespeare Theater (Warning: not suitable for printers.)

What’s the corporate culture like?

“Fun but focused,” as one Taotian put it, is a great way to sum up our culture. We’re a fun and casual shop. The kind of place where you can wear whatever and bring in your dog (one at a time).. We take the work seriously and believe deeply in the mission to make meaningful and measurable impacts for our clients. The perks and the office vibe is fun, but to really fit in here, you need to be about the work.

We also believe in total transparency and open communication across teams and across ranks. We want everyone to have and share their own voice. About once per month, the CEO holds ‘CafeClutch’ just so he can hear ideas and feedback directly from the team instead of through the filter of management.

What about benefits?

What about benefits?

5+ weeks PTO for starters (includes 11 federal holidays)

100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance. (50% for qualifying dependents.) And we have good insurance.

Paid family leave for men and women (including PTO plus short and long term disability options.)

3% retirement plan matching (plus access to a financial advisor).

Home buyer help (including a $1200 closing credit)

Mobile phone reimbursement

You can opt for a company-supplied PC or Mac laptop. Or if you want to use your own, we’ll reimburse you for it.

Charitable contribution matching

Tax-free metro benefits

A sincere respect for work/life balance

Money and time off allocated for professional development (also increases with tenure)

A diverse team hailing from more than 12 countries

A very hip/cool/funky/quirky office space on Barracks Row, in the heart of Capitol Hill. Just 2 blocks from the metro!

Fun perks like a regular company boat outings (boat is walking distance from the office), chill work environment, etc.

No real dress code (within reason, as long as you can be an adult about getting dressed for work)

Of course, the above is a quick list. See the handbook for all the gory details.

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Next steps…

Pretty please, no recruiters.