Bid Manager Lead

Position Overview

The Bid Manager Lead oversees a team of Bid Managers responsible for the development and submission of all assigned proposals from initial request through final delivery to customers. You will lead and manage Cisco's bid management organization, ensuring adherence to standard processes and templates while driving continuous improvement across the team. This role involves strategic oversight of the RFP pipeline, resource allocation, team development, stakeholder reporting and collaboration with Account Managers and extended members of the Account Teams to optimize proposal outcomes. This position reports to the Senior Director of Customer Proposal Xceleration (CPX).

The ideal candidate must be a proven leader with strong strategic thinking, team management, and communication skills. Building and maintaining relationships across Cisco Sellers, Subject Matter Experts, Cisco Legal, managing stakeholder expectations, and developing high-performing teams is as critical as ensuring excellence in proposal delivery. The ideal candidate has extensive experience managing both proactive proposals (without an RFx) and RFx responses at scale.

This position is responsible for leading, developing, and scaling our Bid Management capabilities across all RFP/RFI responses and proactive proposals. The individual will ensure consistently professional work across the team and must demonstrate proven ability to build and lead diverse teams of bid professionals while fostering synergy with senior executives, sales professionals, and subject matter experts.

What You'll Do

Team Leadership & Development

Lead, mentor, and develop a team of Bid Managers, providing coaching, performance feedback, and career development guidance.Provide reporting and associated insights on proposal work for presentation to our stakeholders.Recruit, hire, and onboard new team members as the business scales.Actively work to improve the performance of the team through a combination of processes and tooling.Establish team goals, KPIs, and performance metrics aligned with business objectives.Foster a collaborative, high-performance culture within the bid management organization.

Team Management

Oversee proposal pipeline management and resource allocation across multiple concurrent opportunities.Be the point of escalation and primary decision maker for questions raised by the Bid Managers.Manage budget responsibilities for the Bid Management team, including resource planning and expense oversight.Develop and implement standardized processes, templates, and best practices for proposal development.Drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance efficiency, quality, and win rates.Collaborate with senior leadership to align proposal strategy with business priorities.

Stakeholder Management & Cross-Functional Leadership

Partner with Account Teams, Sales Leadership, Cisco Legal and SMEs to optimize responses and proposal outcomes.Serve as escalation point for complex customer requirements and high-stakes opportunities. Liaison with senior stakeholders across Cisco departments (Product Management, Services, Legal, Development) to ensure organizational alignment. Represent the bid management function in strategic planning and business reviews.

Process & Technology Oversight

Ensure productive use and continuous improvement of Cisco's RFP database (Responsive) and related tools.Drive adoption of proposal management technologies and methodologies.Oversee quality assurance processes and compliance with RFx requirements.Manage vendor relationships for Contingent Workers and tool evaluations as needed.

Who You Are

Experience & Background

Minimum of 7+ years professional experience in proposal management, with at least 3+ years in a people management role.Proven track record of managing proposal teams in fast-paced technical environments.Demonstrated success scaling proposal operations and improving win rates.Experience managing complex, multi-million-dollar opportunities and enterprise-level RFx responses.

Leadership & Management Skills

Strong people leadership skills with experience developing and retaining high-performing teams.Demonstrate clear communication skills.Ability to manage matrix relationships and influence without direct authority.Experience with performance management, coaching, and talent development.Proven ability to drive change management and process improvement initiatives.

Technical & Operational Capabilities

Deep understanding of bid process management and proposal development methodologiesExperience with RFx and content management tools, ideally including Responsive or similar platformsStrong analytical skills with ability to interpret proposal metrics and drive data-driven decisionsExcellent program management skills with ability to oversee multiple concurrent initiatives

Communication & Collaboration

Exceptional verbal and written communication skills with ability to present to senior executivesStrong relationship-building skills across all organizational levelsAbility to translate business requirements into operational excellenceSuperior organizational skills with attention to detail and ability to manage competing priorities

 

Meet the Team

The CPX (Customer Proposal Xceleration) team is a relatively new group within Cisco’s Global Sales Strategy and Planning Organization. You will spend most of your time working with Bid Managers and our stakeholders. You will be part of a larger team whose focus is on accelerating the creation of and the submission of proposals whether through our team of expert Bid Managers or via the tooling that we have developed.

#WeAreCisco

#WeAreCisco where every individual brings their unique skills and perspectives together to pursue our purpose of powering an inclusive future for all.

 

Our passion is connection—we celebrate our employees’ diverse set of backgrounds and focus on unlocking potential. Cisconians often experience one company, many careers where learning and development are encouraged and supported at every stage. Our technology, tools, and culture pioneered hybrid work trends, allowing all to not only give their best, but be their best.

 

We understand our outstanding opportunity to bring communities together and at the heart of that is our people. One-third of Cisconians collaborate in our 30 employee resource organizations, called Inclusive Communities, to connect, foster belonging, learn to be informed allies, and make a difference. Dedicated paid time off to volunteer—80 hours each year—allows us to give back to causes we are passionate about, and nearly 86% do!

 

Our purpose, driven by our people, is what makes us the worldwide leader in technology that powers the internet. Helping our customers reimagine their applications, secure their enterprise, transform their infrastructure, and meet their sustainability goals is what we do best. We ensure that every step we take is a step towards a more inclusive future for all. Take your next step and be you, with us!