Senior Proposal Specialist

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we foster a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves: What is our impact on the world?

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Each and every role throughout our organization makes a difference in our ability to change the world for the better. Read further to learn how you could help make great things possible not only in your community, but around the world.

At HDR, our employee‑ownership model shapes everything we do, including how we support and care for our people. Our diverse service lines, including Water, Architecture, Building Engineering Services, Field Services, Power, Waste, Industrial, and Transportation reflect our commitment to shaping resilient, sustainable, and forward‑thinking communities around the world. Across these disciplines, our teams design and deliver solutions that safeguard public health, enhance quality of life, power innovation, and drive responsible growth. Whether advancing clean water, creating healing and learning environments, engineering next‑generation facilities, or building the infrastructure that moves people and energy, our work is rooted in technical excellence and a shared sense of purpose. Our employee‑owners collaborate across specialties, combining creativity, precision, and deep expertise to solve the most complex challenges facing our clients and communities.

Primary Responsibilities

In the role of Senior Proposal Specialist, we'll count on you to:

• Lead pursuit teams in creating and implementing effective win strategies (capture planning)
• Lead the coordination of the planning, development, and production of proposals and submittals in accordance with submission requirements
• In Coordination with pursuit team, attend meetings, document and distribute meeting minutes, establish proposal schedules, assignment matrices, compliance matrices, and proposal template
• Lead proposal kick-off meeting
• Coordinate the development of narrative, graphics, fees, and other necessary materials from both internal staff and sub-consultants as applicable.
• Communicate with proposal participants to track tasks against the schedule
• Monitor progress of the proposal process, with timely follow-up, to ensure internal proposal deadlines are being met
• Support the development and implementation of client plans, including long-term strategies to capture market share, as assigned
• Research project background and anticipated procurement timelines
• Outline, write, format, and edit proposal content to make it coherent and in a united voice
• Support efforts to monitor our submissions against proposal best practices and industry standards, while considering process improvement opportunities
• Lead end-to-end process and proposal development for complex proposals, including document layout and print production
• Support the development of benefit statements, project profiles and standard material (graphics, org charts, etc.) for use in proposals, qualification submittals, etc.
• Maintain proposal content library using enterprise systems while adhering to information lifecycle governance
• Facilitate debriefs to identify improvement opportunities and to measure overall competitiveness
• Recognize and celebrate pursuit successes and milestones
• Assist team in development and preparation of interview materials, including slide decks, leave-behinds, question and answer preparation, team rehearsals, and technology
• Lead proposal quality efforts, review proposals and presentations, and participate in reviews as needed
• Maintain a strong understanding of the market trends and drivers impacting our clients
• Partner with the marketing communications team to prepare company-wide qualifications and marketing collateral materials in compliance with company writing and branding standards and in alignment with our strategic plan.

Required Qualifications

• A minimum of 10 years relevant industry experience
• Demonstrated "self-starter" with a history of completing projects with limited oversight
• Deep knowledge of the A/E/C industry's standard approach to procurement of professional services
• Demonstrated ability to motivate and inspire others
• Maintain a professional or engineering registration or certificate or have related technical experience
• Experience in sales and developing effective win strategies
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Ability and desire to travel and engage with others in-person
• Demonstrated experience in writing compelling content based on information from technical staff

What We Believe

HDR is our company. Together, we build on each other's life experiences and perspectives to make great things possible every day. This shapes our collaborative culture, encourages organizational trust and connects us closer to the clients and communities we serve.

Our Commitment

As employee owners, we all have a role in creating an inclusive environment where each of us is welcomed, valued, respected and empowered to bring our authentic selves to work every day.

Our eight Employee Network Groups (Asian Pacific, Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), LGBTQ+, People with Disabilities, Veterans, Women, Young Professionals) help create a sense of belonging and foster a supportive environment where everyone is empowered to engage and contribute. Each group has an executive sponsor and is open to all employees.

We provide a comprehensive benefits package that promotes employee ownership, employee health, performance, and success, which includes medical, dental, vision, short and long-term disability, life insurance, an employee assistance program, paid time away, parental leave, paid holidays, a retirement savings plan with employer match, employee referral bonus and tuition reimbursement. The expected compensation range for this position depends upon skills, experience, education and geographical location. (Stated benefits are for full-time regular positions. Temporary and part-time roles eligible for limited benefits.) The pay range for Canada: $95,000 - $145,000.

Primary Location: Canada-Ontario-Ottawa

Other Locations: Canada-British Columbia-Victoria, Canada-Ontario-Burlington, Canada-British Columbia-Vancouver, Canada-Ontario-Kingston, Canada-Ontario-Richmond Hill, Canada-Alberta-Calgary, Canada-Ontario-Toronto

Industry: Marketing/Communications

Schedule: Full-time

Employee Status: Regular

BusinessClass: Marketing and Admin

Job Posting: Mar 16, 2026

At HDR, we are committed to the principles of employment equity. We are an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer ( We consider all qualified applicants, regardless of criminal histories, arrest and conviction records.