Proposal/BD Manager

Merkle is a leading data-driven, technology-enabled, global performance marketing agency that specializes in the delivery of unique, personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. For more than 30 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their customer portfolios. The agency's heritage in data, technology, and analytics forms the foundation for its unmatched skills in understanding consumer insights that drive people-based marketing strategies. Its combined strengths in performance media, customer experience, customer relationship management, loyalty, and enterprise marketing technology drive improved marketing results and competitive advantage. With 9,600+ employees, Merkle is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, with 50+ additional offices throughout the US, EMEA, and APAC. In 2016, the agency joined dentsu. For more information, contact Merkle at 1-877-9-Merkle or visit www.merkleinc.com.

We are champions for meaningful progress and we strive to be a force for good—for our people, for our clients, for the industry and for our society. We keep our people at the center, creating space for growth, understanding and learning so they can thrive. We embed diversity, in our mindset, in our solutions and in our teams to empower an inclusive, equitable and culturally fluent environment. Building this culture within our teams makes us better collaborators with each other and with our clients, driving better outcomes for all. Merkle an agency of Dentsu.

A Proposal/BD Manager manages an operational sales process for new business opportunities facross dentsu Merkle/CXM brands. They are responsible for understanding Merkle’s sales platform and managing and coordinating multi-solution, multi-agency, and multi-channel marketing RFIs, RFPs, and presentation development processes, in alignment with the platform’s stages. These processes include engaging and managing new business pitch teams and resources of all levels, creating robust project plans and timelines, gathering and creating appropriate content for proposal use, serving as a conduit for partner and alliance agencies, and driving the established project plan to execute and produce high-quality, winning documents on time and to the specifications of our prospects and clients.

Key Responsibilities:

• Working directly with sales leaders, solution leads, delivery centers, marketing, finance, legal, and editorial teams to fulfill requests for identified pursuits.
• Assuming ownership of the pursuit process from the moment of assignment until completion
• Managing the new business response process from kickoff to submission may include tasks such as:
  • Compiling of content from past documents
  • Scheduling team and opportunity meetings/cadence
  • Coordinating research with the Research team
  • Writing new content for proposal use
  • Record management during the RFP process in Salesforce.com
  • Utilizing Microsoft Teams as a project management tool
  • Maintaining repository of RFP responses and reusable content
  • Ensuring sales platform best practices are followed
  • Managing the printing and/or production of RFPs & presentations
  • Ideation and coordination for pitch theater
  • Other duties as needed
• Creating, enforcing, and publishing new business project plans, RACIs, and timelines when responding to RFIs, RFPs, and presentations to prospective clients
• Driving and providing directional and strategic oversight to pitch/resource teams, while executing timelines
• Serving as a conduit between pitch/resource teams and our internal departments, strategic partners, alliance partners, content analysts, and research teams

• Minimum 3 years of non-technical project management experience
• 2 years working in digital marketing, media or ad-tech industries
• 5+ years overall work experience
• Must have marketing agency sales ecosystem experience
• Must be prepared to bring calm to chaos by aligning team members from different agencies with different processes to reach a common goal
• Must be comfortable working independently and proactively. Must be prepared to dig deep and ask questions to ascertain complete direction
• Ability to manage upward confidently and cleverly
• Must demonstrate credibility and reliability to garner the trust of executive leadership and subject matter experts
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills – ability to speak up confidently and with authority – in other words, a driver!
• Understanding of new business processes and best practices
• Expert in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint
• Excellence in Excel
• Experience in Microsoft Teams is a strong plus
• Proficiency with Salesforce.com
• Proficiency with Project Management tools and concepts
• Excellence in proofreading, formatting, and editorial skills a plus
• A team player with an outstanding ability to work with people at all levels, including senior executives, with a demonstrated ability to take ownership and influence others through a strong presence, thoughtful challenges, and use of sound judgment
• Strong interpersonal and political skills, including aptitude for building relationships, understanding team dynamics, taking initiative, and solving problems
• Determination to follow through on all projects no matter the obstacles presented. The ability to trouble shoot and come up with alternative plans to reach a desired outcome in the face of adversity
• A problem solver and service-oriented individual who is always willing to pitch in and help an associate with any complication, be it by providing a solution or an introduction to an expert

• 
  Comprehensive healthcare plans
• FTO and family leave
• 401k