Capture Manager - Federal Government Contracting (GovCon) | Washington, DC | Remote
The Capture Manager will play a critical role in expanding Ares Enterprise's federal market presence across the Department of Defense (DoD), federal civilian agencies, and the Intelligence Community (IC). This individual will work closely with executive leadership, business development, proposal teams, and technical subject matter experts to develop competitive solutions and execute successful capture strategies.
The ideal candidate understands the federal acquisition lifecycle, competitive positioning, contract vehicles, and the complexities of federal procurement. We are looking for a proactive, strategic professional who can independently manage multiple pursuits and drive measurable business growth.
Key ResponsibilitiesCapture Strategy & Opportunity Management- Lead the full capture lifecycle, from opportunity qualification and pursuit planning through proposal submission and contract award.
- Develop and execute comprehensive capture plans, including customer engagement strategies, competitive assessments, teaming strategies, pricing approaches, and win themes.
- Identify and qualify federal opportunities aligned with Ares Enterprise's core capabilities, contract vehicles, and strategic growth objectives.
- Conduct opportunity assessments, including bid/no-bid recommendations, competitive analysis, and probability-of-win evaluations.
- Manage multiple simultaneous capture efforts, ensuring milestones, deliverables, and pursuit objectives are achieved.
- Develop and maintain actionable capture pipelines with accurate opportunity forecasts, timelines, and pursuit strategies.
Federal Customer Engagement & Business Development- Build and maintain relationships with federal program managers, contracting officers, technical stakeholders, industry partners, and key decision-makers.
- Conduct customer discovery to understand mission requirements, acquisition strategies, procurement timelines, and emerging priorities.
- Identify opportunities to influence acquisition strategies through RFIs, Sources Sought notices, industry days, and other government market research activities.
- Develop customer call plans and engagement strategies to position Ares Enterprise ahead of formal solicitations.
- Represent Ares Enterprise at industry conferences, networking events, government meetings, and strategic partner engagements.
Competitive Intelligence & Market Research- Conduct market research and competitive intelligence assessments to identify incumbents, potential competitors, contract histories, and customer requirements.
- Utilize federal business intelligence platforms, including SAM.gov, GovWin IQ, USAspending.gov, FPDS historical data, and other government procurement resources.
- Analyze incumbent contract performance, pricing structures, labor categories, acquisition strategies, and competitive landscapes.
- Identify strategic opportunities involving small-business set-asides, socioeconomic contracting programs, and governmentwide acquisition vehicles.
Teaming & Strategic Partnerships- Identify, evaluate, and establish relationships with strategic teaming partners, subcontractors, and potential prime contractors.
- Develop teaming strategies that strengthen technical capabilities, past performance, geographic coverage, and competitive positioning.
- Support the negotiation and execution of teaming agreements, nondisclosure agreements, and subcontracting arrangements.
- Leverage Ares Enterprise's WOSB and SDB designations and federal contract vehicles to maximize competitive opportunities.
Proposal Development & Capture Execution- Collaborate with proposal managers, technical leads, solution architects, pricing teams, and executive leadership to develop compelling and compliant proposals.
- Lead development of discriminators, win themes, value propositions, technical solution strategies, and competitive positioning.
- Coordinate proposal readiness activities, including solution development, staffing strategies, teaming commitments, and pricing inputs.
- Participate in proposal reviews, including Pink Team, Red Team, and executive reviews.
- Ensure effective transition from capture to proposal development and, following award, to contract execution.
Pipeline Management & Performance Reporting- Maintain accurate opportunity data, capture milestones, and pipeline forecasts.
- Provide regular updates to executive leadership on capture progress, competitive positioning, risks, and upcoming acquisition milestones.
- Track capture performance through key metrics, including qualified pipeline value, bid conversion rates, win rates, and contract awards.
- Develop strategies to improve capture effectiveness and increase Ares Enterprise's federal market share.
Requirements
Required Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Information Technology, Engineering, Management, or a related field.
- 5+ years of experience in federal government contracting, including at least 3 years in capture management, business development, or federal contract pursuit activities.
- Demonstrated experience managing federal capture opportunities from qualification through proposal submission and contract award.
- Strong understanding of the federal acquisition lifecycle, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), and government procurement processes.
- Experience pursuing opportunities within DoD, federal civilian agencies, or the Intelligence Community.
- Working knowledge of federal contract vehicles, including GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS), GWACs, IDIQs, BPAs, and task order competitions.
- Experience developing capture plans, competitive assessments, teaming strategies, customer engagement plans, and win themes.
- Ability to analyze federal solicitations, RFIs, Sources Sought notices, and acquisition forecasts.
- Demonstrated ability to establish relationships with government customers, industry partners, and internal stakeholders.
- Experience working with proposal teams to develop compliant, competitive federal proposals.
- Strong written and verbal communication, negotiation, analytical, and presentation skills.
- Ability to independently manage multiple capture opportunities in a fast-paced environment.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Teams.
- Experience utilizing SAM.gov and federal procurement intelligence platforms.
Preferred Qualifications- 7-10+ years of federal government contracting experience, with a demonstrated record of successful contract captures.
- Proven success capturing federal IT services, software development, cloud modernization, cybersecurity, enterprise IT, data analytics, artificial intelligence, or digital transformation contracts.
- Established relationships within the Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, DoD agencies, or federal civilian agencies.
- Experience capturing contracts through GSA MAS, NASA SEWP, SeaPort-NxG, and other federal acquisition vehicles.
- Familiarity with WOSB, SDVOSB, 8(a), HUBZone, and other small-business contracting programs.
- Experience supporting best-value tradeoff, LPTA, and task order competitions.
- Experience with Shipley capture methodologies or equivalent structured capture processes.
- Knowledge of federal proposal development, pricing strategies, labor category mapping, and competitive cost analysis.
- Experience working with small or mid-sized federal government contractors in high-growth environments.
- Existing relationships with federal systems integrators, prime contractors, and government acquisition stakeholders.
- APMP certification or other relevant capture management credentials.
- Active security clearance or ability to obtain one.
What We're Looking ForWe are seeking a Capture Manager who is strategic, resourceful, accountable, and motivated by results. The successful candidate will be comfortable working directly with executive leadership, taking ownership of opportunities, and translating market intelligence into actionable capture strategies.
This position requires an individual who can go beyond identifying opportunities to actively positioning Ares Enterprise to win.
Success in this role will be measured by:- Growth in qualified federal contracting opportunities.
- Effective execution of capture plans and customer engagement strategies.
- Development of strategic teaming relationships.
- Improved competitive positioning and probability of win.
- Increased proposal win rates and successful contract awards.
- Contribution to Ares Enterprise's long-term revenue growth.
